Purpose – Offers an example of mobile robot networking and sensors. Design/methodology/approach – Displays an example of a prototype mobile robot called M‐Tran III. Findings – Teams of simple, modular robots can assume a wide variety of shapes to allow movement and cooperative behavior....

This paper presents a biologically-inspired, hardware-realisable spiking neuron model, which we call the Temporal Noisy-Leaky Integrator (TNLI). The dynamic applications of the model as well as its applications in Computational Neuroscience are demonstrated and a learning algorithm based on...

Purpose – Aims to collate and analyse data relating to the sales and installations of industrial robots in the UK for the preceding year and, by comparison with data from previous years, identify market trends. Design/methodology/approach – Data has been collected by the annual survey of UK...

Purpose – Aims to demonstrate how robot technology, machine vision, voice recognition and artificial intelligence can be applied to creating an automated surgeon's assistant that is functional and cost‐effective. Design/methodology/approach – Presents the development process that led to...

Purpose – Aims to project how electroactive polymer will replace conventional electromagnetic motor driven solutions for service and industrial robots. Design/methodology/approach – Presents the ability of electro active polymer to provide higher power density for robot actuation over...

Purpose – Examines a recently launched integration of smart cameras into industrial robots to make them responsive to a changing environment. Design/methodology/approach – Reviews the capabilities of the vision‐enabled robot, citing installations in Sweden and the UK, then describes the...

Purpose – To report on the design and development of a robotic automobile aluminium frame welding system. Design/methodology/approach – The customer contracted with a team of suppliers, each with unique skills and products necessary for welding thin aluminium framing. The team employed...

Purpose – Aims to summarise the programme of UV Europe, a conference on unmanned vehicles that took place in Paris in June 2005. Design/methodology/approach – Selects key conference presentations and summarises their contents, indicating the main themes. Findings – Finds very strong...

Purpose – Aims to make an appeal to Japanese robotic community in an attempt to keep global competitivity for the future. Design/methodology/approach – Clarifies the cost structure of the robotic business. Analyses the needs of Japanese society. Leads to suggest the new direction of Japanese...