This book provides state of the art scientific and engineering research findings and developments in the area of mobile robotics and associated support technologies. The book contains peer reviewed articles presented at the CLAWAR 2011 conference. A great deal of interest is vested in the use of robots outside the factory environment. The CLAWAR conference series, established as a high profile international event, acts as a platform for dissemination of research and development findings and supports the trend to address current interest in mobile robotics to meet the needs of mankind in various segments of the society. Field robotics aims to bring technologies that allow autonomous systems to assist and/or replace humans performing tasks that are difficult, repetitive, unpleasant, or take place in hazardous environments. These robotic systems will bring sociological and economic benefits through improved human safety, increased equipment utilisation, reduced maintenance costs and increased production.

Handbook of Neural Computing Applications is a collection of articles that deals with neural networks. Some papers review the biology of neural networks, their type and function (structure, dynamics, and learning) and compare a back-propagating perceptron with a Boltzmann machine, or a Hopfield network with a Brain-State-in-a-Box network. Other papers deal with specific neural network types, and also on selecting, configuring, and implementing neural networks. Other papers address specific applications including neurocontrol for the benefit of control engineers and for neural networks researchers. Other applications involve signal processing, spatio-temporal pattern recognition, medical diagnoses, fault diagnoses, robotics, business, data communications, data compression, and adaptive man-machine systems. One paper describes data compression and dimensionality reduction methods that have characteristics, such as high compression ratios to facilitate data storage, strong discrimination of novel data from baseline, rapid operation for software and hardware, as well as the ability to recognized loss of data during compression or reconstruction. The collection can prove helpful for programmers, computer engineers, computer technicians, and computer instructors dealing with many aspects of computers related to programming, hardware interface, networking, engineering or design.

There is perhaps no facet of modern society where the influence of computer automation has not been felt. Flight management systems for pilots, diagnostic and surgical aids for physicians, navigational displays for drivers, and decision-aiding systems for air-traffic controllers, represent only a few of the numerous domains in which powerful new automation technologies have been introduced. The benefits that have been reaped from this technological revolution have been many. At the same time, automation has not always worked as planned by designers, and many problems have arisen--from minor inefficiencies of operation to large-scale, catastrophic accidents. Understanding how humans interact with automation is vital for the successful design of new automated systems that are both safe and efficient. The influence of automation technology on human performance has often been investigated in a fragmentary, isolated manner, with investigators conducting disconnected studies in different domains. There has been little contact between these endeavors, although principles gleaned from one domain may have implications for another. Also, with a few exceptions, the research has tended to be empirical and only theory-driven. In recent years, however, various groups of investigators have begun to examine human performance in automated systems in general and to develop theories of human interaction with automation technology. This book presents the current theories and assesses the impact of automation on different aspects of human performance. Both basic and applied research is presented to highlight the general principles of human-computer interaction in several domains where automation technologies are widely implemented. The major premise is that a broad-based, theory-driven approach will have significant implications for the effective design of both current and future automation technologies. This volume will be of considerable value to researchers in human

Communications research in aviation is widely regarded by many in the healthcare community as the 'gold standard' to emulate. Yet healthcare and aviation differ in many ways, as do the vital communications shared among members of clinical teams. Aviation team communication should, then, be understood in terms of what lessons will benefit those who work in healthcare. In Improving Healthcare Team Communication, renowned experts provide insights from 'sharp end' operator research in high-hazard sectors that shed light on the performance of cognitive tasks including resource availability assessment, allocation, anticipation, prediction, trade-off decisions, speculation and negotiation. The book reports on recent field research to address what is known, and what needs to be learned, about team communication among operators. Students, clinicians and healthcare managers can find answers in it to the questions they face daily. How can healthcare information be better shared? What can we expect from its improvement, and how do we get there? Lessons learned from team communication research and experience in aviation and healthcare will point the way to improved patient safety.