The book explores technological advances in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), which is based on a variety of technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, machine learning, big data, additive printing, cloud computing, and virtual and augmented reality. Critically analyzing the impacts and effects of these disruptive technologies on various areas, including economics, society, business, government, labor, law, and environment, the book also provides a broad overview of 4IR, with a focus on technologies, to allow readers to gain a deeper understanding of the recent advances and future trajectories. It is intended for researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and industry leaders.

Improve the Safety, Flexibility, and Reliability of Autonomous Navigation in Complex Environments Autonomous Vehicle Navigation: From Behavioral to Hybrid Multi-Controller Architectures explores the use of multi-controller architectures in fully autonomous robot navigation-even in highly dynamic and cluttered environments. Accessible to researchers and graduate students involved in mobile robotics and fully autonomous vehicle navigation, the book presents novel techniques and concepts that address different complex mobile robot tasks. The author examines the development of reliable elementary controllers and proposes mechanisms to manage the interaction of these multi-controller architectures while addressing different constraints and enhancing metrics/criteria linked to the safety, flexibility, and reliability of the proposed control architectures. He covers the modeling of subtasks, reliable obstacle avoidance, appropriate stable control laws for target reaching/tracking, short- and long-term trajectory/waypoint planning, navigation through sequential waypoints, and the cooperative control and interaction of a group of mobile robots. The author's website provides MATLAB (R) and Simulink (R) source code of the main procedures related to the task modeling, planning, and control of mobile robots. It also includes videos showing the main simulations and experiments given in the text. In addition to flexible and bottom-up construction, multi-controller architectures can be formally analyzed to achieve reliable navigation in complex environments. This book reveals innovative control architectures that can lead to fully autonomous vehicle navigation in these challenging situations.

Communication and Control: Tools, Systems, and New Dimensions advocates a systems view of human communication in a time of intelligent, learning machines. This edited collection sheds new light on things as mundane yet still profoundly consequential (and seemingly "low-tech") as push buttons, pagers, and telemarketing systems. Contributors also investigate aspects of "remote control" related to education, organizational design, artificial intelligence, cyberwarfare, drones, and even binge-watching on Netflix. In line with a systems view, the collection takes up a media ecological view. This work will be of interest to students, scholars, and researchers in communication, new media, and technology.

This book applies the concepts and methods of psychoanalysis to the study of artificial intelligence (AI) and human-AI interaction. It develops a new, more fruitful approach for applying psychoanalysis to AI and machine behavior. It appeals to a broad range of scholars: philosophers working on psychoanalysis, technology, AI ethics, and cognitive sciences, psychoanalysts, psychologists, and computer scientists. The book is divided into four parts. The first part (Chapter 1) analyzes the concept of "machine behavior." The second part (Chapter 2) develops a reinterpretation of some fundamental Freudian and Lacanian concepts through Bruno Latour's actor-network theory. The third part (Chapters 3 and 4) focuses on the nature and structure of the algorithmic unconscious. The author claims that the unconscious roots of AI lie in a form of projective identification, i.e., an emotional and imaginative exchange between humans and machines. In the fourth part of the book (Chapter 5), the author advances the thesis that neuropsychoanalysis and the affective neurosciences can provide a new paradigm for research on artificial general intelligence. The Algorithmic Unconscious explores a completely new approach to AI, which can also be defined as a form of "therapy." Analyzing the projective identification processes that take place in groups of professional programmers and designers, as well as the "hidden" features of AI (errors, noise information, biases, etc.), represents an important tool to enable a healthy and positive relationship between humans and AI. Psychoanalysis is used as a critical space for reflection, innovation, and progress.

