Robotics 

About: Robotics is an academic journal published by Elsevier BV. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Robot & Robotics. It has an ISSN identifier of 0167-8493. Over the lifetime, 712 publications have been published receiving 9906 citations.

Human–Robot Collaboration in Manufacturing Applications: A Review

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of collaborative robotics towards manufacturing applications. Over the last decade, the market has seen the introduction of a new category of robots—collaborative robots (or “cobots”)—designed to physically interact with humans in a shared environment, without the typical barriers or protective cages used in traditional robotics systems. Their potential is undisputed, especially regarding their flexible ability to make simple, quick, and cheap layout changes; however, it is necessary to have adequate knowledge of their correct uses and characteristics to obtain the advantages of this form of robotics, which can be a barrier for industry uptake. The paper starts with an introduction of human–robot collaboration, presenting the related standards and modes of operation. An extensive literature review of works published in this area is undertaken, with particular attention to the main industrial cases of application. The paper concludes with an analysis of the future trends in human–robot collaboration as determined by the authors.

Reinforcement Learning in Robotics: Applications and Real-World Challenges

Abstract: In robotics, the ultimate goal of reinforcement learning is to endow robots with the ability to learn, improve, adapt and reproduce tasks with dynamically changing constraints based on exploration and autonomous learning. We give a summary of the state-of-the-art of reinforcement learning in the context of robotics, in terms of both algorithms and policy representations. Numerous challenges faced by the policy representation in robotics are identified. Three recent examples for the application of reinforcement learning to real-world robots are described: a pancake flipping task, a bipedal walking energy minimization task and an archery-based aiming task. In all examples, a state-of-the-art expectation-maximization-based reinforcement learning is used, and different policy representations are proposed and evaluated for each task. The proposed policy representations offer viable solutions to six rarely-addressed challenges in policy representations: correlations, adaptability, multi-resolution, globality, multi-dimensionality and convergence. Both the successes and the practical difficulties encountered in these examples are discussed. Based on insights from these particular cases, conclusions are drawn about the state-of-the-art and the future perspective directions for reinforcement learning in robotics.

A review on design of upper limb exoskeletons

Abstract: Exoskeleton robotics has ushered in a new era of modern neuromuscular rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology research. The technology promises to improve the upper-limb functionalities required for performing activities of daily living. The exoskeleton technology is evolving quickly but still needs interdisciplinary research to solve technical challenges, e.g., kinematic compatibility and development of effective human–robot interaction. In this paper, the recent development in upper-limb exoskeletons is reviewed. The key challenges involved in the development of assistive exoskeletons are highlighted by comparing available solutions. This paper provides a general classification, comparisons, and overview of the mechatronic designs of upper-limb exoskeletons. In addition, a brief overview of the control modalities for upper-limb exoskeletons is also presented in this paper. A discussion on the future directions of research is included.

State of the Art Robotic Grippers and Applications

Abstract: In this paper, we present a recent survey on robotic grippers. In many cases, modern grippers outperform their older counterparts which are now stronger, more repeatable, and faster. Technological advancements have also attributed to the development of gripping various objects. This includes soft fabrics, microelectromechanical systems, and synthetic sheets. In addition, newer materials are being used to improve functionality of grippers, which include piezoelectric, shape memory alloys, smart fluids, carbon fiber, and many more. This paper covers the very first robotic gripper to the newest developments in grasping methods. Unlike other survey papers, we focus on the applications of robotic grippers in industrial, medical, for fragile objects and soft fabrics grippers. We report on new advancements on grasping mechanisms and discuss their behavior for different purposes. Finally, we present the future trends of grippers in terms of flexibility and performance and their vital applications in emerging areas of robotic surgery, industrial assembly, space exploration, and micromanipulation. These advancements will provide a future outlook on the new trends in robotic grippers.