This book contains the proceedings of the 11th FSR (Field and Service Robotics), which is the leading single-track conference on applications of robotics in challenging environments. This conference was held in Zurich, Switzerland from 12-15 September 2017. The book contains 45 full-length, peer-reviewed papers organized into a variety of topics: Control, Computer Vision, Inspection, Machine Learning, Mapping, Navigation and Planning, and Systems and Tools. The goal of the book and the conference is to report and encourage the development and experimental evaluation of field and service robots, and to generate a vibrant exchange and discussion in the community. Field robots are non-factory robots, typically mobile, that operate in complex and dynamic environments: on the ground (Earth or other planets), under the ground, underwater, in the air or in space. Service robots are those that work closely with humans to help them with their lives. The first FSR was held in Canberra, Australia, in 1997. Since that first meeting, FSR has been held roughly every two years, cycling through Asia, Americas, and Europe.

This volume presents a collection of papers presented at the 16th International Symposium of Robotic Research (ISRR). ISRR is the biennial meeting of the International Foundation of Robotic Research (IFRR) and its 16th edition took place in Singapore over the period 16th to 19th December 2013. The ISRR is the longest running series of robotics research meetings and dates back to the very earliest days of robotics as a research discipline. This 16th ISRR meeting was held in the 30th anniversary year of the very first meeting which took place in Bretton Woods (New Hampshire, USA) in August 1983., and represents thirty years at the forefront of ideas in robotics research. As for the previous symposia, ISRR 2013 followed up on the successful concept of a mixture of invited contributions and open submissions. 16 of the contributions were invited contributions from outstanding researchers selected by the IFRR officers and the program committee, and the other contributions were chosen among the open submissions after peer review. This selection process resulted in a truly excellent technical program which featured some of the very best of robotic research. These papers were presented in a single-track interactive format which enables real conversations between speakers and the audience. The symposium contributions contained in this volume report on a variety of new robotics research results covering a broad spectrum organized into traditional ISRR categories: control; design; intelligence and learning; manipulation; perception; and planning.

This book contains fifty-eight revised and extended research articles written by prominent researchers participating in the Advances in Engineering Technologies and Physical Science conference, held in London, U.K., 4-6 July, 2012. Topics covered include Applied and Engineering Mathematics, Computational Statistics, Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering, Internet Engineering, Wireless Networks, Knowledge Engineering, Computational Intelligence, High Performance Computing, Manufacturing Engineering, and industrial applications. The book offers the state of art of tremendous advances in engineering technologies and physical science and applications, and also serves as an excellent reference work for researchers and graduate students working on engineering technologies and physical science and applications.

FSR, the International Conference on Field and Service Robotics, is the leading single track conference of robotics for field and service applications. This book presents the results of FSR2012, the eighth conference of Field and Service Robotics, which was originally planned for 2011 with the venue of Matsushima in Tohoku region of Japan. However, on March 11, 2011, a magnitude M9.0 earthquake occurred off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, and a large-scale disaster was caused by the Tsunami which resulted, therefore the conference was postponed by one year to July, 2012. In fact, this earthquake raised issues concerning the contribution of field and service robotics technology to emergency scenarios. A number of precious lessons were learned from operation of robots in the resulting, very real and challenging, disaster environments. Up-to-date study on disaster response, relief and recovery was then featured in the conference. This book offers 43 papers on a broad range of topics including: Disaster Response, Service/Entertainment Robots, Inspection/Maintenance Robots, Mobile Robot Navigation, Agricultural Robots, Robots for Excavation, Planetary Exploration, Large Area Mapping, SLAM for Outdoor Robots, and Elemental Technology for Mobile Robots.

Snake Robots is a novel treatment of theoretical and practical topics related to snake robots: robotic mechanisms designed to move like biological snakes and able to operate in challenging environments in which human presence is either undesirable or impossible. Future applications of such robots include search and rescue, inspection and maintenance, and subsea operations. Locomotion in unstructured environments is a focus for this book. The text targets the disparate muddle of approaches to modelling, development and control of snake robots in current literature, giving a unified presentation of recent research results on snake robot locomotion to increase the reader's basic understanding of these mechanisms and their motion dynamics and clarify the state of the art in the field. The book is a complete treatment of snake robotics, with topics ranging from mathematical modelling techniques, through mechatronic design and implementation, to control design strategies. The development of two snake robots is described and both are used to provide experimental validation of many of the theoretical results. Snake Robots is written in a clear and easily understandable manner which makes the material accessible by specialists in the field and non-experts alike. Numerous illustrative figures and images help readers to visualize the material. The book is particularly useful to new researchers taking on a topic related to snake robots because it provides an extensive overview of the snake robot literature and also represents a suitable starting point for research in this area.

