A comprehensive survey of the growing field of self-reconfigurable robots that discusses the history of the field, design considerations, and control strategies. Self-reconfigurable robots are constructed of robotic modules that can be connected in many different ways. These modules move in relationship to each other, which allows the robot as a whole to change shape. This shapeshifting makes it possible for the robots to adapt and optimize their shapes for different tasks. Thus, a self-reconfigurable robot can first assume the shape of a rolling track to cover distance quickly, then the shape of a snake to explore a narrow space, and finally the shape of a hexapod to carry an artifact back to the starting point. The field of self-reconfigurable robots has seen significant progress over the last twenty years, and this book collects and synthesizes existing research previously only available in widely scattered individual papers, offering an accessible guide to the latest information on self-reconfigurable robots for researchers and students interested in the field. Self-Reconfigurable Robots focuses on conveying the intuition behind the design and control of self-reconfigurable robots rather than technical details. Suggestions for further reading refer readers to the underlying sources of technical information. The book includes descriptions of existing robots and a brief history of the field; discussion of module design considerations, including module geometry, connector design, and computing and communication infrastructure; an in-depth presentation of strategies for controlling self-reconfiguration and locomotion; and exploration of future research challenges.

This volume presents the proceedings of the 12th IFToMM International Symposium on Science of Mechanisms and Machines (SYROM 2017), that was held in "Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi, Romania, November 02-03, 2017. It contains applications of mechanisms in several modern technical fields such as mechatronics and robotics, biomechanics, machines and apparatus. The book presents original high-quality contributions on topics related to mechanisms within aspects of theory, design, practice and applications in engineering, including but not limited to: theoretical kinematics, computational kinematics, mechanism design, experimental mechanics, mechanics of robots, dynamics of machinery, dynamics of multi-body systems, control issues of mechanical systems, mechanisms for biomechanics, novel designs, mechanical transmissions, linkages and manipulators, micro-mechanisms, teaching methods, history of mechanism science, industrial and non-industrial applications. In connection with these fields, the book combines the theoretical results with experimental tests.

The Fifth International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS 2000) dealt with new strategies to realize complex, modular, robust, and fault-tolerant robotic systems. Technologies, algorithms, and system architectures for distributed autonomous robotic systems were presented and discussed during the meeting. DARS 2000 was truly an international event, with participants represent ing eleven countries from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. All of the papers in this volume were presented at DARS 2000, and were selected on the basis of peer re views to ensure quality and relevance. These papers have the common goal of con tributing solutions to realize robust and intelligent multirobot systems. The topics of the symposium address a wide range of issues that are important in the development of decentralized robotic systems. These topics include architec tures, communication, biological inspirations, reconfigurable robots, localization, exploration and mapping, distributed sensing, multi robot motion coordination, tar get assignment and tracking, multirobot learning, and cooperative object transport. DARS clearly requires a broad area of interdisciplinary technologies related not only to robotics and computer engineering, but also to biology and psychology. The DARS symposium is the leading established conference on distributed au tonomous systems. The First, Second, and Third International Symposia on Distrib uted Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS '92, DARS '94, and DARS '96) were held at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Saitama, Japan.

As a new strategy to realize the goal of flexible, robust, fault-tolerant robotic systems, the distributed autonomous approach has quickly established itself as one of the fastest growing fields in robotics. This book is one of the first to devote itself solely to this exciting area of research, covering such topics as self-organization, communication and coordination, multi-robot manipulation and control, distributed system design, distributed sensing, intelligent manufacturing systems, and group behavior. The fundamental technologies and system architectures of distributed autonomous robotic systems are expounded in detail, along with the latest research findings. This book should prove indispensable not only to those involved with robotic engineering but also to those in the fields of artificial intelligence, self-organizing systems, and coordinated control.

