Light Robotics

Book Description :

Light Robotics – Structure-Mediated Nanobiophotonics covers the latest means of sculpting of both light and matter for achieving bioprobing and manipulation at the smallest scales. The synergy between photonics, nanotechnology and biotechnology spans the rapidly growing field of nanobiophotonics. Nanoscale resolutions enable optical scientists to assess ever more accurate information. However, scientific hypothesis testing demands tools, not only for observing nanoscopic phenomena, but also for reaching into and manipulating nanoscale constituents. Taking an application based focus, this book explores how nanophotonics can productively be used in both the biomedical and life sciences, allowing readers to clearly see how structure-mediated nanobiophotonics can be used to increase our engineering toolbox for biology at the smallest scales. This book will be of great use to researchers and scientists working in the fields of optics and photonics. It will also be of great value to those working in the field of biotechnology, showcasing how nanotechnology can help provide new, effective ways to solve biomedical problems. Presents cutting-edge research on the principles, mechanisms, optical techniques, fabrication, modeling, devices and applications of nanobiophotonics Brings together the diverse field of structure-mediated nanobiophotonics into one coherent volume Showcases how nanophotonics can be used to create new, more effective micro- and nano-biodevices

Book Description :

Comprehensive and extensively illustrated, this outstanding reference provides a unique overview of robotics, its hardware, various types, their functions, social issues surrounding their use, and their future in industry.

Book Description :

This two volume set LNAI 8917 and 8918 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Applications, ICIRA 2014, held in Guangzhou, China, in December 2014. The 109 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 159 submissions. The papers aim at enhancing the sharing of individual experiences and expertise in intelligent robotics with particular emphasis on technical challenges associated with varied applications such as biomedical applications, industrial automations, surveillance, and sustainable mobility.

Book Description :

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 2nd SAB 2006 International Workshop on Swarm Robotics held in Rome, Italy in September/October 2006 as a satellite event of SAB 2006, the 9th Conference on Simulation of Adaptive Behavior. The 14 revised full papers are organized in topical sections on algorithms, modeling and analysis, hardware, and evolutionary approaches.

Book Description :

This open access book bridges the gap between playing with robots in school and studying robotics at the upper undergraduate and graduate levels to prepare for careers in industry and research. Robotic algorithms are presented formally, but using only mathematics known by high-school and first-year college students, such as calculus, matrices and probability. Concepts and algorithms are explained through detailed diagrams and calculations. Elements of Robotics presents an overview of different types of robots and the components used to build robots, but focuses on robotic algorithms: simple algorithms like odometry and feedback control, as well as algorithms for advanced topics like localization, mapping, image processing, machine learning and swarm robotics. These algorithms are demonstrated in simplified contexts that enable detailed computations to be performed and feasible activities to be posed. Students who study these simplified demonstrations will be well prepared for advanced study of robotics. The algorithms are presented at a relatively abstract level, not tied to any specific robot. Instead a generic robot is defined that uses elements common to most educational robots: differential drive with two motors, proximity sensors and some method of displaying output to the user. The theory is supplemented with over 100 activities, most of which can be successfully implemented using inexpensive educational robots. Activities that require more computation can be programmed on a computer. Archives are available with suggested implementations for the Thymio robot and standalone programs in Python.

Book Description :

Flexible Robotics in Medicine: A Design Journey of Motion Generation Mechanisms and Biorobotic System Development provides a resource of knowledge and successful prototypes regarding flexible robots in medicine. With specialists in the medical field increasingly utilizing robotics in medical procedures, it is vital to improve current knowledge regarding technologies available. This book covers the background, medical requirements, biomedical engineering principles, and new research on soft robots, including general flexible robotic systems, design specifications, design rationale, fabrication, verification experiments, actuators and sensors in flexible medical robotic systems. Presenting several projects as examples, the authors also discuss the pipeline to develop a medical robotic system, including important milestones such as involved regulations, device classifications and medical standards. Covers realistic prototypes, experimental protocols and design procedures for engineering flexible medical robotics Covers the full product development pipeline for engineering new flexible robots for medical applications, including design principles and design verifications Includes detailed information for application and development of several types of robots, including Handheld Concentric-Tube Flexible Robot for Intraocular Procedures, a Preliminary Robotic Surgery Platform with Multiple Section Tendon-Driven Mechanism, a Flexible Drill for Minimally Invasive Transoral Surgical Robotic System, Four-Tendon-Driven Flexible Manipulators, Slim Single-port Surgical Manipulator with Spring Backbones and Catheter-size Channels, and much more

Book Description :

