Purpose This paper aims to improve the adaptability and control performance of the controller, a proposed seeker optimization algorithm (SOA) is introduced to optimize the controller parameters of a robot manipulator. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, a traditional proportional integral...

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss search and rescue (SAR) and disaster relief robot developments, trials and applications and to answer the question posed in the title. Design/methodology/approach – Following a short introduction, this first describes Integrated Components for Assisted...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conduct a reliable remote manipulation with good contact perception of the remote site. The long-term experience of the authors’ repeatedly confirm that the highest relevance lies in monitoring the wrench acting at a structurally weak point of the work...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an automated industrial robotic system for handling steel castings of various sizes and shapes in a foundry. Design/methodology/approach – The authors first designed a prismatic gripper for pick-and-place operations that incorporates...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the tool experiences using torque during welding as a means of in-process sensing for tool wear. Metal matrix composites (MMCs) are materials with immense potential for aerospace structural applications. The major barrier to implementation of...

Purpose – This paper aims to present a new friction-stir-weld robot for large-scale complex surface structures, which has high stiffness and good flexibility. Design/methodology/approach – The robot system is designed according to manufacturability of large aluminum products in aeronautic...

Purpose This paper aims to provide details of underwater robot technology and its applications. Design/methodology/approach Following an introduction, this article first discusses remotely operated vehicle (ROV) technology and applications and then considers their use in the emerging field of...

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to develop a method to recognize the initial welding position for large-diameter pipeline automatically, and introduce the image processing based on pulse-coupled neural network (PCNN) which is adopted by the proposed method....

Purpose – This study aims to investigate if smartphone sensors can be used in an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) localization system. With the development of technology, smartphones have been tentatively used in micro-UAVs due to their lightweight, inexpensiveness and flexibility. In this study,...