Cognitive and Developmental Systems Technical Committee
Name
This organization is known as the Cognitive and Developmental Systems Technical Committee (CDSTC) of the Computational Intelligence Society (CIS) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. (IEEE).
(previously named Autonomous Mental Development TC)
Purpose and Scope
The purpose of the CDSTC is to promote the research, education and outreach about understanding the mechanisms of development and acquisition of sensorimotor, cognitive and social structures in machines and animals. It focuses in particular on computational and robotic modeling of cognitive and developmental systems to achieve four goals:
- building machines capable of life-long adaptation and interaction with the physical and social world
- building machines that can model and recognise cognitive characteristics relevant to development in their human collaborators, and act accordingly to assist human activities
- using machines as tools to better understand human and animal development and cognition
- using machines to support human learning and development
Thus, the TC covers interdisciplinary approaches and methods from developmental and cognitive robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, connectionnist modelling, psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, cognitive sciences and the physics of complex adaptive systems.
Examples of covered topics include the computational modeling of body morphogenesis, of sensorimotor and social development, the acquisition and functioning of cognitive and linguistic structures at the level of individuals or populations, and the study of interactions between brain, body and environment at evolutionary-developmental scales.
In addition, the CDSTC's mission includes:
- Identification of critical trends of research and applications in cognitive and developmental systems.
- Support to the IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems, including promotion of the journal and nomination of best papers.
- Organisation of seminars/workshops/conferences/journal special issues/special sessions/tutorials in the area of cognitive and developmental systems.
- Discussing and identifying opportunities for awards and membership elevation for members of the cognitive and developmental systems community.
- Supervision of activities with regard to efforts in coming up with standards for cognitive and developmental systems.
Membership
The CDSTC members are appointed by the CIS President with the agreement of the CDSTC Chair for a one-year term. The term of service expires at the end of the calendar year for which they have been appointed. Current directory of officers and members: Cognitive and Developmental Systems Technical Committee Members
Officers
The CDSTC Chair is appointed by the CIS President with the agreement of the CIS EXCOM for a one-year term. The term of service expires at the end of the calendar year for which the CDSTC Chair has been appointed. No more than two consecutive full terms are permitted.
Funding
There is no membership fee for joining the CDSTC. Funding for the committee shall be provided by the CIS in the annual budget request. Once approved by the CIS ExCom and AdCom, funds will be available to support the CDSTC activities. The Chair shall be responsible for the appropriate use of the approved funds with supporting documentation.
Activities
The CDSTC shall engage in various activities in order to promote autonomous mental development as a viable technology, including but not limited to the following: recommend candidates to the Awards Committee for the CIS Pioneer Award in Cognitive and Developmental Systems and the Technical Field Award, nominate papers for Best Paper Awards to the Awards Committee from papers published in the Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems, propose special sessions to the CIS-sponsored conference organizers, participate in paper reviews and selection for CIS-sponsored conferences and publications, promote IEEE Senior Members and Fellows program, collaborate on production of tutorials, and book series with the Multimedia Committee, maintain the Committee’s website, facilitate local chapters activities and organize specialized workshops or meetings. The CDSTC will assist in soliciting conference proposals and actively work with the organizers of CIS-sponsored conferences to insure their technical excellence.
Meetings
Meetings will be called by the Chair one or two times a year, usually before the CIS AdCom meetings and in conjunction with the annual International Conference on Development and Learning, or as requested by the CDSTC members. Sufficient advance notice of the meetings will be given to the members, as well as all other interested parties. The Chair shall prepare an agenda before the meeting, and shall prepare minutes for distribution after the meeting.
Amendments
This Charter becomes official after at least 2/3 members present at The Committee Meeting approve it. Subsequent changes and amendments also require 2/3 majority vote.
Cognitive and Developmental Systems Technical Committee Chair
ARQ (Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary) School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science
Cognitive and Developmental Systems Technical Committee Vice Chair(s)
University of New South Wales
Ritsumeikan University
TC maintained website: www.icdl-epirob.org/amdtc
Task Forces
- Action and Perception, Chair: Erol Sahin, Vice chair: Nicolas Pugeault
- Developmental Psychology, Chair: Gert Westermann, Vice chair: Denis Mareschal
- Education, Chair: Katharina Rohlfing, Vice chair: Yulia Sandamirskaya
- Human-Robot Interaction, Chair: Tony Belpaeme
- Language and Cognition, Chair: Clement Moulin-Frier, Co-chairs: Michael Spranger and Nikolaos Mavridis
- Robotics, Chair: Minoru Asada, Vice chair: Giorgio Metta
- Evolutionary-Developmental Systems and Robotics, Chair: Jean-Baptiste Mouret, Vice chairs: Jeff Clune and Stephane Doncieux
- Web Presence, Chair: Matthias Rolf, Vice chair: Alessandra Sciutti
- Cognitive and Developmental Systems Newsletter, Editor in chief: Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Assistant editor: Fabien Benureau