Book excerpt: The areas of intelligent machines or robotic systems is of enormous technological and economic interest as competition in productivity intensifies. This volume gives the proceedings of the 1990 Advanced Study Institute on Expert Systems and Robotics. It presents research work already accomplished in the analytical theory of intelligent machines, work in progress and of current interest and some specific examples for further research. The papers in the volume range from the most theoretical to some descriptions of very practical working robots. The papers are organized into sections on vision and image analysis, robotic sensory systems, software/hardware and system simulation, robot control, applications, and reports of group meetings.