IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2023 - 161

Furthermore, the committee organizes
workshops and conferences to foster
discussions on the challenges and
opportunities in the field. These events
facilitate knowledge exchange with
researchers from various disciplines.
TC-CoRo utilizes a moderated mailing
list (all-coro-tc@ieee-coro.org) and
a dedicated website (https://www.ieee
-ras.org/cognitive-robotics) for sharing
relevant announcements, resources, and
links to notable events and publications.
For these contributions to the field,
TC-CoRo has received recognition,
such as the RAS Most Active Technical
Committee Award in 2017.
Recent activities include an online
roundtable, organized by Shingo Shimoda,
discussing the role of the next generation
of cognitive robotics. The insights
from the panelists led to a review article
highlighting information generalization,
active sensing, prediction, and language
as essential functions for future cognitive
robots [2]. Several events, such as workshops
and panel discussions, have further
stimulated the discourse, exploring
foundational questions as in the TransAIR
Virtual Workshop on Cognitive
Architectures for Robot Agents (https://
transair-bridge.org/workshop-2021) and
the International Foundation for Robotics
Research Colloquium on Cognitive
Robotics (http://ifrr.org/cognitive
-robotics). Also, the centrality of cognitive
robotics in applications, like
creativity in AI and robotics as well as
autonomous driving, has been discussed
in several events organized at various
conferences (such as Robotics: Science
and Systems 2021 and the International
Joint Conference on AI 2022).
The committee actively supports
conferences, workshops, and journals
related to cognitive robotics. In particular,
TC-CoRo participates in the
Steering Committee of IEEE Transactions
on Cognitive and Developmental
Systems after contributing to its launch
in collaboration with the IEEE Computational
Intelligence Society. The
members of the TC have also been
active in the organization and technical
support of several editions of the IEEE
International Conference on Development
and Learning and Epigenetic
Robotics, a multidisciplinary conference
targeting researchers in robotics,
psychology, and human science. The
different communities are united by
the joint goal of further understanding
human development and learning
systems and creating robots inspired
by the human cognitive system.
The committee's efforts extend to
education and dissemination. The members
develop educational materials and
courses such as the course " Design and
Implementation of Cognition-Enabled
Robotic Systems " by Michael Beetz,
David Vernon, and Joern Syrbe (available
on the German open
KI Campus platform:
https://ki-campus.org/
courses/cognitionrobot
-ub2021) and the introductory
course " Cognitive
Robotics " by David
Vernon (developed with
the support of the IEEE
RAS Program for Creation
of Educational
Material in Robotics and
Automation and freely
accessible at http://www.
cognitiverobotics.net/).
Additionally, the committee
members have created
multiple materials
for dissemination aiming
to broaden knowledge
and interest in the field.
The TC continues to actively promanipulation,
held yearly in Bremen.
Important books and book chapters on
cognitive robotics have been published
by the members of the TC and by the
cochairs as, for example, the book
Cognitive Robotics [3]. In addition, the
cochairs appointed two Distinguished
Lecturers, Friederike Eyssel (Bielefeld
University) and Yukie Nagai (University
of Tokyo).
The committee has also been proactive
COGNITIVE ROBOTS
ARE IN THE PROCESS
OF BEING BETTER
EQUIPPED TO COMPREHEND
AND INTERPRET
HUMAN LANGUAGE,
ENABLING
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
AND
INTERACTION IN
DIVERSE CONTEXTS.
in engaging the wider public, particularly
children and girls, through participation in
public events and the creation of dedicated
educational materials (e.g., free downloadable
educational
children's books on cognitive
robotics, such as
the book series Finja
Finds It Out Again! and
the title The Mysterious
Robot for school pupils
in grades 3-6, designed
by the col laborat ive
research center EASE)
or virtual interactive
online experiences providing
insights on the
actual capabilities of
current cognitive robots
e.g., " Trip in the Mind of
a Robot " (in Italian, with
English subtitles), first
presented at
the Genoa
Science Festival by the
Italian Institute of Techmote
education on cognitive robotics.
For example, to communicate with policymakers
and the public on the recent
progress of robotics technologies and
their impacts on future education, the
committee members joined in a panel
discussion with education specialists of
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development in a special
meeting co-located with this year's
IEEE International Conference on
Robotics and Automation conference.
They provided input to help assess current
AI and robotics technologies.
TC-CoRo cochairs and members
also organize periodic events dedicated
to education, such as the Everyday
Activity Science & Engineering (EASE)
Fall School for cognition-enabled robot
nology (IIT): https://short.iit.it/contact.
TC cochairs also organize enrichment
programs (https://ashe.si/aix) and workshops
for high school students to promote
robotics and attract more women to science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics
fields.
In addition, in recent years, the
committee members have been utilizing
robotics competitions (Figure 4) to
integrate student education to broaden
the cognitive robotics research community.
The TC members have been continuously
participating in the @Home
League of RoboCup (https://athome.
robocup.org/) and World Robot Summit
competition [4], which test
the
interactive intelligence performance of
robots designed to assist with everyday
life tasks. Through these competitions,
SEPTEMBER 2023 IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE
161

https://www.ieee-ras.org/cognitive-robotics https://www.ieee-ras.org/cognitive-robotics https://ki-campus.org/courses/cognitionrobot-ub2021 https://ki-campus.org/courses/cognitionrobot-ub2021 https://ki-campus.org/courses/cognitionrobot-ub2021 http://www.cognitiverobotics.net/ https://transair-bridge.org/workshop-2021 http://www.cognitiverobotics.net/ https://transair-bridge.org/workshop-2021 http://ifrr.org/cognitive-robotics http://ifrr.org/cognitive-robotics https://short.iit.it/contact https://ashe.si/aix https://athome.robocup.org/ https://athome.robocup.org/

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2023

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