Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a distributed multiple mobile robot system that provides a collaborative control and simulation environment. Design/methodology/approach – A CORBA‐based cooperative system is designed to implement a robotic layered cooperative mechanism....

Purpose – Paint path planning for industrial robots is critical for uniform paint distribution, process cycle time and material waste, etc. However, paint path planning is still a costly and time‐consuming process. Currently paint path planning has always caused a bottle‐neck for...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a mobile robot with an olfactory capability for hazardous site survey. Possible applications include detection of gas leaks and dangerous substances along predefined paths, inspection of pipes in factories, and mine sweeping....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a surgical robot for spinal fusion and its control framework that provides higher operation accuracy, greater flexibility of robot position control, and improved ergonomics. Design/methodology/approach – A human‐guided robot for the spinal...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report a collection of developments that enable users to program industrial robots using speech, several device interfaces, force control and code generation techniques. Design/methodology/approach – The reported system is explained in detail and a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe how Jaguar Cars in the UK has increased the number of industrial robots at its XF body‐in‐white (BIW) facility at its Castle Bromwich site in the UK. This site has three BIW shops – one each for the XK sports car, the XF sports saloon...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe how General Motors (GM) Manufacturing has increased the number of installed robots at its Luton, Bedfordshire, UK van making facility as a means of increasing productivity. Design/methodology/approach – As a result of a study of industrial...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a minimum time algorithm to intercept an object on a conveyor belt by a robotic manipulator. The goal is that the robot is able to intercept objects on a conveyor line moving at a given speed in minimum time. Design/methodology/approach – In...