This book focuses on advanced optical finishing techniques and design for high-performance manufacturing systems. It provides numerous detailed examples of how advanced automation techniques have been applied to optical fabrication processes. The simulations, removal rate and accurate experimental results offer useful resources for engineering practice. Researchers, engineers and graduate students working in optical engineering and precision manufacture engineering will benefit from this book.

With the intriguing development of technologies in several industries, along with the advent of ubiquitous computational resources, there are now ample opportunities to develop innovative computational technologies in order to solve a wide range of issues concerning uncertainty, imprecision, and vagueness in various real-life problems. The challenge of blending modern computational techniques with traditional computing methods has inspired researchers and academics alike to focus on developing innovative computational techniques. In the near future, computational techniques may provide vital solutions by effectively using evolving technologies such as computer vision, natural language processing, deep learning, machine learning, scientific computing, and computational vision. A vast number of intelligent computational algorithms are emerging, along with increasing computational power, which has significantly expanded the potential for developing intelligent applications. These proceedings of the International Conference on Inventive Computation Technologies [ICICT 2019] cover innovative computing applications in the areas of data mining, big data processing, information management, and security.

Micro/Nano Robotics and Automation technologies have rapidly grown associated with the growth of Micro and Nanotechnologies. This book presents a summary of fundamentals in micro-nano scale engineering and the current state of the art of these technologies. "Micro-Nanorobotic Manipulation Systems and their Applications" introduces these advanced technologies from the basics and applications aspects of Micro/Nano-Robotics and Automation from the prospective micro/nano-scale manipulation. The book is organized in 9 chapters including an overview chapter of Micro/Nanorobotics and Automation technology from the historical view and important related research works. Further chapters are devoted to the physics of micro-nano fields as well as to material and science, microscopes, fabrication technology, importance of biological cell, and control techniques. Furthermore important examples, applications and a concise summary of Micro-Nanorobotics and Automation technologies are given.

Session 1 includes 109 papers selected from 2011 3rd International Asia Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (CAR 2011), held on December 24-25, 2011, Shenzhen, China. This session will act as an international forum for researchers and practitioners interested in the advances in and applications of Intelligent Control Systems. It is an opportunity to present and observe the latest research, results, and ideas in these areas. Intelligent control is a rapidly developing, complex, and challenging field of increasing practical importance and still greater potential. Its applications have a solid core in robotics and mechatronics but branch out into areas as diverse as process control, automotive industry, medical equipment, renewable energy and air conditioning. So, this session will aim to strengthen relationships between industry, research laboratories and universities. All papers published in session 1 will be peer evaluated by at least two conference reviewers. Acceptance will be based primarily on originality and contribution.

Advances in research have led to the use of robotics in a range of surgical applications. Medical robotics: Minimally invasive surgery provides authoritative coverage of the core principles, applications and future potential of this enabling technology.
Beginning with an introduction to robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (MIS), the core technologies of the field are discussed, including localization and tracking technologies for medical robotics. Key applications of robotics in laparoscopy, neurology, cardiovascular interventions, urology and orthopaedics are considered, as well as applications for ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgery, vitreoretinal surgery and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES). Microscale mobile robots for the circulatory system and mesoscale robots for the gastrointestinal tract are investigated, as is MRI-based navigation for in vivo magnetic microrobots. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion of ethical issues related to the use of robotics in surgery.
With its distinguished editor and international team of expert contributors, Medical robotics: Minimally invasive surgery is a comprehensive guide for all those working in the research, design, development and application of medical robotics for surgery. It also provides an authoritative introduction for academics and medical practitioners working in this field.
Provides authoritative coverage of the core principles, applications and future potential of medical roboticsIntroduces robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (MIS), including the core technologies of the field and localization and tracking technologies for medical roboticsConsiders key applications of robotics in laparoscopy, neurology, cardiovascular interventions, urology and orthopaedics

This book discusses the intelligent optimization and control of complex metallurgical processes, including intelligent optimization and control of raw-material proportioning processes, coking process, and reheating furnaces; intelligent control of thermal state parameters in sintering processes; and intelligent decoupling control of gas collection and mixing-and-pressurization processes. The intelligent control and optimization methods presented were originally applied to complex metallurgical processes by the authors, and their effectiveness and their advantages have been theoretically proven and demonstrated practically. This book offers an up-to-date overview of this active research area, and provides readers with state-of-the-art methods for the control of complex metallurgical processes.

