The New Science of Intelligence

Friday 07 October @ 15:00 - Aula Magna, ISA I Via del Commercio 13, Rome, Italy

Banner ConferenceAn event by Nature Italy, I-RIM and Maker Faire Rome

Robots have already changed the world, with millions of them working in factories, warehouses, hospitals, households. But what we have seen so far is only a hint of what they could do in the future. Robots could have a much bigger impact if they were more autonomous, and could explore new environments or learn new tasks on their own. If they were more agile and could walk, run, fly and swim like animals do. If they could interact naturally with humans, and work safely around them. In other words, if they resembled living beings a little bit more.

 

The new science of intelligence – an event organised by Nature Italy, I-RIM (the Italian Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines) and Maker Faire Rome – offered a glimpse into that future, presenting the scientists who are working to create a new generation of robots. Six speakers will take the stage for visionary and captivating talks, showing both the impressive results they have achieved in their fields, and the scientific challenges that still lie ahead.

One after the other, the talks shown how engineering, biology material science, neuroscience, biology, psychology, physics and many other disciplines are converging in today’s robotics, making it a “new science of intelligence” that has the potential to transform the physical world just like Artificial Intelligence has transformed the world of data. A scientific endeavor where Italian scientists, working both in Italy and abroad, are playing a key role. 

Agenda:

15:00 Welcome and introduction

Antonio Bicchi – President I-RIM – Italian Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines

Nicola Nosengo – Chief Editor, Nature Italy

15:10

Human-centered robotics

Katja Mombaur – University of Waterloo, Canada

15:35

Sustainability robotics for the protection of the environment

Mirko Kovac – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

(EMPA)/Imperial College London

16:00

Searching for intelligence in the natural world

Barbara Mazzolai – Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

16:25

Coffee break

16:55

Interfacing robots and the human brain

Dario Farina – Imperial College London

17:20

Intelligent robots that see and learn

Rita Cucchiara – Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia

17:45

Learning to fly: the future of autonomous drones

Davide Scaramuzza – University of Zurich

18:10 Roundtable and conclusions

18:30 End of event / cocktail