Service Robots And Robotics Design And Application

"This book offers the latest research within the field of service robotics, using a mixture of case studies, research, and future direction in this burgeoning field of technology"--

We feel the impact of robots on our lives more and more every day. Service robots constitute the broadest and the most exciting applications in this field, such as; personal care and assistance, agriculture, logistics, mobility, medical, and defense-oriented robots. Since service robotics contains many different types of robots, the variety of problems to be solved is also large. Many popular robotic problems, ranging from mechanism design to simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), from motion planning to system security, can be examined in this context. You will find various examples and solutions for this critical area of robotics in this book. We hope that researchers interested in the subject will benefit from this book.

People have dreamed of machines, which would free them from unpleasant, dull, dirty and dangerous tasks and work for them as servants, for centuries if not millennia. Service robots seem to finally let these dreams come true. But where are all these robots that eventually serve us all day long, day for day? A few service robots have entered the market: domestic and professional cleaning robots, lawnmowers, milking robots, or entertainment robots. Some of these robots look more like toys or gadgets rather than real robots. But where is the rest? This is a question, which is asked not only by customers, but also by service providers, care organizations, politicians, and funding agencies. The answer is not very satisfying. Today’s service robots have their problems operating in everyday environments. This is by far more challenging than operating an industrial robot behind a fence. There is a comprehensive list of technical and scientific problems, which still need to be solved. To advance the state of the art in service robotics towards robots, which are capable of operating in an everyday environment, was the major objective of the DESIRE project (Deutsche Service Robotik Initiative – Germany Service Robotics Initiative) funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under grant no. 01IME01A. This book offers a sample of the results achieved in DESIRE.

Through expanded intelligence, the use of robotics has fundamentally transformed a variety of fields, including manufacturing, aerospace, medical, social services, and agriculture. Providing successful techniques in robotic design allows for increased autonomous mobility, which leads to a greater productivity level. Novel Design and Applications of Robotics Technologies provides innovative insights into the state-of-the-art technologies in the design and development of robotic technologies and their real-world applications. The content within this publication represents the work of interactive learning, microrobot swarms, and service robots. It is a vital reference source for computer engineers, robotic developers, IT professionals, academicians, and researchers seeking coverage on topics centered on the application of robotics to perform tasks in various disciplines.

This book is an attempt to address this wide topic with a multi-disciplinary approach. Nowadays, robotics is developing at a much faster pace than ever in the past, both inside and outside industrial environments. While other publications focus on describing the theoretical basis of robot motion, this book pays special attention to explain the fundamentals through real applications. Thus, it represents a perfect combination for studying this topic along with other theoretical books. Each chapter has been authored by experts in specific areas spanning from the mechanics of machinery to control theory, informatics, mechatronics. Chapters have been divided into two sections. The first one is aiming to give a theoretical background. The second section is focused on applications. This book project can be foreseen as a reference for young professionals/researchers to overview the most significant aspects in robotics.

The aim of this book is to provide new ideas, original results and practical experiences regarding service robotics. This book provides only a small example of this research activity, but it covers a great deal of what has been done in the field recently. Furthermore, it works as a valuable resource for researchers interested in this field.

This book contains mainly the selected papers of the First International Workshop on Medical and Service Robots, held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in 2012. The high quality of the scientific contributions is the result of a rigorous selection and improvement based on the participants’ exchange of opinions and extensive peer-review. This process has led to the publishing of the present collection of 16 independent valuable contributions and points of view and not as standard symposium or conference proceedings. The addressed issues are: Computational Kinematics, Mechanism Design, Linkages and Manipulators, Mechanisms for Biomechanics, Mechanics of Robots, Control Issues for Mechanical Systems, Novel Designs, Teaching Methods, all of these being concentrated around robotic systems for medical and service applications. The results are of interest to researchers and professional practitioners as well as to Ph.D. students in the field of mechanical and electrical engineering. This volume marks the start of a subseries entitled “New Trends in Medical and Service Robots” within the Machine and Mechanism Science Series, presenting recent trends, research results and new challenges in the field of medical and service robotics.

Through expanded intelligence, the use of robotics has fundamentally transformed the business industry. Providing successful techniques in robotic design allows for increased autonomous mobility, which leads to a greater productivity and production level. Rapid Automation: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications provides innovative insights into the state-of-the-art technologies in the design and development of robotics and their real-world applications in business processes. Highlighting a range of topics such as workflow automation tools, human-computer interaction, and swarm robotics, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for computer engineers, business managers, robotic developers, business and IT professionals, academicians, and researchers.