EVENTS For information on JPL tours and the speakers bureau, visit our PUBLIC SERVICES site. The Solar System Ambassador Program sponsors events in communities around the country. Find out how to become a volunteer Solar System Ambassador.		Topic - Robots and Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence for Autonomous Control in Space Presented by Dr. Ayanna Howard Senior Member of Technical Staff, JPL Telerobotics Research and Applications Group If you wish to view a tape of this show please contact Sherri Rowe-Lopez at (818) 354-6170. Thursday, April 15 The von Kármán Auditorium at JPL 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA For directions, click here. Friday, April 16 The Vosloh Forum at Pasadena City College 1570 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA For directions, click here. Both lectures begin at 7 p.m. PST and run for approximately an hour. Admission is free. Seating is limited. For more information, call (818) 354-0112. Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the capability of a device to perform functions associated with human intelligence, such as reasoning and learning through experience. For robotics, this concept means that a system must possess autonomous onboard perception, reasoning, and decision-making capability in order to function successfully in natural environments. The difficulty for planetary robotics is that robust operation must occur at sites that are unknown, unsafe, and unexpected. To address these issues, we employ approaches that use human-inspired techniques, such as neural networks, fuzzy logic, and visual sensing to develop autonomous planetary robotic systems. This talk will give an overview of current AI techniques and research, including fuzzy logic methods for rover navigation, neural networks to assess natural environmental characteristics, and adaptive techniques for mimicking human visual perception. To learn more about robotics, click here.