This book gathers the proceedings of the 3rd Latin American Congress on Automation and Robotics, held at Monterrey, Mexico, on November 17–19, 2021. This book presents recent advances in the modeling, design, control, and development of autonomous and robotic systems and explores current exciting applications and future challenges of these technologies. The scope of this book covers a wide range of research fields associated with automation and robotics encountered within engineering, scientific research, and practice. These topics are related to autonomous systems, industrial automation and robotics, modelling and systems identification, simulation procedures and experimental validations, control theory, artificial intelligence, computer vision, sensing and sensor fusion, multi-robot and multi-agent systems, field and service robotics, human robot interaction and interfaces, modelling of robotic systems, and the design of new robotic platforms.

This book introduces interesting topics, from concepts to the latest research, on cellular and micro robotic systems. The cellular robotic system is a self-organizing robotic system composed of a large number of autonomous robotic units, named cells. This idea came from the organic structure of a living body. Several attractive topics in this area are covered, such as swarm intelligence, communications, and robotic mechanisms. The micro robotic system is currently the most fascinating technology. Micro mechanisms, control and intelligence, with respect to this system are treated here. The combination of both technologies will prepare the way for a new paradigm in the field of engineering.

Offers a comprehensive review of the research and development of mechanically responsive materials and their applications in soft robots Mechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics offers an authoritative guide to the current state of mechanically responsive materials for the development of soft robotics. With contributions from an international panel of experts, the book examines existing mechanically responsive materials such as crystals, polymers, gels, and composites that are stimulated by light and heat. The book also explores the application of mechanical materials to soft robotics. The authors describe the many excellent mechanical crystals developed in recent years that show the ability to bend, twist, rotate, jump, self-heal, and shape memory. Mechanical polymer materials are described for evolution into artificial muscles, photomobile materials, bioinspired soft actuators, inorganic-organic hybrid materials, multi-responsive composite materials, and strain sensor materials. The application of mechanical materials to soft robots is just the beginning. This book reviews the many challenging and versatile applications, such as soft microrobots made from photoresponsive elastomers, four-dimensional printing for assembling soft robots, self-growing of soft robots like plants, and biohybrid robots using muscle tissue. This important book: -Explores recent developments in the use of soft smart materials in robotic systems -Covers the full scope of mechanically responsive materials: polymers, crystals, gels, and nanocomposites -Deals with an interdisciplinary topic of advanced smart materials research -Contains extensive descriptions of current and future applications in soft robotics Written for materials scientists, polymer chemists, photochemists, physical chemists, solid state chemists, inorganic chemists, and robotics engineers, Mechanically Responsive Materials for Soft Robotics offers a comprehensive and timely review of the most recent research on mechanically responsive materials and the manufacture of soft robotics.

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 2012 conference. Robots are no longer confined to industrial and 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, 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.

This book offers a general review of the voluminous theoretical and experimental literature pertaining to physical self-replicating systems. The principal focus here is on self-replicating machine systems. Most importantly, we are concerned with kinematic self-replicating machines: systems in which actual physical objects, not mere patterns of information, undertake their own replication. Following a brief burst of activity in the 1950s and 1980s, the field of kinematic replicating systems design received new interest in the 1990s with the emerging recognition of the feasibility of molecular nanotechnology. The field has experienced a renaissance of research activity since 1999 as researchers have come to recognize that replicating systems are simple enough to permit experimental laboratory demonstrations of working devices.

A text that makes the mathematical underpinnings of robot motion accessible and relates low-level details of implementation to high-level algorithmic concepts. Robot motion planning has become a major focus of robotics. Research findings can be applied not only to robotics but to planning routes on circuit boards, directing digital actors in computer graphics, robot-assisted surgery and medicine, and in novel areas such as drug design and protein folding. This text reflects the great advances that have taken place in the last ten years, including sensor-based planning, probabalistic planning, localization and mapping, and motion planning for dynamic and nonholonomic systems. Its presentation makes the mathematical underpinnings of robot motion accessible to students of computer science and engineering, rleating low-level implementation details to high-level algorithmic concepts.