Visual Perception and Control of Underwater Robots covers theories and applications from aquatic visual perception and underwater robotics. Within the framework of visual perception for underwater operations, image restoration, binocular measurement, and object detection are addressed. More specifically, the book includes adversarial critic learning for visual restoration, NSGA-II-based calibration for binocular measurement, prior knowledge refinement for object detection, analysis of temporal detection performance, as well as the effect of the aquatic data domain on object detection. With the aid of visual perception technologies, two up-to-date underwater robot systems are demonstrated. The first system focuses on underwater robotic operation for the task of object collection in the sea. The second is an untethered biomimetic robotic fish with a camera stabilizer, its control methods based on visual tracking. The authors provide a self-contained and comprehensive guide to understand underwater visual perception and control. Bridging the gap between theory and practice in underwater vision, the book features implementable algorithms, numerical examples, and tests, where codes are publicly available. Additionally, the mainstream technologies covered in the book include deep learning, adversarial learning, evolutionary computation, robust control, and underwater bionics. Researchers, senior undergraduate and graduate students, and engineers dealing with underwater visual perception and control will benefit from this work.

The world is experiencing the beginning of a revolution in robotics and mechatronics. A key part of this revolution is integration with the Internet of Things and machine-to-machine interfaces. This networking of robotics and mechatronics promises significant market opportunities for a new generation of robots. The basic theory and procedures for the design and development of practical robotics and mechatronics are important for all students and engineers who wish to engage in the field and this book provides an essential introduction to this, describing how to successfully create practical robotics and mechatronics. It is based on the author's 30 years of experience of robotics development in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., JAMSTEC, and Nagasaki University, and contains many examples of real-world robots from new underwater vehicles, ships, robotic fish, unmanned aviation robotics, to space robotics, and medical robotics.

This book supports readers in the development of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) pilot training simulator by exploiting open-source or free gaming software and emphasizing the importance of using established and widely-available game design techniques to provide engaging scenarios for ROV training developers and trainees. There is no such book to guide the users to create an open-source virtual simulator for pilot training in the marine and offshore industry. This book can be used as a reference for undergraduate and postgraduate students, engineers, researchers, and lecturers in VR simulation using UnityTM as the leading software. Some of the key features of the book include: * Step-by-step procedures in development ROV pilot training simulator * Use of open-source software UnityTM that is freely available to all readers * The codes used in the book are self-sufficient as there are no codes hidden from readers

Since its inception in 1996, FSR, the biannual "International Conference on Field and Service Robotics" has published archival volumes of high reference value. This unique collection is the post-conference proceedings of the 4th FSR in Lake Yamanaka, Japan at July 2003. This book edited by Shina (TM)ichi Yuta, Hajime Asama, Sebastian Thrun, Erwin Prassler and Takashi Tsubouchi is rich by topics and authoritative contributors and presents the current developments and new directions in field and service robotics. The contents of these contributions represent a cross-section of the current state of robotics research from one particular aspect: field and service applications, and how they reflect on the theoretical basis of subsequent developments. Pursuing technologies aimed at realizing skilful, smart, reliable, robust field and service robots is the big challenge running throughout this focused collection.

Grasping in Robotics contains original contributions in the field of grasping in robotics with a broad multidisciplinary approach. This gives the possibility of addressing all the major issues related to robotized grasping, including milestones in grasping through the centuries, mechanical design issues, control issues, modelling achievements and issues, formulations and software for simulation purposes, sensors and vision integration, applications in industrial field and non-conventional applications (including service robotics and agriculture). The contributors to this book are experts in their own diverse and wide ranging fields. This multidisciplinary approach can help make Grasping in Robotics of interest to a very wide audience. In particular, it can be a useful reference book for researchers, students and users in the wide field of grasping in robotics from many different disciplines including mechanical design, hardware design, control design, user interfaces, modelling, simulation, sensors and humanoid robotics. It could even be adopted as a reference textbook in specific PhD courses.

A social robot is a robot that interacts and communicates with humans or other autonomous physical agents by following social behaviors and rules attached to its role. We seem to accept the use of robots that perform dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs. But how far do we want to go with the automation of care for children and the elderly, or the killing of terrorists? Would we be setting humanity aside if we accepted such automation? Just Ordinary Robots: Automation from Love to War provides a socially involved, yet sober, view into the new age of robots. It supplies a cutting-edge look at robot technologies, including what these technologies are capable of and the ethical and regulatory questions they raise. The book surveys the various types of social robots and examines their social significance in homes, health care, traffic, the police, and the military. Considering the technical characteristics and societal expectations of robots in these areas, it explores what is possible right now in terms of robot technologies. It also looks into the social, ethical, and regulatory issues future robot technologies will create. The text provides authoritative insights into the social significance of robots for the medium and long term. Illustrating the political, administrative, and regulatory consequences related to each area, it highlights key points that need to be publicly discussed or put on the agenda by today's politicians and policy makers.

