Introduction
In this Special Issue, we aim to promote and circulate recent mechanism design developments and achievements in the international field of robotics, ranging from theoretical contributions to experimental and practical applications. It contains contributions selected from those accepted for presentation at the Sixth International Symposium on Mechanism Design for Robotics (MEDER 2024) held in Timisoara, Romania, on 27–29 June 2024 [1]. The MEDER 2024 conference was the sixth event of a series that was established in 2010 Mexico City, Mexico, and continued in Beijing, China, in 2012, in Aalborg, Denmark, in 2015, in Cassino, Italy, in 2018, and in Poitiers, France, in 2021. The MEDER symposium events were established to bring together researchers, industry professionals, and students from a broad range of disciplines related to mechanisms and robotics to share the latest developments and to discuss the directions for the future advances in mechanism design for robotics.
This Special Issue includes papers belonging to a broad range of disciplines in several aspects of the broad field of mechanism design for robotics, with challenging problems and innovative solutions from theoretical studies to practical applications, including new robot designs and prototypes.
These contributions were selected from among the 45 papers from 18 countries that were presented at the MEDER 2024 conference [1]. The authors were invited to contribute extended and revised versions of the presented works. The contributions were mostly selected from those receiving award recognition in one of the three IFToMM categories: research, applications, and student. These papers were evaluated again using a blind peer-review process to confirm the high quality of the works. Contribution [2] presents a novel method based on an interval analysis approach to evaluate the kinematic reliability of manipulators. Contribution [3] analyzes the stiffness and performs a geometrical optimization of a parallel–serial manipulator with five degrees of freedom (5-DOF). Contribution [4] presents the feasibility study of the 7-PR(RRRR)RP seven-bar linkage used for a disinfection robot with a folding mechanism. Contribution [5] gives a set of experimentally determined forces needed for gripping operations related to a robotically manipulated microliter manual pipette. The pipette can be used for automated sample processing for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis in small- to medium-sized laboratories. Contribution [6] presents an apparatus developed for physical therapists regarding mechanical movements in the rehabilitation of frozen shoulder. The final contribution [7] examines the influence of the eight assembling modes of the 3-RRR planar manipulator on its workspace and proposes a modular platform concept for experimental testing with numerical results.
We would like to thank the members of the Scientific Committees for their strong support for the success of MEDER2024:
Marco Ceccarelli (Univ. of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy, Chair),
Ding Xilun (Beihang Univ., China),
Mario Acevedo (Univ. Panamericana, Mexico),
Shaoping Bai (Aalborg Univ., Denmark),
Yukio Takeda (Tokyo Inst Tech., Japan),
Alba Perez (Tech. Univ. Barcelona, Spain),
Yan Jin (Belfast Univ., UK),
Erwin-Chr. Lovasz (Poli. Univ. Timisoara, Romania),
Said Zeghloul (Poitiers Univ., France),
Victor Petuya (Univ. of Basque Country, Spain),
Kenji Hashimoto (Waseda University, Japan),
Gao Huang (Beijing Tech. Univ., China),
Matteo Russo (Univ. of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy),
Rogério Sales Gonçalves (Uberlandia Uni, Brazil),
Alexey Fomin (Mech. Eng. Research Inst. IMASH-RAN, Russia).
The guest editors of this Special Issue thank the authors and reviewers for their efforts and time spent on these valuable scientific contributions and the useful feedback that confirmed the high scientific quality of the MEDER 2024 papers. We also take this opportunity to invite contributions for the next MEDER 2026 event that is scheduled in Uberlandia at the Federal University of Uberlandia, Brazil, on 17–20 June 2026.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
References
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