Ulf Hashagen

Raul Rojas

This history of computing focuses not on chronology (what came first and who deserves credit for it) but on the actual architectures of the first machines that made electronic computing a practical reality. The book covers computers built in the United States, Germany, England, and Japan. It makes clear that similar concepts were often pursued simultaneously and that the early researchers explored many architectures beyond the von Neumann architecture that eventually became canonical. The contributors include not only historians but also engineers and computer pioneers. An introductory chapter describes the elements of computer architecture and explains why "being first" is even less interesting for computers than for other areas of technology. The essays contain a remarkable amount of new material, even on well-known machines, and several describe reconstructions of the historic machines. These investigations are of more than simply historical interest, for architectures designed to solve specific problems in the past may suggest new approaches to similar problems in today's machines. Contributors Titiimaea F. Ala'ilima, Lin Ping Ang, William Aspray, Friedrich L. Bauer, Andreas Brennecke, Chris P. Burton, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Paul Ceruzzi, I. Bernard Cohen, John Gustafson, Wilhelm Hopmann, Harry D. Huskey, Friedrich W. Kistermann, Thomas Lange, Michael S. Mahoney, R. B. E. Napper, Seiichi Okoma, Hartmut Petzold, Raúl Rojas, Anthony E. Sale, Robert W. Seidel, Ambros P. Speiser, Frank H. Sumner, James F. Tau, Jan Van der Spiegel, Eiiti Wada, Michael R. Williams

History and Architectures

The First Computers

Neural networks are a computing paradigm that is finding increasing attention among computer scientists. In this book, theoretical laws and models previously scattered in the literature are brought together into a general theory of artificial neural nets. Always with a view to biology and starting with the simplest nets, it is shown how the properties of models change when more general computing elements and net topologies are introduced. Each chapter contains examples, numerous illustrations, and a bibliography. The book is aimed at readers who seek an overview of the field or who wish to deepen their knowledge. It is suitable as a basis for university courses in neurocomputing.

A Systematic Introduction

Neural Networks

Gal A. Kaminka

Pedro U. Lima

RoboCup 2002, the 6th Robot World Cup Soccer and Rescue Competitions and Conference, took place during June 19–25, 2002, at the Fukuoka Dome (main venue) in Fukuoka, Japan. It was, by far, the RoboCup event with the largestnumberofregisteredparticipants(1004persons,distributedin188teams from 29 countries) and visitors (around 120,000 persons). As was done in its previous editions since 1997, the event included several robotic competitions and aninternationalsymposium.Thepapersandposterspresentedatthesymposium constitutethemainpartofthisbook.Leaguereportsinthe?nalsectiondescribe signi?cant advances in each league and the results. The symposium organizers received 76 submissions, among which 17 papers (22%) were accepted for oral presentation at the symposium (?rst section of the book), and 21 papers (29%) were accepted as posters (second section of the book). Most papers were evaluated by three reviewers each, chosen from the members of the International Program Committee (IPC). The IPC consisted of a balanced combination of regular RoboCup participants and researchers from outside this community. The reviewers worked hard to guarantee a fair review process – the result of their work was a high-quality symposium with very - teresting presentations.

J. H. Reed

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