Joint Special Issue: Design and Control of Responsive Robots

Abstract

Robots are complex controlled dynamical systems interacting with their environment. Agile robotic systems have been penetrating almost all industrial sectors as the backbone for industrial automation, ranging from heavy duty manipulators to collaborative robots (cobots) and mobile platforms for logistics tasks. Currently, autonomous vehicles (e.g., cars, mobile delivery systems, drones, inspection, and maintenance) are entering the public sector, but also the use of surgical robots is becoming an integral part of medical treatments. In a foreseeable future, assistive robots for domestic use will become indispensable for caretaking and as exoskeletal devices providing physical support thus physically interacting with humans. Future robots need to be responsive; they must (inter)act safely, minimize the use of resources (energy, material, process-, development-, and commissioning-time), and adapt to variations in demands and environmental conditions.