The objective of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together researchers in computer science, artificial intelligence, alife, control, robotics, neurosciences, ethology, evolutionary biology, and related fields so as to further our understanding of the behaviors and underlying mechanisms that allow natural and artificial animals to adapt and survive in uncertain environments. The conference will focus on experiments with well-defined models --- robot models, computer simulation models, mathematical models --- designed to help characterize and compare various organizational principles or architectures underlying adaptive behavior in real animals and in synthetic agents, the animats. Contributions treating any of the following topics from the perspective of adaptive behavior will receive special emphasis:

The Animat approach
Motor control
Body and brain co-evolution
Self-assembling and self-replication
Sensory-motor coordination
Action selection and behavioral sequencing
Navigation and mapping
Internal models and representation
Evolution, development and learning
Motivation and emotion
Collective and social behavior
Communication and language
Emergent structures and behaviors
Neural correlates of behavior
Evolutionary and co-evolutionary approaches
Bio-inspired and hybrid robotics
Autonomous robotics
Humanoid robotics
Cognitive and developmental robotics
Embodiment and soft robotics
Software agents and virtual creatures
Applied adaptive behavior
Animats in education
Philosophical and psychological issues
Authors should make every effort to suggest implications of their work for both natural and artificial animals, and to distinguish the portions of their work which use simulation from those using a physical agent. Papers that do not deal explicitly with adaptive behavior will be rejected.


Conference format

Following the tradition of SAB conferences, the conference will be single track, with additional poster sessions. Each poster session will start with poster spotlights giving presenters the opportunity to present orally their main results.

Publisher

The conference proceedings will be published in the Springer Lecture Notes on Artificial Intelligence series. Both oral and poster presentations will be published in the conference proceedings. Selected authors may additionally be invited to submit extended versions for a conference Special Issue of the Journal of Adaptive Behavior.

Submission instructions

Submitted papers must not exceed 10 pages and should be prepared using the Springer proceedings format kits and instructions. You do not need to deliver the copyright form at this stage. Papers should be produced as complete self-contained single PDF files, i.e. with all necessary fonts embedded, and submitted using the conference management system.