This invaluable book comprehensively describes evolutionary robotics and computational intelligence, and how different computational intelligence techniques are applied to robotic system design. It embraces the most widely used evolutionary approaches with their merits and drawbacks, presents some related experiments for robotic behavior evolution and the results achieved, and shows promising future research directions. Clarity of explanation is emphasized such that a modest knowledge of basic evolutionary computation, digital circuits and engineering design will suffice for a thorough understanding of the material. The book is ideally suited to computer scientists, practitioners and researchers keen on computational intelligence techniques, especially the evolutionary algorithms in autonomous robotics at both the hardware and software levels. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Artificial Evolution Based Autonomous Robot Navigation (184 KB). Contents: Artificial Evolution Based Autonomous Robot Navigation; Evolvable Hardware in Evolutionary Robotics; FPGA-Based Autonomous Robot Navigation via Intrinsic Evolution; Intelligent Sensor Fusion and Learning for Autonomous Robot Navigation; Task-Oriented Developmental Learning for Humanoid Robots; Bipedal Walking Through Reinforcement Learning; Swing Time Generation for Bipedal Walking Control Using GA Tuned Fuzzy Logic Controller; Bipedal Walking: Stance Ankle Behavior Optimization Using Genetic Algorithm. Readership: Researchers in evolutionary robotics, and graduate and advanced undergraduate students in computational intelligence.

Book Description :

The revised text to the analysis, control, and applications of robotics The revised and updated third edition of Introduction to Robotics: Analysis, Control, Applications, offers a guide to the fundamentals of robotics, robot components and subsystems and applications. The author—a noted expert on the topic—covers the mechanics and kinematics of serial and parallel robots, both with the Denavit-Hartenberg approach as well as screw-based mechanics. In addition, the text contains information on microprocessor applications, control systems, vision systems, sensors, and actuators. Introduction to Robotics gives engineering students and practicing engineers the information needed to design a robot, to integrate a robot in appropriate applications, or to analyze a robot. The updated third edition contains many new subjects and the content has been streamlined throughout the text. The new edition includes two completely new chapters on screw-based mechanics and parallel robots. The book is filled with many new illustrative examples and includes homework problems designed to enhance learning. This important text: Offers a revised and updated guide to the fundamental of robotics Contains information on robot components, robot characteristics, robot languages, and robotic applications Covers the kinematics of serial robots with Denavit-Hartenberg methodology and screw-based mechanics Includes the fundamentals of control engineering, including analysis and design tools Discusses kinematics of parallel robots Written for students of engineering as well as practicing engineers, Introduction to Robotics, Third Edition reviews the basics of robotics, robot components and subsystems, applications, and has been revised to include the most recent developments in the field.

Book Description :

STAREditor Preface The International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER) is a series of - annual meetings, which are organized in a rotating fashion around North Am- ica,EuropeandAsia/Oceania.PreviousvenueswereMontréal(Canada),Toulouse (France), Kyoto (Japan), Stanford (USA), Barcelona (Spain), Sydney (Australia), Honolulu (USA). The goal of these symposia is to provide a forum for research in robotics that focuses on theories and principles that are validated by experiments. Themeetingsareconceivedtobringtogether,inasmallgroupsetting,researchers fromaroundtheworldwhoareintheforefrontofexperimentalroboticsresearch. Thepost-symposiumExperimentalRoboticsproceedingshavetraditionallybeen published by Springer-Verlag. In addition to the proceedings, these symposia have produced compilation of video segments illustrating the reported research, which areavailableasvideoproceedings. The Eight International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER 02) was held in the charming sea village of Sant'Angelo on the island of Ischia in the gulf ofNaples,Italyon8–11July2002.ThesymposiumwaschairedbyBrunoSiciliano andPaoloDario.

Book Description :

The market demands for skills, knowledge and personalities have positioned robotics as an important field in both engineering and science. To meet these challenging - mands, robotics has already seen its success in automating many industrial tasks in factories. And, a new era will come for us to see a greater success of robotics in n- industrial environments. In anticipating a wider deployment of intelligent and auto- mous robots for tasks such as manufacturing, eldercare, homecare, edutainment, search and rescue, de-mining, surveillance, exploration, and security missions, it is necessary for us to push the frontier of robotics into a new dimension, in which motion and intelligence play equally important roles. After the success of the inaugural conference, the purpose of the Second Inter- tional Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Applications was to provide a venue where researchers, scientists, engineers and practitioners throughout the world could come together to present and discuss the latest achievement, future challenges and exciting applications of intelligent and autonomous robots. In particular, the emphasis of this year’s conference was on “robot intelligence for achieving digital manufact- ing and intelligent automations. ” This volume of Springer’s Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Computer Science contains accepted papers presented at ICIRA 2009, held in Singapore, December 16–18, 2009. On the basis of the reviews and recommendations by the international Program Committee members, we decided to accept 128 papers having technical novelty, out of 173 submissions received from different parts of the world.

