1. Robots in our environment

Whether we realize it or not, there are more and more robots all around us. Of course, there are those in factories working day and night that we can't get near, but there are also those that are close to us. We're not talking here about "bot" robots, which do nothing but talk and are often purely software systems, but, as Professor Jean-Paul Laumond of LAAS has dubbed them, "embedded" systems (i.e. with a physical body capable of setting itself in motion - motion being a specific feature of robots that we consider fundamental) with a certain level of autonomy (another specific feature of robots). Who hasn't been confronted with a robot vacuum cleaner, or a lawnmower, or even a more or less autonomous car that decides to brake when we don't? These robots generally have a well-defined functional task or role (vacuuming, mowing, moving) and provide us with totally functional "services". However,...