Plenary Speaker: Bruno Siciliano

Bruno Siciliano

University of Naples Federico II

PRISMA Lab

Italy

Robotics research has advanced in the last two decades through an intensive collaboration with other disciplines and research communities. Multi-disciplinary approaches are more successful in addressing the combined issues of cognition (perception, awareness and mental models), and physical attributes (safety, dependability and dexterity) in the world of robotics. Previously separated from humans behind a fence, the new advanced robots (or cobots) are sharing our workspace and collaborating with us. Increasingly sophisticated built-in sensors enable them to see and feel the presence of humans, and avoid accidental contact. The perception of robotics technology is improving, as we experience more ways it can improve our lives. The social and medical benefits of robots, in particular, are starting to get more attention. The advent of Industry 4.0 has created a paradigm shift beyond the stereotype that jobs will be lost to Automation. In this scenario, the terms AI and Robotics are liberally used, and frequently interchanged today. However, the physical nature of a robotic system distinguishes it from the pure abstraction of AI. The future of Robotics, AI and Automation will rapidly evolve from the context of Information Technology to that of Interaction Technology. This talk will also discuss the ethical, legal, societal and economic implications of designing, realizing and using robots in our society.

Professor Bruno Siciliano is Director of the Interdepartmental Center for Advances in RObotic Surgery (ICAROS), as well as Coordinator of the Laboratory of Robotics Projects for Industry, Services and Mechatronics (PRISMA Lab), at University of Naples Federico II. Fellow of the scientific societies IEEE, ASME, IFAC, he received numerous international prizes and awards, and he was President of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society from 2008 to 2009. Since 2012 he is on the Board of Directors of the European Robotics Association. He has delivered more than 150 keynotes and has published more than 300 papers and 7 books. His book “Robotics” is among the most adopted academic texts worldwide, while his edited volume “Springer Handbook of Robotics” received the highest recognition for scientific publishing: 2008 PROSE Award for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics. His research team got 18 projects funded by the European Union for a total grant of 10 M€ in the last ten years, including an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council.