Book Description :

Robot doctors may seem to be something out of a science fiction film, but it's not that unlikely a concept anymore. In fact, robots are being used in hospitals around the world for important tasks, especially surgeries. Readers discover the rich history of robots in medicine through detailed main text and enlightening fact boxes. Vibrant, full-color photographs accompany the informative text, creating an immersive reading experience sure to captivate readers with a passion for STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math.

Book Description :

This book provides state-of-the-art scientific and engineering research findings and developments in the area of mobile robotics and associated support technologies. The book contains peer reviewed articles presented at the CLAWAR 2010 conference. Robots are no longer confined to industrial manufacturing environments. A great deal of interest is invested in the use of robots outside the factory environment. The CLAWAR conference series, established as a high profile international event, acts as a platform for dissemination of research and development findings and supports such a trend to address the current interest in mobile robotics to meet the needs of mankind in various sectors of the society. These include personal care, public health, and services in the domestic, public and industrial environments. The editors of the book have extensive research experience and publications in the area of robotics in general and in mobile robotics specifically, and their experience is reflected in editing the contents of the book.

Book Description :

A comprehensive survey of artificial intelligence algorithms and programming organization for robot systems, combining theoretical rigor and practical applications. This textbook offers a comprehensive survey of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and programming organization for robot systems. Readers who master the topics covered will be able to design and evaluate an artificially intelligent robot for applications involving sensing, acting, planning, and learning. A background in AI is not required; the book introduces key AI topics from all AI subdisciplines throughout the book and explains how they contribute to autonomous capabilities. This second edition is a major expansion and reorganization of the first edition, reflecting the dramatic advances made in AI over the past fifteen years. An introductory overview provides a framework for thinking about AI for robotics, distinguishing between the fundamentally different design paradigms of automation and autonomy. The book then discusses the reactive functionality of sensing and acting in AI robotics; introduces the deliberative functions most often associated with intelligence and the capability of autonomous initiative; surveys multi-robot systems and (in a new chapter) human-robot interaction; and offers a “metaview” of how to design and evaluate autonomous systems and the ethical considerations in doing so. New material covers locomotion, simultaneous localization and mapping, human-robot interaction, machine learning, and ethics. Each chapter includes exercises, and many chapters provide case studies. Endnotes point to additional reading, highlight advanced topics, and offer robot trivia.

Book Description :

For readers from both academia and industry wishing to pursue their studies and /or careers in planetary robotics, this book represents a one-stop tour of the history, evolution, key systems, and technologies of this emerging field. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the key techniques and technologies that help to achieve autonomous space systems for cost-effective, high performing planetary robotic missions. Main topics covered include robotic vision, surface navigation, manipulation, mission operations and autonomy, being explained in both theoretical principles and practical use cases. The book recognizes the importance of system design hence discusses practices and tools that help take mission concepts to baseline design solutions, making it a practical piece of scientific reference suited to a variety of practitioners in planetary robotics.

Book Description :

This book is an introduction to the foundations and methods used for designing completely autonomous mobile robots. Readers are introduced to the fundamental concepts of mobile robotics via twelve detailed case studies which show how to build and program real working robots. The book provides a very practical introduction to mobile robotics for a general scientific audience, and is essential reading for practitioners and students working in robotics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science and robot engineering.

Book Description :

The first generation of surgical robots are already being installed in a number of operating rooms around the world. Robotics is being introduced to medicine because it allows for unprecedented control and precision of surgical instruments in minimally invasive procedures. So far, robots have been used to position an endoscope, perform gallbladder surgery and correct gastroesophogeal reflux and heartburn. The ultimate goal of the robotic surgery field is to design a robot that can be used to perform closed-chest, beating-heart surgery. The use of robotics in surgery will expand over the next decades without any doubt. Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is a revolutionary approach in surgery. In MIS, the operation is performed with instruments and viewing equipment inserted into the body through small incisions created by the surgeon, in contrast to open surgery with large incisions. This minimizes surgical trauma and damage to healthy tissue, resulting in shorter patient recovery time. The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the state-of-art, to present new ideas, original results and practical experiences in this expanding area. Nevertheless, many chapters in the book concern advanced research on this growing area. The book provides critical analysis of clinical trials, assessment of the benefits and risks of the application of these technologies. This book is certainly a small sample of the research activity on Medical Robotics going on around the globe as you read it, but it surely covers a good deal of what has been done in the field recently, and as such it works as a valuable source for researchers interested in the involved subjects, whether they are currently “medical roboticists” or not.

