Bielefeld, Germany

Cognitive Architectures in HRI

Each day will start with presentations by the invited speakers to ignite discussions on leading questions and offer viewpoints on modularity, adaptivity, interaction, shared autonomy and inter-subjectivity in the context of cognitive architectures for intelligent robots. In the afternoon, participants will work in parallel workshops on four robotic platforms to gain practical experience with implementations of focused experiments with connection to the topics discussed in the morning sessions. This work will be aided by accompanying in-depth tutorials. On the final day, an informal demonstration event will give each workshop group the opportunity to present their results to the other participants.

Course leader

Prof. Dr. Helge Ritter, Neuroinformatics, Bielefeld University
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Rückert, Cognitronics and Sensor Systems, Bielefeld University
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schack, Neurocognition and Action - Biomechanics, Bielefeld University
Dr.-Ing. Sebas

Target group

Young researchers as PhD candidates, Postdocs and in the fields of computer and cognitive sciences, robotics, biomechanics, interaction design, and philosophy.

Course aim

Focusing on the theoretical perspectives of modularity, adaptivity, interaction, shared autonomy and inter-subjectivity the five-day programme is organized around keynote talks by senior experts and hands-on workshops on instances of hypothesis-driven system building.

Participants will learn to build state-of-the-art cognitive architectures using robotic platforms available at the CITEC labs such as Amiro, iCub, SoftBank’s Pepper robot, or a bi-manual manipulator setup with anthropomorphic hands. Beyond the courses and the talks of the invited speakers, the attendance will provide ample opportunities for discussions, and the exchange of ideas.

Participants are encouraged to raise questions and bring in their own ideas, which may focus on testing hypotheses, modelling cognitive architectures, implementing specific behavioural functions, expanding past models, or provide a proof-of-concept. Please feel free to describe your ideas in your letter of motivation. The focus can be on software or hardware related topics, or a combination of both.

Fee info

EUR 300: This fee includes accomodation and all meals and snacks during each day of the school.