IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2013 - 165

strongly convex the problem is. This
helps to determine a good strategy for
tackling a particular problem. Equality
constrained problems are another
beast entirely, and Chapter 10 presents
a variety of strategies for taming such a
beast. Many optimization problems in
robotic manipulation and locomotion
are equality constrained, and so this
and the next are yet more chapters of
primary interest to roboticists. When
dealing with problems of contact, for
example, inequality constraints play a
major role in simulation and control.
Thus the concepts of Chapter 11, interior-point methods, are very applicable. While this is an area of high
interest (and rapid development) in the
optimization community, the concepts

of this chapter provide an excellent
foundation as well as several methods
that continue to be effective for the
right problem set.
The appendices provide a good
mathematical background and review.
This makes the book accessible for
readers from many fields, which may
refer to the same concepts with differing
terminology. The linear algebra appendix is quite useful for those in the robotics community, since most problems in
robotics are high dimensional, and thus
benefit from a solid foundation and
review in matrix theory.
Though not for the mathematically
faint of heart, this book provides an
excellent overview of convex optimization, its techniques, tricks, methods,

and basic mathematical theory. It leads
the reader into the domain gently and
with plenty of examples, and the
authors share their insights on the topic
in many instances. This book provides a
useful reference for the practicing engineer needing to solve an optimization
problem (which may be convertible via
techniques in this book into a convex
problem) as well as the graduate student
or researcher interested in this topic. It
is a classic that stands the test of time in
usefulness and practicality. Convex
Optimization is definitely a recommended read.
-Reviewed by
Alex Simpkins, Jr., Ph.D.

TC SPOTLIGHT (continued from p. 20)
its inception almost a decade ago in
2004, the TC (now in its second generation) has been involved in organizing
various types of meetings (from satellite
workshops at main conferences to
stand-alone venues) to call attention to
the increasingly urgent ethical issues
raised by the rapidly advancing robotics
technology. For example, an increasing
number of workshops and special sessions were organized recently at main
conferences (e.g., the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and
Automation, IACAP 2011, AISB 2012,
the Tufts 2012 conference, the first U.K.
Robot Ethics Workshop, and others).
And more workshops, special sessions,
and standalone venues are being
planned (e.g., a special session on robot

ethics at the IEEE 2014 Ethics conference). Moreover, an increasing number
of publications [2], [3] as well as public
lectures and interviews by former and
current TC cochairs and other researchers invested in this topic were focused
on raising the awareness of researchers
and nonresearchers alike about the
urgent need to understand the social
impact and ethical implications of robot
technology. Recent funding programs
in Europe (e.g., the funded FP7 project
"RoboLaw") and the United States (e.g.,
the recent ONR MURI on "Computational Foundations of Moral Cognition") are also specifically targeted at
raising public awareness, investigating
the impact of robot technology on legal
issues, and developing computational

architectures that will enable robots to
become more ethically adept. In addition to organize special sessions and
workshops at major international venues on robot ethics, the TC will continue to raise public awareness and aims
to organize a stand-alone international
event in the near future.
References
[1] G. Briggs and M. Scheutz, "Investigating the
effects of robotic displays of protest and distress,"
in Proc. Conf. Social Robots, 2012, pp. 238-247.
[2] P. Lin, K. Abney, and G. Bekey, Robot Ethics-The
Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, 2011.
[3] G. Veruggio, J. Solis, and M. Van der Loos,
"RoboEthics," IEEE Robot. Automat. Mag., vol. 18,
no. 1, 2011.

STUDENT'S CORNER (continued from p. 160)
In the end, I really want to thank
my professors and friends who
encouraged me to start this role and
who supported me during this
period of work. I want to thank all of

the students, senior researchers, and
professors who have supported SAC
events and helped the SAC to keep
students' interest continuously stimulated. In addition, I have to thank

RAS for this opportunity and maybe
for future ones.
I wish all of you a peaceful, exciting,
and successful 2014.

DECEMBER 2013

IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

165

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - December 2013