This book presents extensive research on two main problems in robotics: the path planning problem and the multi-robot task allocation problem. It is the first book to provide a comprehensive solution for using these techniques in large-scale environments containing randomly scattered obstacles. The research conducted resulted in tangible results both in theory and in practice. For path planning, new algorithms for large-scale problems are devised and implemented and integrated into the Robot Operating System (ROS). The book also discusses the parallelism advantage of cloud computing techniques to solve the path planning problem, and, for multi-robot task allocation, it addresses the task assignment problem and the multiple traveling salesman problem for mobile robots applications. In addition, four new algorithms have been devised to investigate the cooperation issues with extensive simulations and comparative performance evaluation. The algorithms are implemented and simulated in MATLAB and Webots.

This book presents the latest research on mechatronic systems engineering. By bringing together the most important papers from the 2018 Mechatronics Forum Conference 'Reinventing Mechatronics,' it outlines key trends in research and applications that will define mechatronics for the next 50 years. Mechatronics was established as an engineering discipline over 50 years ago, as the integration of electronics and information technology with mechanical design. Given major technological advances and the growth of systems-level concepts such as Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things, along with Cloud Technologies and Big Data, it's now high time to reconsider the role of mechatronics, particularly within engineering design. Past and ongoing technological changes are impacting how systems are designed and configured in ways that could never have been envisaged when the field of mechatronics was first introduced.

This unique reference represents a cross-section of forefront robotics research, ranging from robotics and systems to learning, autonomy and failure detection, from vision and navigation to localization and mapping, which are based on the papers presented at the 1st European Robotics Symposium (EUROS-06) held in Palermo, Italy from 16-18 March, 2006. The European Robotics Symposium (EUROS) is a brand-new International scientific event promoted by EURON, the European Robotics Network.

In this book, we present our systematic investigations into consensus in multi-agent systems. We show the design and analysis of various types of consensus protocols from a multi-agent perspective with a focus on min-consensus and its variants. We also discuss second-order and high-order min-consensus. A very interesting topic regarding the link between consensus and path planning is also included. We show that a biased min-consensus protocol can lead to the path planning phenomenon, which means that the complexity of shortest path planning can emerge from a perturbed version of min-consensus protocol, which as a case study may encourage researchers in the field of distributed control to rethink the nature of complexity and the distance between control and intelligence. We also illustrate the design and analysis of consensus protocols for nonlinear multi-agent systems derived from an optimal control formulation, which do not require solving a Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation. The book was written in a self-contained format. For each consensus protocol, the performance is verified through simulative examples and analyzed via mathematical derivations, using tools like graph theory and modern control theory. The book's goal is to provide not only theoretical contributions but also explore underlying intuitions from a methodological perspective.

This book presents a selection of conference contributions from CARO'13 (Conference on Aerospace Robotics), which was held in Warsaw from July 1 to 3, 2013. It presents the most important and crucial problems of space automation in context of future exploration programs. These programs could involve such issues as space situational awareness program, planetary protection, exploitation of minerals, assembly, manufacturing, and search for new habitable location for next human generations. The future exploration of Space and related activities will involve robots. In particular, new autonomous robots need to be developed with high degree of intelligence. Such robots would make space exploration possible but also they would make space automation an important factor in variety of activities related to Space.

Computational Biomechanics for Medicine: Solid and fluid mechanics for the benefit of patients contributions and papers from the MICCAI Computational Biomechanics for Medicine Workshop help in conjunction with Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention conference (MICCAI 2019) in Shenzhen, China. The content is dedicated to research in the field of methods and applications of computational biomechanics to medical image analysis, image-guided surgery, surgical simulation, surgical intervention planning, disease prognosis and diagnostics, analysis of injury mechanisms, implant and prostheses design, as well as artificial organ design and medical robotics. These proceedings appeal to researchers, students and professionals in the field.

