Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics ─ Selcted Papers from the International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics 2008

The present book includes a set of selected papers from the 5th "International Conference on Informatics in Control Automation and Robotics" (ICINCO 2008), held in Funchal-Madeira, Portugal, 11-15 May 2008. The conference was organized in three simultaneous tracks: "Intelligent Control Systems and Optimization", "Robotics and Automation" and "Systems Modeling, Signal Processing and Control". The book is based on the same structure. The purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the application of informatics to Control, Automation and Robotics.Informatics applications are pervasive in many areas of Control, Automation and Robotics, and this conference intends to emphasize this connection, therefore, most papers highlight applications of Information Technology (IT) in these areas and present ideas on how to solve problems using IT, both in R&D and industrial applications. A diversity of papers are included in the book, ranging from papers describing advanced prototypes, systems, tools and techniques to papers presenting surveys indicating future directions.

Joaquim B. Filipe is a Coordinator Professor in the Department of Systems and Informatics of the School of Technology of the Polytechnic Institute of Setubal (EST-Setubal), currently Head of Department and also the President of the Institute for Systems and Technologies of Information, Control and Communications (INSTICC – http://www.insticc.org). He holds an M.Sc. degree awarded by the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, in 1984, an MBA degree, awarded by the New University of Lisbon in 1995, and a PhD degree, awarded by the School of Computing of Staffordshire University, UK, in 2001. His main areas of research are situated in the Informatics field, especially in Artificial Intelligence and Multi-Agent System applications with an emphasis on the study of social issues in activity coordination, including agent-based organizational modeling and simulation, where he has been actively involved in several national and international R&D projects. He is also interested in applying Organizational Semiotics to the analysis and development of Information Systems, having participated in several projects for developing e-learning systems and web-based information systems.Professor Filipe has published over 50 technical papers in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Agents and Organizational Modeling. He has edited more than 20 books and he is a member of the editorial board of 7 journals. He has been an invited keynote speaker and also served as a member of the program committee, or as a member of the organizing committee, as conference chair or program chair, in more than 30 conferences.