About
The Second International Symposium on Practical Cognitive Agents and Robotics (PCAR 2008) is an invitation-only event to be held in Sydney shortly after the KR/ICAPS/NMR/CP conferences, on Monday 22 September 2008.
PCAR is an opportunity to step back from technical details, and discuss the broader-picture applications of theory and philosophy in practical systems. We are interested in building robots that: can adapt to changing environments; understand what they are doing and their context in the world; and understand the relationship between internal and external representations of the world. We see theory as crucial to solving the technical bottlenecks.
When we last held PCAR in 2006, we discussed topics including symbol grounding, intelligence dynamics, representing tactics in soccer, and how one might construct robots that actually know what they are doing. In 2008, we hope to repeat the success of that event.
PCAR 2008 will be a small and informal discussion-oriented symposium spanning one day. Short talks by distinguished invited speakers will serve as cues for open discussion on the pressing philosophical and technical challenges involved in applying knowledge representation and artificial intelligence to the practice of cognitive agents.
To confirm your attendance at this event, please reply to your invitation email.
Program and Speakers
The full program, including abstracts and biographies can be found by clicking here.
The event begins at 9:30am, and concludes at 5pm.
Invited speakers are:
- Anthony Cohn; University of Leeds, UK
- Patrick Doherty; Linköping University, Sweden
- Marcus Hutter; Australian National University, Australia
- Bernhard Nebel; Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany
Sponsors
This event is free of charge and made possible thanks to funding by:
- The Innovation and Enterprise Research Laboratory
- Center for Quantum Computing and Intelligent Systems (QCIS) at the University of Technology, Sydney
Location
Street Address:
- Building 10
University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)
235 Jones Street, Ultimo
Venues:
- Introductory coffee from 9:30am at level 5, room 285 (CB10.05.285). Take the elevators to level 5 and follow the signs.
- Main symposium held from 10:00pm at level 2, room 410 (CB10.02.410). This room is located at the Jones street level of the building, at the far end of the main foyer.
How to get here:
The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) is located just off Sydney's central business district, near Chinatown, approximately 10-15 minutes walk from the KR/ICAPS/NMR/CP conference venue. The university is conveniently accessible from Central train station and most inner-city hotels.
For walking directions from the Sydney Masonic Centre (66 Goulburn Street) to the University of Technology, Sydney (235 Jones Sreet), please click here (Google maps). Simply follow George street south until it becomes Broadway, then follow Broadway until you pass the UTS tower building. The conference venue (Building 10) is on the next block west along Broadway: on Jones Street, facing the tower building.
If you find yourself lost, ask a local for directions to the "UTS tower" building. Once in the neighborhood, university signage, staff or students will be able to direct you to building 10.
Contacts
For any queries regarding PCAR 2008 event and organization, please contact Benjamin Johnston (johnston@it.uts.edu.au) or phone 0400703832 (+61400703832).
Organizing Committee
Xiaoping Chen; University of Science and Technlogy, China
Benjamin Johnston; University of Technology, Sydney
Wei Liu; University of Western Australia
Mary-Anne Williams; University of Technology, Sydney