"Nonholonomic Motion Planning" grew out of the Workshop on Nonholonomic Motion Planning that took place at the 1991 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. It consists of contributed chapters representing new developments in this area. Contributors to the book include robotics engineers, nonlinear control experts, differential geometres and applied mathematics. The book is arranged around three chapter groups: controllability - one of the key mathematical tools needed to study nonholonomic motion; motion planning for mobile robots - focusing on problems with nonholonomic velocity constraints as well as constraints on the generalized co-ordinates; and falling cats, space robots and gauge theory. There are numerous connections to be made between symplectic geometry techniques for the study of holonomies in mechanics, gauge theory and control. In this section these connections are discussed using the backdrop of examples drawn from space robots and falling cats reorienting themselves. "Nonholonomic Motion Planning" can be used either as a reference for researchers working in the areas of robotics, nonlinear control and differential geometry, or as a textbook for a graduate level robotics or nonlinear control course.

The first volume of the Adaptive Environments series focuses on Robotic Building, which refers to both physically built robotic environments and robotically supported building processes. Physically built robotic environments consist of reconfigurable, adaptive systems incorporating sensor-actuator mechanisms that enable buildings to interact with their users and surroundings in real-time. These require Design-to-Production and Operation chains that are numerically controlled and (partially or completely) robotically driven. From architectured materials, on- and off-site robotic production to robotic building operation augmenting everyday life, the volume examines achievements of the last decades and outlines potential future developments in Robotic Building. This book offers an overview of the developments within robotics in architecture so far, and explains the future possibilities of this field. The study of interactions between human and non-human agents at building, design, production and operation level will interest readers seeking information on architecture, design-to-robotic-production and design-to-robotic-operation.  The chapter "Robotic Building as Integration of Design-to-Robotic-Production and -Operation" of this book is available open access under a CC by 4.0  license at link.springer.com 

This book explores the development of humanoid robots for helping children with autism develop social skills based on fieldwork in the UK and the USA. Robotic scientists propose that robots can therapeutically help children with autism because there is a "special" affinity between them and mechanical things. This idea is supported by autism experts that claim those with autism have a preference for things over other persons. Autism is also seen as a gendered condition, with men considered less social and therefore more likely to have the condition. The author explores how these experiments in cultivating social skills in children with autism using robots, while focused on a unique subsection, is the model for a new kind of human-thing relationship for wider society across the capitalist world where machines can take on the role of the "you" in the relational encounter. Moreover, underscoring this is a form of consciousness that arises out of specific forms of attachment styles.

Vision-based control of wheeled mobile robots is an interesting field of research from a scientific and even social point of view due to its potential applicability. This book presents a formal treatment of some aspects of control theory applied to the problem of vision-based pose regulation of wheeled mobile robots. In this problem, the robot has to reach a desired position and orientation, which are specified by a target image. It is faced in such a way that vision and control are unified to achieve stability of the closed loop, a large region of convergence, without local minima and good robustness against parametric uncertainty. Three different control schemes that rely on monocular vision as unique sensor are presented and evaluated experimentally. A common benefit of these approaches is that they are valid for imaging systems obeying approximately a central projection model, e.g., conventional cameras, catadioptric systems and some fisheye cameras. Thus, the presented control schemes are generic approaches. A minimum set of visual measurements, integrated in adequate task functions, are taken from a geometric constraint imposed between corresponding image features. Particularly, the epipolar geometry and the trifocal tensor are exploited since they can be used for generic scenes. A detailed experimental evaluation is presented for each control scheme.

This book aims at investigating PDE modeling and vibration control of some typical mechanical distributed parameter systems. Several control methods are proposed to realize stabilization of the closed-loop system with the help of mathematical tools and stability analysis methods. Besides, some common engineering problems, such as input and output constraints, are also involved in the control design. This book offers a comprehensive introduction of mechanical distributed parameter systems, including PDE modeling, controller design and stability analysis. The related fundamental mathematical tools and analytical approaches involving in the PDE modeling and controller are also provided, which broadens its reach to readers.

There isn't a facet of human life that has not been touched and influenced by robots and automation. What makes robots and machines versatile is their computational intelligence. While modern intelligent sensors and powerful hardware capabilities have given a huge fillip to the growth of intelligent machines, the progress in the development of algorithms for smart interaction, collaboration and pro-activeness will result in the next quantum jump.

