Purpose – A suspended wheeled mobile robot (SWMR) that consists of one or more manipulators can be exploited in various environmental conditions such as uneven surfaces. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the requirements for stable motion planning of such robotic systems to perform heavy...

Purpose – In a soccer robot game, the environment is highly competitive and dynamic. In order to work in the dynamically changing environment, the decision‐making system of a soccer robot system should have the features of flexibility and real‐time adaptation. The purpose of this paper is...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of various motion capture technologies and discuss the methods for handling the captured data in applications related to robotics. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken in the paper is to compare the features and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a novel and accurate coordination control method of dual‐arm modular robot based on position feedback using 3D motion measurement system – Optotrak3020. The end‐position accuracy of dual‐arm modular robot can be improved obviously....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an algorithm for performing collision avoidance with robotic manipulators. Design/methodology/approach – The method does not require any a priori knowledge of the motion of other objects in its environment. Moreover, it is computationally...

Purpose – This paper aims to review of the use of robots in two healthcare applications: surgery and prosthetics. Design/methodology/approach – Following a brief introduction, this paper first considers robotic surgery and discusses a selection of commercial products, applications and recent...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago with emphasis on new innovative robot applications on display. Design/methodology/approach – In‐depth interviews with exhibitors of robots as well as system integrators who apply...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a novel miniature magnetic climbing robot for industrial inspection. The robot has high mobility with low complexity. Design/methodology/approach – The robot has a miniature cylindrical shape with 28 mm of diameter and 62 mm of width. The...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe a standing style transfer system, ABLE, designed to enable a person with disabled lower limbs to do daily‐life activities without special infrastructure. Actually, ABLE is mainly intended for use by people who have spinal cord injuries and...

Purpose – A lot of unique transportation devices on the ground have been developed. On the other hand, on water, there are a few personal devices, which sometimes need paddling to get around. If the personal mobility that make it possible to move intuitively and quickly on water is realized,...