New Challenges for Autonomous Robots

Dear Colleagues,

Research and development in autonomous robots faces a range of intricate challenges that span technological, ethical, and practical realms. Ensuring the safety and reliability of these systems is of paramount importance, and it requires robust algorithms capable of navigating unpredictable environments while interacting safely with humans. Ethical considerations, including privacy, job displacement, and potential misuse, are also facts to consider for the deployment of autonomous robots.

Interoperability and standardization are also critical for fostering collaboration and integration among diverse autonomous platforms. Efforts are being made to develop open standards and protocols that facilitate seamless interaction between systems, enabling efficient cooperation. Machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques play a pivotal role in enhancing adaptability and improving performance over time.

In addition, human–robot interactions remain a focal point, with intuitive interfaces and communication modalities for facilitating collaboration. Natural language processing and gesture recognition enable more effective communication between humans and robots, enhancing usability across various applications. Moreover, energy efficiency remains another pressing concern, necessitating research into energy-efficient locomotion mechanisms and power systems to minimize environmental impact and maximize autonomy.

Addressing all these challenges necessitates interdisciplinary collaboration between academia, industry, and public institutions. This collaborative effort aims to create a future where autonomous robots contribute positively to society, improving efficiency, safety, and quality of life across various domains. Overall, this Special Issue aims to promote open-ended robotics applications and systems as novel solutions to the new challenges for autonomous robots, including learning and teaching scopes within the educational framework.

We welcome original research articles and reviews in research areas including (but not limited to) the following:

• Autonomous robots;
• Industrial robots;
• Industrial automation;
• Industrial sensors;
• Modular robots;
• Intelligent systems;
• Robot manufacturers;
• Robot kinematics;
• Manipulators;
• Robot perception;
• Field robotics;
• Robot control;
• Deep learning aided robots;
• Localization and mapping;
• Computer vision;
• Image processing;
• Robotics in education.

Dr. David Valiente
Prof. Dr. Nuno Miguel Fonseca Ferreira
Guest Editors

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• autonomous robots
• artificial intelligence
• robotics