Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a suitable motion planning for omni‐directional mobile robots (OMRs) by taking into account the motion characteristics. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the kinematic and dynamic constraints, the maximum velocity, motion stability and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a flexible automation system for the manipulation of fabrics lying on a work table and focuses on the design of a robot control system based on visual servoing and fuzzy logic for handling flexible sheets lying on a table. The main contribution...

Purpose – Path planning approaches based on conventional occupancy grid maps are problematic in off‐road environment because impossible areas include not only obstacles but also landscapes like ramps and pits. The purpose of this paper is to develop a path planning method in a hybrid grid...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a coordinated control strategy for stable walking of biped robot with heterogeneous legs (BRHL), which consists of artificial leg (AL) and intelligent bionic leg (IBL). Design/methodology/approach – The original concentrated control in common...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of present‐day and anticipated future applications of robots in the food industry. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the use of robots in the agriculture and farming, processing and packaging and retail sectors of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe new walking assist devices Honda is developing. Design/methodology/approach – The exhibition, press release and interview are described. The features of the walking assist devices are presented. Findings – The paper finds that Honda is...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the capabilities, technological features and applications of a particular industrial robot simulation package. Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins with an introduction to the general characteristics and distinguishing technological...

Purpose – Damage of oil and gas long‐distance transmission pipelines caused by corrosion, stresses, geological change, and other factors can result in catastrophic failures. The purpose of this paper is to describe a mobile out‐pipe inspection robot for the pipeline inspection....

Purpose – Wall climbing robots' volume is needed to be very small in fields that workspace is limited, such as anti‐terror scouting, industry pipe network inspecting and so on. The purpose of this paper is to design a miniature wall climbing robot with biomechanical suction cups actuated by...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the mechanical design and stability analysis of a new stair‐climbing robotic wheelchair. Design/methodology/approach – A prototype stair‐climbing robotic wheelchair is constructed comprising a pair of rotational multi‐limbed structures...