Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute will host the seventh annual IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Omni William Penn Hotel downtown. The conference is sponsored by the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers Robotics and Automation Society.

Highlights will include tours of the Robotics Institute on the Carnegie Mellon campus from 2 to 4 p.m., and 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 29, when students and faculty will demonstrate some of their latest research results, including autonomous footstep planning using Honda's famous ASIMO humanoid robot. Other humanoid-related projects will be demonstrated as well, including the Sarcos humanoid, Shadow Hand, Sony QRIO robots, Little Dog quadruped robot, and the electric cable differential leg, a single-legged walking robot.

The first day of the conference also will include workshops on humanoid soccer robots, robot vision, motion planning for humanoid robots and additional topics. The Friday and Saturday programs will consist of lectures and poster presentations from researchers around the world involved in humanoid robotics research.

"This is the most important international conference in the world for exchange of information in the diverse fields of humanoid technologies," said Carnegie Mellon Assistant Professor of Robotics James Kuffner, the conference chair. "Some very exciting, cutting-edge technology and scientific experiments involving humanoid robots internationally will be unveiled here in Pittsburgh next week."

For details of the conference, registration information and fees, see www.humanoids07.org.

About Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities. More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation. A small student-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between students and professors. While technology is pervasive on its 144-acre Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon is also distinctive among leading research universities for the world-renowned programs in its College of Fine Arts. A global university, Carnegie Mellon has campuses in Silicon Valley, Calif., and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia and Europe. For more, see www.cmu.edu.