Robotic exploration of the planet Mars is the goal of two space missions launched in 2003. Their aim was to use robots and a host of instrumentation to take samples of soil and rock and to analyse them for evidence of life. The NASA project, which landed on Mars in January 2004, has put the two...

Dutch company Insentec has developed a robotic solution for milking cows. Using a standard industrial robot and machine vision, Insentec's Galaxy product is a fully automated milking station that is available to cows 24 h a day. Some 100 systems are already in use on farms around Europe.

ABB has launched a new robot controller, the fifth generation IRC5. One of its major features is MultiMove, a function that enables fully coordinated control of up to 36 axes, equal to four six‐axis robots plus work positioners or other servo devices. This opens up new application areas with a...

Robot football uses autonomous vehicles that respond to unpredictable events. It presents engineering challenges embracing a wide range of disciplines, and attracts and holds the interest of undergraduates and postgraduates, educationists, school children and laymen. National and international...

For the time in its 45‐year history, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) reached beyond its standard defense contractors and out to the public, and in 2004 held the DARPA Grand Challenge in an effort to attract innovation in order to achieve a military mandate of having...

With the trend towards lightweight body structures for automobiles, new joining technologies are evolving. This paper highlights the latest application – that of adhesive bonding major components for the Aston Martin DB9 sports car.

A review of the MACH machine tool exhibition held at the NEC, Birmingham, and specifically on the robotic exhibits. Although the number of stands demonstrating robots was down on the last MACH in 2002, there were some new product releases from Rexroth Bosch, Fanuc and ABB. Two of the first...