Numerical Algorithms: Methods for Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Graphics presents a new approach to numerical analysis for modern computer scientists. Using examples from a broad base of computational tasks, including data processing, computational photography, and animation, the textbook introduces numerical modeling and algorithmic design from a practical standpoint and provides insight into the theoretical tools needed to support these skills. The book covers a wide range of topics-from numerical linear algebra to optimization and differential equations-focusing on real-world motivation and unifying themes. It incorporates cases from computer science research and practice, accompanied by highlights from in-depth literature on each subtopic. Comprehensive end-of-chapter exercises encourage critical thinking and build students' intuition while introducing extensions of the basic material. The text is designed for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in computer science and related fields with experience in calculus and linear algebra. For students with a background in discrete mathematics, the book includes some reminders of relevant continuous mathematical background.

This book describes visual perception and control methods for robotic systems that need to interact with the environment. Multiple view geometry is utilized to extract low-dimensional geometric information from abundant and high-dimensional image information, making it convenient to develop general solutions for robot perception and control tasks. In this book, multiple view geometry is used for geometric modeling and scaled pose estimation. Then Lyapunov methods are applied to design stabilizing control laws in the presence of model uncertainties and multiple constraints.

Mobile robots have been increasingly applied in many different scenarios, such as space exploration and search and rescue, where the robots are required to travel over uneven terrain while outdoors. This book provides a new framework and the related algorithms for designing autonomous mobile robotic systems in such unknown outdoor environments.

From AI to Robotics: Mobile, Social, and Sentient Robots is a journey into the world of agent-based robotics and it covers a number of interesting topics, both in the theory and practice of the discipline. The book traces the earliest ideas for autonomous machines to the mythical lore of ancient Greece and ends the last chapter with a debate on a prophecy set in the apparent future, where human beings and robots/technology may merge to create superior beings - the era of transhumanism. Throughout the text, the work of leading researchers is presented in depth, which helps to paint the socio-economic picture of how robots are transforming our world and will continue to do so. This work is presented along with the influences and ideas from futurists, such as Asimov, Moravec, Lem, Vinge, and of course Kurzweil. The book furthers the discussion with concepts of Artificial Intelligence and how it manifests in robotic agents. Discussions across various topics are presented in the book, including control paradigm, navigation, software, multi-robot systems, swarm robotics, robots in social roles, and artificial consciousness in robots. These discussions help to provide an overall picture of current day agent- based robotics and its prospects for the future. Examples of software and implementation in hardware are covered in Chapter 5 to encourage the imagination and creativity of budding robot enthusiasts. The book addresses several broad themes, such as AI in theory versus applied AI for robots, concepts of anthropomorphism, embodiment and situatedness, extending theory of psychology and animal behavior to robots, and the proposal that in the future, AI may be the new definition of science. Behavior-based robotics is covered in Chapter 2 and retells the debate between deliberative and reactive approaches. The text reiterates that the effort of modern day robotics is to replicate human-like intelligence and behavior, and the tools that a roboticist has at his or her disposal are open source software, which is often powered by crowd-sourcing. Open source meta-projects, such as Robot Operating System (ROS), etc. are briefly discussed in Chapter 5. The ideas and themes presented in the book are supplemented with cartoons, images, schematics and a number of special sections to make the material engaging for the reader. Designed for robot enthusiasts - researchers, students, or the hobbyist, this comprehensive book will entertain and inspire anyone interested in the exciting world of robots.