This book deals with the recent advancements in design methodologies, algorithms and implementation techniques to incorporate intelligence in "robots and automation systems." Several articles deal with navigation, localization and mapping of mobile robots, a problem that engineers and researchers are grappling with all the time. Fuzzy logic, neural networks and neuro-fuzzy based techniques for real world applications have been detailed in a few articles.

This edited volume is targeted to present the latest state-of-the-art computational intelligence techniques in Robotics and Automation. It is a compilation of the extended versions of the very best papers selected from the many that were presented at the 5th International Conference on Automation, Robotics and Applications (ICARA 2011) which was held in Wellington, New Zealand from 6-8 December, 2011. Scientists and engineers who work with robots and automation systems will find this book very useful and stimulating.

Based on lecture notes on a space robotics course, this book offers a pedagogical introduction to the mechanics of space robots. After presenting an overview of the environments and conditions space robots have to work in, the author discusses a variety of manipulatory devices robots may use to perform their tasks. This is followed by a discussion of robot mobility in these environments and the various technical approaches. The last two chapters are dedicated to actuators, sensors and power systems used in space robots. This book fills a gap in the space technology literature and will be useful for students and for those who have an interest in the broad and highly interdisciplinary field of space robotics, and in particular in its mechanical aspects.

This book addresses two fundamental issues of motor control for both humans and robots: kinematic redundancy and the posture/movement problem. It blends traditional robotic constrained-optimal approaches with neuroscientific and evidence-based principles, proposing a "Task-space Separation Principle," a novel scheme for planning both posture and movement in redundant manipulators. The proposed framework is first tested in simulation and then compared with experimental motor strategies displayed by humans during redundant pointing tasks. The book also shows how this model builds on and expands traditional formulations such as the Passive Motion Paradigm and the Equilibrium Point Theory. Lastly, breaking with the neuroscientific tradition of planar movements and linear(ized) kinematics, the theoretical formulation and experimental scenarios are set in the nonlinear space of 3D rotations which are essential for wrist motions, a somewhat neglected area despite its importance in daily tasks.

This book primarily illustrates the rationale, design and technical realization/verification for the cooperative guidance and control systems (CGCSs) of missile autonomous formation (MAF). From the seven functions to the five major compositions of CGCS, the book systematically explains the theory and modeling, analysis, synthesis and design of CGCSs for MAF, including bionics-based theories. Further, the book addresses how to create corresponding digital simulation analysis systems, as well as hardware in the loop (HIL) simulation test systems and flight test systems, to evaluate the combat effectiveness of MAF. Lastly, it provides detailed information on digital simulation analysis for a large range of wind tunnel test data, as well as test results of HIL system simulations and embedded systems testing.

The book reports on the author's original work to address the use of today's state-of-the-art smartphones for human physical activity recognition. By exploiting the sensing, computing and communication capabilities currently available in these devices, the author developed a novel smartphone-based activity-recognition system, which takes into consideration all aspects of online human activity recognition, from experimental data collection, to machine learning algorithms and hardware implementation. The book also discusses and describes solutions to some of the challenges that arose during the development of this approach, such as real-time operation, high accuracy, low battery consumption and unobtrusiveness. It clearly shows that it is possible to perform real-time recognition of activities with high accuracy using current smartphone technologies. As well as a detailed description of the methods, this book also provides readers with a comprehensive review of the fundamental concepts in human activity recognition. It also gives an accurate analysis of the most influential works in the field and discusses them in detail. This thesis was supervised by both the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (primary institution) and University of Genoa (secondary institution) as part of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate in Interactive and Cognitive Environments.

This book contains research contributions from leading global scholars in nature-inspired computing. It includes comprehensive coverage of each respective topic, while also highlighting recent and future trends. The contributions provides readers with a snapshot of the state of the art in the field of nature-inspired computing and its application. This book has focus on the current researches while highlighting the empirical results along with theoretical concepts to provide a comprehensive reference for students, researchers, scholars, professionals and practitioners in the field of Advanced Artificial Intelligence, Nature-Inspired Algorithms and Soft Computing.

This open access book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 9th IFIP WG 5.5 International Precision Assembly Seminar, IPAS 2020, held virtually in December 2020.The 16 revised full papers and 10 revised short papers presented together with 1 keynote paper were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers address topics such as assembly design and planning; assembly operations; assembly cells and systems; human centred assembly; and assistance methods in assembly.