Robotics and Artificial Intelligence are closely related areas though their research interests and topics diverted in past. Recently, the progress in both areas brings robotics and artificial intelligence together again and higher-level deliberative functions such as action planning are being integrated into usually reactive robotics systems to increase their autonomy as well as to simplify their control. The special track addresses research results on the border between robotics (and general intelligent agents) and AI techniques with the aim to bridge the enlarging gap between the areas.

The goal of the track is bringing researchers for now diverted areas of robotics, intelligent agents, and artificial intelligence back together to work on novel integrated approaches for development of autonomous systems, both physical and virtual.

This track is intended to AI community that applies own results in real environments using physical (robots) and virtual agents as well as to researchers in related areas namely robotics, computer games, and intelligent agents to present own challenges and solutions and to grasp novel AI techniques applicable in real-life problems.

The Florida AI Research Society (FLAIRS) hosts the conference in cooperation with the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) since 1988 so FLAIRS is one of the oldest AI conferences. The 35-th conference is organized at Hutchinson Shores Resort&Spa, Hutchinson Island, Jensen Beach, Florida, USA in May 15-18, 2022.

This is the ninth edition of the special track, the previous editions were organized at 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Papers and contributions are encouraged for any work relating to increasing autonomy and reasoning capabilities of agents either physical (robots) or virtual (such as game characters). We in particular encourage submissions that are integrating approaches and methods from different areas and contribute to bridging more research areas such as robotics, computer games, and intelligent agents. Topics of interest may include (but are in no way limited to):

• system architectures bridging sensory and action elements with reasoning capabilities
• perception, processing and action: sensors, vision, motion systems
• planning domain/world representation for real-life problems
• automated extraction/acquisition of planning domain/world models
• goal reasoning
• life-long autonomy
• motion, path, and action planning
• planning and execution
• robot control and behavior: localization, navigation, planning, simulation, visualization, virtual reality modeling
• evolutionary and cognitive robotics
• entertainment robotics
• applications of autonomous intelligent robots: robots for exploration, service, hazardous environments, …
• intelligent virtual agents, autonomous characters, and computer games

Interested authors should format their papers according to FLAIRS formatting guidelines. The papers should be original work (i.e., not accepted, in submission, or submitted to another conference while in review) and should not exceed 6 pages (4 pages for a poster). For FLAIRS-35, the 2022 conference, the reviewing is a double blind process. Please do not disclose your name and affiliation in the paper. Papers must be submitted as PDF through the EasyChair conference system, which can also be accessed through the main conference web site. Note: do not use a fake name for your EasyChair login - your EasyChair account information is hidden from reviewers. Authors should indicate the Autonomous Robots and Agents special track for submissions. The submission is a two-step process. First, the abstract of the paper needs to be registered in EasyChair by February 7, 2022. Then, the full paper in PDF is due by February 14, 2022. Remember, without registering your abstract on time, you will not be allowed to submit the paper later.

FLAIRS requires that there be at least one full author registration per paper and presentation during the conference (on-line presentation will be possible). Accepted papers will be published by FloridaOJ.

Abstract submission deadline: 7th February 2022
Paper submission deadline: 14th February 2022
Notification of paper decisions: 11th March 2022
AUTHOR registration: 18th March 2022
Camera-ready version of papers due: 29th March 2022

All dates are assumed as midnight anywhere on Earth.

• Yash Bansod, Sunandita Patra, Dana Nau and Mark Roberts: HTN Replanning from the Middle
• Jérémie Donjat, Amélie Legeleux, Cédric Buche and Dominique Duhaut: Temporal Alignment and Demonstration Selection as Pre-processing Phase for Learning by Demonstration
• Belal Hmedan, Dorilys Kilgus, Humbert Fiorino, Aurélie Landry and Damien Pellier: Adapting Cobot behavior to Human Task Ordering Variability for Assembly Tasks
• Amélie Legeleux, Cédric Buche and Dominique Duhaut: Gaussian Mixture Model with Weighted Data for Learning by Demonstration
• Mark McArthur, Yashar Moshfeghi and Michael Cashmore: EgoPlan: A Framework for Multi-Agent Planning Using Single Agent Planners
• Simona Ondrčková, Roman Barták, Pascal Bercher and Gregor Behnke: On Heuristics for Parsing-based Verification of Hierarchical Plans with a Goal Task
• Sunandita Patra, Mark Cavolowsky, Onur Kulaksizoglu, Ruoxi Li, Laura Hiatt, Mak Roberts and Dana Nau: A Hierarchical Goal-Biased Curriculum for Training Reinforcement Learning
• Jack Vice, Gita Sukthankar and Pamela Douglas: Leveraging Evolutionary Algorithms for Feasible Hexapod Locomotion Across Uneven Terrain
• Robert Wilson, David King and Gilbert Peterson: Evolution of Combined Arms Tactics in Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Teams