Robotics, Volume 13, Issue 7

Current operations involving Dismantling and Decommissioning (D&D) in nuclear and other harsh environments rely on manual inspection and assessment of the sites, exposing human operators to potentially dangerous situations. This work presents a r...

The automatic control of vehicle traffic in large urban networks constitutes one of the most serious challenges to modern societies, with an impact on improving the quality of human life and saving energy and time. Intersections are a special traffic...

While mobile ground robots have now the physical capacity of travelling in unstructured challenging environments such as extraterrestrial surfaces or devastated terrains, their safe and efficient autonomous navigation has yet to be improved before en...

This paper presents a collaborative manufacturing cell implemented in a laboratory setting, focusing on developing learning-based interaction abilities to enhance versatility and ease of use. The key components of the system include 3D real-time volu...

Situational Graphs (S-Graphs) merge geometric models of the environment generated by Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) approaches with 3D scene graphs into a multi-layered jointly optimizable factor graph. As an advantage, S-Graphs not onl...

In practice, most industrial robot manipulators use PID (Proportional + Integral + Derivative) controllers, thanks to their simplicity and adequate performance under certain conditions. Normally, this type of controller has a good performance in task...

This paper presents a framework that integrates digital twin and virtual reality (VR) technologies to improve the efficiency and safety of human–robot collaborative systems in the disassembly domain. With the increasing complexity of the handli...

Medical and agricultural robots that interact with living tissue or pick fruit require tactile and flexible sensors to minimise or eliminate damage. Until recently, research has focused on the development of robots made of rigid materials, such as me...

The appearance of construction defects in buildings can arise from a variety of factors, ranging from issues during the design and construction phases to problems that develop over time with the lifecycle of a building. These defects require repairs,...

Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) combine a remarkable combination of mobility, adaptability, and an innate capacity for obstacle avoidance. They are exceptionally well-suited for a wide range of applications but usually operate in uncontrolled, non-de...

This paper provides a structured and practical roadmap for practitioners to integrate learning from demonstration (LfD) into manufacturing tasks, with a specific focus on industrial manipulators. Motivated by the paradigm shift from mass production t...

This paper presents a contraction-based learning control architecture that allows for using model learning tools to learn matched model uncertainties while guaranteeing trajectory tracking performance during the learning transients. The architecture...

The ability of robots to tackle complex non-repetitive tasks will be key in bringing a new level of automation in agricultural applications still involving labor-intensive, menial, and physically demanding activities due to high cognitive requirement...

People use their hands for intricate tasks like playing musical instruments, employing myriad touch sensations to inform motor control. In contrast, current prosthetic hands lack comprehensive haptic feedback and exhibit rudimentary multitasking func...

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) provide practical solutions for a wide range of activities in a particularly challenging domain, despite their dependence on support ships and operators. Recent advancements in AI, machine learning, predictive analyt...

Loneliness is increasingly common, especially among older adults. Technology like mobile telepresence robots can help people feel less lonely. However, such technology has challenges, and even if people use it in the short term, they may not accept i...