Humanoid Robotics and Neuroscience: Science, Engineering and Society

Humanoid robots are highly sophisticated machines equipped with human-like sensory and motor capabilities. Today we are on the verge of a new era of rapid transformations in both science and engineering―one that brings together technological advancements in a way that will accelerate both neuroscience and robotics. Humanoid Robotics and Neuroscience: Science, Engineering and Society presents the contributions of prominent scientists who explore key aspects of the further potential of these systems.

Topics include:

• Neuroscientific research findings on dexterous robotic hand control





• Humanoid vision and how understanding the structure of the human eye can lead to improvements in artificial vision





• Humanoid locomotion, motor control, and the learning of motor skills





• Cognitive elements of humanoid robots, including the neuroscientific aspects of imitation and development





• The impact of robots on society and the potential for developing new systems and devices to benefit humans

The use of humanoid robotics can help us develop a greater scientific understanding of humans, leading to the design of better engineered systems and machines for society. This book assembles the work of scientists on the cutting edge of robotic research who demonstrate the vast possibilities in this field of research.

Gordon Cheng is the chair, founder, and director of the Institute for Cognitive Systems at the Technical University of Munich. From 2002–2008, he was the head of the Department of Humanoid Robotics and Computational Neuroscience, ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories, Kyoto, Japan. His research interests include humanoid robotics, cognitive systems, neuroengineering, real-time network robot control, brain–machine interfaces, biomimetics of human vision, computational neuroscience of vision, action understanding, human–robot interaction, active vision, mobile robot navigation, and object-oriented software construction.