Book Description :

Over the last few years, increasing attention has been focused on the development of children’s acquisition of 21st-century skills and digital competences. Consequently, many education scholars have argued that teaching technology to young children is vital in keeping up with 21st-century employment patterns. Technologies, such as those that involve robotics or coding apps, come at a time when the demand for computing jobs around the globe is at an all-time high while its supply is at an all-time low. There is no doubt that coding with robotics is a wonderful tool for learners of all ages as it provides a catalyst to introduce them to computational thinking, algorithmic thinking, and project management. Additionally, recent studies argue that the use of a developmentally appropriate robotics curriculum can help to change negative stereotypes and ideas children may initially have about technology and engineering. The Handbook of Research on Using Educational Robotics to Facilitate Student Learning is an edited book that advocates for a new approach to computational thinking and computing education with the use of educational robotics and coding apps. The book argues that while learning about computing, young people should also have opportunities to create with computing, which have a direct impact on their lives and their communities. It develops two key dimensions for understanding and developing educational experiences that support students in engaging in computational action: (1) computational identity, which shows the importance of young people’s development of scientific identity for future STEM growth; and (2) digital empowerment to instill the belief that they can put their computational identity into action in authentic and meaningful ways. Covering subthemes including student competency and assessment, programming education, and teacher and mentor development, this book is ideal for teachers, instructional designers, educational technology developers, school administrators, academicians, researchers, and students.

Book Description :

Experimental Robotics XV is the collection of papers presented at the International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan on October 3-6, 2016. 73 scientific papers were selected and presented after peer review. The papers span a broad range of sub-fields in robotics including aerial robots, mobile robots, actuation, grasping, manipulation, planning and control and human-robot interaction, but shared cutting-edge approaches and paradigms to experimental robotics. The readers will find a breadth of new directions of experimental robotics. The International Symposium on Experimental Robotics is a series of bi-annual symposia sponsored by the International Foundation of Robotics Research, whose goal is to provide a forum dedicated to experimental robotics research. Robotics has been widening its scientific scope, deepening its methodologies and expanding its applications. However, the significance of experiments remains and will remain at the center of the discipline. The ISER gatherings are a venue where scientists can gather and talk about robotics based on this central tenet.

Book Description :

A comprehensive overview of an interdisciplinary approach to robotics that takes direct inspiration from the developmental and learning phenomena observed in children's cognitive development. Developmental robotics is a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to robotics that is directly inspired by the developmental principles and mechanisms observed in children's cognitive development. It builds on the idea that the robot, using a set of intrinsic developmental principles regulating the real-time interaction of its body, brain, and environment, can autonomously acquire an increasingly complex set of sensorimotor and mental capabilities. This volume, drawing on insights from psychology, computer science, linguistics, neuroscience, and robotics, offers the first comprehensive overview of a rapidly growing field. After providing some essential background information on robotics and developmental psychology, the book looks in detail at how developmental robotics models and experiments have attempted to realize a range of behavioral and cognitive capabilities. The examples in these chapters were chosen because of their direct correspondence with specific issues in child psychology research; each chapter begins with a concise and accessible overview of relevant empirical and theoretical findings in developmental psychology. The chapters cover intrinsic motivation and curiosity; motor development, examining both manipulation and locomotion; perceptual development, including face recognition and perception of space; social learning, emphasizing such phenomena as joint attention and cooperation; language, from phonetic babbling to syntactic processing; and abstract knowledge, including models of number learning and reasoning strategies. Boxed text offers technical and methodological details for both psychology and robotics experiments.

Book Description :

Robotics is undergoing a major transformation in scope and dimension. From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics is rapidly expanding into human en- ronments and vigorously engaged in its new challenges. Interacting with, assi- ing, serving, and exploring with humans, the emerging robots will increasingly touch people and their lives. Beyond its impact on physical robots, the body of knowledge robotics has p- duced is revealing a much wider range of applications reaching across diverse research areas and scientific disciplines, such as: biomechanics, haptics, neuros- ences, virtual simulation, animation, surgery, and sensor networks among others. In return, the challenges of the new emerging areas are proving an abundant source of stimulation and insights for the field of robotics. It is indeed at the int- section of disciplines that the most striking advances happen. The Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) is devoted to bringing to the research community the latest advances in the robotics field on the basis of their significance and quality. Through a wide and timely dissemination of critical - search developments in robotics, our objective with this series is to promote more exchanges and collaborations among the researchers in the community and c- tribute to further advancements in this rapidly growing field.