This book endeavours to highlight the untapped potential of Smart Agriculture for the innovation and expansion of the agriculture sector. The sector shall make incremental progress as it learns from associations between data over time through Artificial Intelligence, deep learning and Internet of Things applications. The farming industry and Smart agriculture develop from the stringent limits imposed by a farm's location, which in turn has a series of related effects with respect to supply chain management, food availability, biodiversity, farmers' decision-making and insurance, and environmental concerns among others. All of the above-mentioned aspects will derive substantial benefits from the implementation of a data-driven approach under the condition that the systems, tools and techniques to be used have been designed to handle the volume and variety of the data to be gathered. Contributions to this book have been solicited with the goal of uncovering the possibilities of engaging agriculture with equipped and effective profound learning algorithms. Most agricultural research centres are already adopting Internet of Things for the monitoring of a wide range of farm services, and there are significant opportunities for agriculture administration through the effective implementation of Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Big Data and IoT structures.

Europe has paid a high price for asbestos, with over 100 000 related deaths. First in line in the fight to free buildings from asbestos contamination, workers in the construction sector could soon find a helping hand in the form of an AI-piloted robotic system. The constant and multifaceted evolution of society has left very few industries unchanged. For most sectors, this has meant moving towards increased automation. Most, but not all. One unyielding sector has largely stayed true to its old ways: the construction sector. For the past 200 years, the same repetitive, standardised and physically challenging construction tasks have been performed by workers with their own two hands. But this could change soon, as emerging voices - some of which decided to stand together under the Bots2ReC (Robots to Re-Construction) project - have been calling for the sector to embrace automation. The reasoning behind Bots2ReC is simple: some tasks are simply too hazardous for humans to perform, and machines could easily replace them. Besides the exposure, some processes or the materials handled in those processes generate health hazards in the form of dust, vibration, noise or toxic substances. It is precisely for these tasks that we could expect great benefits from - and also show the massive potential of - automation to achieve sustainable socio-ecological improvements. With its focus on asbestos, the EU H2020 Bots2ReC project is focusing on reducing the future health burden on workers. There is little doubt that the cost of the technology will easily be counterbalanced by its high social benefit and economic efficiency. This books presents the findings and results of the Bots2ReC project, and should be useful for Construction and Robotics Engineers, as well as graduate level students and researchers active in these fields.

Rapid technological advances in the field of robotics and autonomous systems (RAS) are transforming the international security environment and the conduct of contemporary conflict. Bringing together leading experts from across the globe, this book provides timely analysis on the current and future challenges associated with greater utilization of RAS by states, their militaries, and a host of non-state actors. Technologically driven change in the international security environment can come about through the development of one significant technology, such as the atomic bomb. At other times, it results from several technologies maturing at roughly the same pace. This second image better reflects the rapid technological change that is taking us into the robotics age. Many of the chapters in this edited volume explore unresolved ethical, legal, and operational challenges that are only likely to become more complex as RAS technology matures. Though the precise ways in which the impact of autonomous systems - both physical and non-physical - will be felt in the long-run is hidden from us, attempting to anticipate the direction of travel remains an important undertaking and one that this book makes a critical effort to contend with. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Small Wars & Insurgencies.

This volume gathers the latest fundamental research contributions, innovations, and applications in the field of design and analysis of complex robotic mechanical systems, machines, and mechanisms, as presented by leading international researchers at the 1st USCToMM Symposium on Mechanical Systems and Robotics (USCToMM MSR 2020), held in Rapid City, South Dakota, USA on May 14-16, 2020. It covers highly diverse topics, including soft, wearable and origami robotic systems; applications to walking, flying, climbing, underground, swimming and space systems; human rehabilitation and performance augmentation; design and analysis of mechanisms and machines; human-robot collaborative systems; service robotics; mechanical systems and robotics education; and the commercialization of mechanical systems and robotics. The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, highlight numerous exciting and impactful research results that will inspire novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary research collaborations among researchers from around the globe.

Evolutionary computation, a broad field that includes genetic algorithms, evolution strategies, and evolutionary programming, has proven to offer well-suited techniques for industrial and management tasks - therefore receiving considerable attention from scientists and engineers during the last decade. This monograph develops and analyzes evolutionary algorithms that can be successfully applied to real-world problems such as robotic control. Although of particular interest to robotic control engineers, Evolutionary Computations also may interest the large audience of researchers, engineers, designers and graduate students confronted with complicated optimization tasks.