IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2021 - 178

and other European Digital Innovation
Hubs, whereas the rest are affiliated
with academia.
The geographic coverage, that is the
worldwide distribution of the TC members,
is good, although there is still a
need to engage people from uncovered
regions, such as France, Germany, and
Singapore, and to attract more members
from industry. The official YouTube channel
of the TC is available at the following
link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/
UCIKaqiuOhm-myWN47CZgETQ.
Activities Organized by or
Related to the TC
The TC has been quite active over the
last couple of years, accomplishing
many different tasks. In particular, it has
participated in RAS TAB meetings and
IEEE major conferences, helped organize
several conference workshops,
endorsed many activities organized by
other RAS TCs, helped with the proposal
of special issues and the submission
of articles to relevant IEEE
journals, and promoted TC fields and
related research.
In truth, while keeping focus on its
original scope on I4.0, many of the most
recent TC activities also have addressed
the technological challenges posed by
the Industry 5.0 paradigm, which are
becoming increasingly popular. The
first major event promoted and organized
by the TC in cooperation with the
FET Flagship European Research Area
Network Joint Transnational Call 2016
RoboCom++ Project was the IEEE
RAS ICRA 2018 Workshop (https://
robocomplusplus.eu/2018/06/11/
robocom-workshop-at-icra-2018/)
titled " Grand Scientific Challenges for the
Robot Companion of the Future, " held
on 21 2018 May, in Brisbane, Australia.
Several workshops related to major
IEEE RAS Conferences were also organized,
including the IEEE International
Conference on Automation Science and
Engineering (CASE) 2020 Workshop
(https://www.imse.hku.hk/case2020/
ThET5.html), titled " New Frontiers in
Smart Factories: Smart Automation and
Human-Robot Interaction, " held (virtually)
on 20 August 2020; the IEEE/
Robotics Society of Japan (RSJ) International
Conference on Intelligent Robots
and Systems (IROS) 2020 Workshop
(https://www.santannapisa.it/it/istituto/
biorobotica/news/iros-2020-international
-workshop-robots-building-robots-digital),
titled " Robots Building Robots: Digital
Manufacturing and Human-Centered
Automation for Building Consumer
Robots, " held on 26 October 2020, virtually;
and the IEEE RAS ICRA 2021
Workshop (https://www.santannapisa
.it/it/istituto/biorobotica/news/dinosaurs
-vs-unicorns-time-covid-19-pandemic),
titled " Dinosaurs vs. Unicorns at the
Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
How Robots May Save Business Dinosaurs
From Extinction by Turning
Them Into Start-Ups Again, " held on
4 June 2021, virtually.
In addition to organizing workshops,
the TC also endorsed others,
including the European Robotics
Forum 2021 Workshop, titled " The
Role of Robot Companions in the New
Paradigm of Industry 5.0, " held on 13
April 2021, virtually; two IEEE RAS
ICRA 2021 workshops, titled " Unlocking
the Potential of Human-Robot Collaboration
for Industrial Applications "
and " Multidisciplinary Approaches to
Advance Physical Human-Robot Interaction:
Physical Assistance for Occupational
Applications " ; and the 29th
Mediterranean Conference on Control
and Automation Workshop,
titled
" Toward Industry 5.0: Sustainable and
Regenerative Economy With Focus on
Smart Small Towns, " held on 22 June
2021, virtually.
The TC also endorsed the Frontiers
of Logistics 5.0, organized by Dubai
Future Labs, UAE, in partnership with
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Italy, a
series of events beginning on 28 June
2021 and aimed at exploring the socioeconomic,
legal, and environmental
impact of technological transformation
across logistics and the global supply
chain in light of the COVID-19 pandemic;
and the IEEE RSJ IROS 2021
Workshop titled " Global Research
Infrastructures in Robotics: Challenges
and Opportunities, " to be held on 27
September 2021.
To sustain the development of the two
constitutive subfields, a special section on
178 * IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE * SEPTEMBER 2021
" New Frontiers in Smart Factories: Smart
Automation and Human-Robot Interaction "
has been proposed to the editorin-chief
and the editorial board of IEEE
Transactions on Automation Science
and Engineering (TASE). The special
section received 25 manuscripts for
possible consideration, and the reviews
are currently ongoing at the time of
writing. This special section is expected
to be published in the October 2021
issue of TASE.
The TC cochairs have also been very
active in other editorial activities in
both IEEE and non-IEEE journals, contributing
to the following: (IEEE) " Special
Issue on Emerging Social Internet
of Things: Recent Advances and Applications, "
IEEE Internet of Things Journal,
2017; " Special Issue on Advancing Intelligent
Automation in Sharing Economy, "
TASE, 2018; and the " Special
Section on Cyber-Physical Systems, "
IEEE Access, 2019; (non IEEE) " Special
Issue on Emerging Edge-of-Things
Computing: Opportunities and Challenges, "
Future Generation Computer
Systems, 2018; and the " Special Issue on
Pushing Artificial Intelligence to Edge:
Emerging Trends, Issues, and Challenges, "
Engineering Applications of
Artificial Intelligence, 2020. The co -
chairs have also given keynote/plenary
speeches, such as " Internet of Things
and Smart Systems-the Next Industrial
Revolution, " at the 2018 International
Conference on Robotics and
Automation Sciences in Wuhan, China,
and " Smart Manufacturing Ecosystem
with Industry 4.0 Technologies, " at
CASE 2019, Vancouver, Canada.
Summary of Top Three Technical
Innovations in the Two TC
Constitutive Subfields
All of the TC cochairs have been very
active in the TC subfields, implementing
several related tasks and projects. The
top three technical innovations in the TC
subfields are hereby summarized as a
description of the outcomes and relevant
achievements deriving from completed
projects, although mainly related to the
TC chair. The TC cochairs' recent work
and projects, i.e., on the environmental,
social, and governance blockchain

https://www.santannapisa.it/it/istituto/biorobotica/news/iros-2020-international-workshop-robots-building-robots-digital https://www.santannapisa.it/it/istituto/biorobotica/news/iros-2020-international-workshop-robots-building-robots-digital https://www.santannapisa.it/it/istituto/biorobotica/news/iros-2020-international-workshop-robots-building-robots-digital https://www.santannapisa.it/it/istituto/biorobotica/news/dinosaurs-vs-unicorns-time-covid-19-pandemic https://www.santannapisa.it/it/istituto/biorobotica/news/dinosaurs-vs-unicorns-time-covid-19-pandemic https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIKaqiuOhm-myWN47CZgETQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIKaqiuOhm-myWN47CZgETQ https://www.santannapisa.it/it/istituto/biorobotica/news/dinosaurs-vs-unicorns-time-covid-19-pandemic https://robocomplusplus.eu/2018/06/11/robocom-workshop-at-icra-2018/ https://robocomplusplus.eu/2018/06/11/robocom-workshop-at-icra-2018/ https://robocomplusplus.eu/2018/06/11/robocom-workshop-at-icra-2018/ https://www.imse.hku.hk/case2020/ThET5.html https://www.imse.hku.hk/case2020/ThET5.html

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2021