If you are a roboethicist, then you probably want to be in the Netherlands this summer, and here is why:
The University of Twente sent out a Call for Papers for a conference on the topic of “Bridging the robotics gap: bringing together ethicists and engineers”. Taking place in Enschede, the Netherlands, where the university is located, the organizers are looking for 500 word abstract submissions by May 15th. The conference itself will be two days long: July 11th – 12th.
One thing that I am really excited about the conference is that …

Every odd year is an exciting year. That’s because one of the largest robotics conferences, ICRA (a.k.a. International Conference on Robotics and Automation), hosts a full-day workshop on roboethics.
I am happy to announce that 2011 is not an exception. The Fourth Workshop on Roboethics will be held in Shanghi, China on May 13, 2011.
Please see below and the following website for more info: Roboethics.org
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Fourth Workshop on Roboethics
May 13, 2011
CALL FOR PAPERS
Important dates:
• February 28, 2011: Paper submission deadline
• March 7, 2011: Notification of Acceptance/Rejection
• March 14, 2011: Camera-Ready Submission Deadline
Organizers:
IEEE …

Happy holidays everyone!
With your help, RoboethicsDB.com has met at least 32,000 unique visitors this year (according to the hosting service).
Thank you so much for your continued support, and the happiest of wishes for the new year goes to you!
AJung
PS. Coming up next: blogpost(s) on the key Roboethics events of 2010!

Last December I first made a post about the upcoming IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine(RAM) call for papers for the special issue on  roboethics.
Well, the deadline for the paper submission is approaching quickly, and hence, it’s worth posting again.
When is the deadline? It’s September 1st 2010.
This is opportunity is really exciting because the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine is not just any magazine that gets mailed to people’s houses once in a while just to be thrown out months later.
IEEE is one of the largest, if not the largest, engineering association, …

A couple of months ago, I made a post on call for papers for ECAP2010, the 8th Conference on Computing and Philosophy. For those of you who hasn’t had the time to finish writing up an abstract, by April 7th, you still have a chance!
The deadline for the conference has been extended as follows:
· April 7th, 2010-> May 7th, 2010: Abstract submission deadline
· May 9th, 2010 ->June 9th, 2010: Notification of acceptance
· May 31st, 2010-> June 15th, 2010 : Early registration deadline
· October 4th – 6th, 2010: Conference
Below is a recap some of the details …

In the year of 2009, the number of published roboethics related books was the main indicator for the ‘rise of roboethics’. This year, this positive trend towards discussion of roboethics issues is reflected in robotics conferences such as ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction 2010, and in courses offered to university students.
Dr. Hinman, director of the Values Institute and co-founder of the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology, is offering a course on roboethics this year at the University of San Diego.
In the Fall semester of 2010, Dr. Hinman’s class …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, also known to us as UAVs, have already been in the centre of roboethics discussion for many years. But now, the discussion has expanded from voices of the academia and the public to the US government.
Brought to my attention by the Robot Ethics facebook group (Roger F. Gay), the following is a direct copy from the US Committee on Oversight and Government Reform website.
They provide links and documents, as well as webcasts of the first and second panel. (Link: Hearing on Rise of the Drones: Unmanned Systems and …

ICDL is the premiere venue for interdisciplinary research that blends
the boundaries between robotics, artificial intelligence, machine
learning, developmental psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy. The 9th International Conference on Development and Learning will be held on August 18-21, 2010.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TECHNOETHICS (IJT)
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: MARCH 15, 2010
Official publication of the Information Resources Management Association www.igi-global.com/ijt
Editor-in-Chief: Rocci Luppicini, University of Otttawa, Canada
Published: Quarterly (both in Print and Electronic form)
MISSION OF IJT:
Prospective authors are invited to submit manuscripts for possible publication in the International Journal of Technoethics (IJT). The mission of the International Journal of Technoethics (IJT) is to evolve technological relationships of humans with a focus on ethical implications for human life, social norms and values, education, work, politics, law, and ecological impact. This journal provides cutting-edge analysis …

I’m going to switch gears today and talk about industrial automation.
Last December, Rockwell Automation – one of the leading companies in industrial automation – released a white paper entitled “International Safety Standards Keep Pace with Advances in Robotic Technology and Applications”. This paper talks about the current robotics safety standard (ISO 10218-1 and ANSI/RIA R15.06), and the new standard (part 2 of ISO 10218, or ISO 10218-2) being drafted for release in 2011.
With a brief overview of history of robots, the paper talks about how ANSI/RIA R.15.06 adopted in 1999 …