This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Joint Conference on Robotics, LARS, SBR, Robocontrol 2014, held in São Carlos, Brazil, in October 2014. The 8 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 76 submissions. The selected papers present a complete and solid reference of the state-of-the-art of intelligent robotics and automation research, covering the following areas: autonomous mobile robots, tele-operated and telepresence robots, human-robot interaction, trajectory control for mobile robots, autonomous vehicles, service-oriented robotic systems, semantic mapping, environment mapping, visual odometry, applications of RGB-D sensors, humanoid and biped robots, Robocup soccer robots, robot control, path planning, multiple vehicles and teams of robots.

Robotics: Science and Systems VIII spans a wide spectrum of robotics, bringing together contributions from researchers working on the mathematical foundations of robotics, robotics applications, and analysis of robotics systems.

The relationship between technological and pedagogical innovation has recently created a new field of research at the crossroads between Psychology, Educational Sciences and Artificial Intelligence: Educational Robotics (ER). Through analysis of the achievable educational goals based on the technological status and specific learning modes of different types of robots, it is possible to define three pedagogical paradigms: learning robotics, learning with robotics, and learning by robotics. In this book we address these three paradigms through three themes: human representations of robots, the acceptance and trust shown when interacting with a humanoid, and learning favored by the development and programming of robots in an educational context. These themes allow the authors to fully explore, define and delimit this novel field of research for future application in educational and social contexts. Finally, the book discusses contributions and limitations which have emerged from different methodologies of research, potential educational applications, and concepts of human–robot interaction for the development of the above paradigms.

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) integrate computing and communication capabilities by monitoring and controlling the physical systems via embedded hardware and computers. This book brings together new and futuristic findings on IoT, Cyber Physical Systems and Robotics leading towards Automation and solving issues of various critical applications in Real-time. The book initially overviews the concepts of IoT, IIoT and Cyber Physical Systems followed by various critical applications and discusses the latest designs and developments that provide common solutions for the convergence of technologies. In addition, the book specifies methodologies, algorithms and other relevant architectures in various fields that include Automation, Robotics, Smart Agriculture and Industry 4.0. The book is intended for practitioners, enterprise representatives, scientists, students and Ph.D Scholars in hopes of steering research further towards cyber physical systems design and development and implementation across various domains. Additionally, this book can be used as a secondary reference, or rather one-stop guide, by professionals for real-life implementation of cyber physical systems. The book highlights: • A Critical Coverage of various domains: IoT, Cyber Physical Systems, Industry 4.0, Smart Automation and related critical applications. • Advanced elaborations for target audiences to understand the conceptual methodology and future directions of cyber physical systems and IoT. • An approach towards Research Orientations to enable researchers to point out areas and scope for implementation of Cyber Physical Systems in several domains for better productivity.

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

Robotics Revolution: Innovations and Applications in Robotics is your essential guide to understanding the rapidly evolving field of robotics. From foundational concepts and essential components to cutting-edge applications and future trends, this comprehensive book covers every aspect of robotics. Whether you're a student, educator, industry professional, or hobbyist, this book provides valuable insights into the technology that is reshaping our world. Explore the impact of robotics across various industries, delve into real-world case studies, and discover the future of robotic innovation. Embrace the robotics revolution and learn how to navigate and contribute to this dynamic and exciting field.

In this book Part I presents first an overview of the ECHORD++ project, with its mission and vision together with a detailed structure of its functionalities and instruments: Experiments, Robotic Innovation Facilities and Public end-user Driven Technology Innovation PDTI. Chapter 1 explains how the project is born, the partners, the different instruments and the new concept of cascade funding projects. This novelty made ECHORD++ a special project along the huge number of research groups and consortia involved in the whole project. So far, it is the European funded project with more research team and partners involved in the robotic field. In Chapter 2, one of the instruments in ECHORD++ is explained in detail: RIF. Robotic innovation facilities are a set of laboratories across Europe funded with the project with the goal of hosting consortia involved in any experiment that have special needs when testing their robotic research. In the chapter the three different and specific RIFs will be described and analyzed. Chapter 3 explains an important instrument in ECHORD++: the Experiments. In this part, a big number of research groups have been involve in short time funded research projects. The chapter explains the management of such Experiments, from the call for participation, the candidate’s selection, the monitoring, reviews and funding for each of the 36 experiments funded for Echord. Chapter 4 is very special because it presents the innovation of funding public end-user driven technology, in particular, robotic technology. The robotic challenge is the key of such an instruments together with the management of the different consortia that participated competitively in the success of the robotic challenge proposed by a public entity, selected also with a very special and innovative process.

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.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2015, held in Paris, France, in October 2015. The 70 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 126 submissions. The papers focus on the interaction between humans and robots and the integration of robots into our society and present innovative ideas and concepts, new discoveries and improvements, novel applications on the latest fundamental advances in the core technologies that form the backbone of social robotics, distinguished developmental projects, as well as seminal works in aesthetic design, ethics and philosophy, studies on social impact and influence pertaining to social robotics, and its interaction and communication with human beings and its social impact on our society.

What is artificial intelligence (AI)? What is healthcare robotics? How can AI and healthcare robotics assist in contemporary medicine? Robotics and AI can offer society unimaginable benefits, such as enabling wheelchair users to walk again, performing surgery in a highly automated and minimally invasive way, and delivering care more efficiently. AI for Healthcare Robotics explains what healthcare robots are and how AI empowers them in achieving the goals of contemporary medicine.