An International Conference on Robotics and Factories of the Future was held on December 4-7, 1984 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. The development of technology and the status as it stands today is highly multidisciplinary and complex in nature. It has added new dimensions and challenges in the development of factories of the future. Thus it calls upon an integrated approach of technological, economic and sociological impacts of robots and computers in factories of the future. Sessions in this conference included: Planning of Automation, Future Trends & Management, Integration of CAD/CAM & Robot Cell, Robots Applications, Manipulation I, Controls I, Manipulation II, Computer Vision and Sensors, Robot Cell and Mobile Robot, Controls II, Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Applications of Robots, Industrial Panel, CAD/CAM and Flexible Manufacturing, Robotics and CAD/CAM Education I, Social and Economic Implications, Robotics and CAD/CAM Education II, and Industry and User Interaction. 142 papers were presented during the conference and participants came from 18 countries. The plenary session and keynote speakers were: J. M. Kelly, IBM Quality Institute, Southbury, Connecticut; M. E. Merchant, Metcut Research, Cincinnati, Ohio; Stellio Demark, ASEA Robotics, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Stanley J. Polcyn, Unimation Inc., Danbury, Connecticut; Carl Ruoff, Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, California; Joseph Tulkoff, Lockheed Georgia Company, Marietta, Georgia; N. M. Swani, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India; James R. Barrett, Computer Vision, Bedford, Maryland; Hadi A. Akeel, GMF Robotics, Troy, Michigan; John M.