New Paradigms in Ergonomics


Book Description

The systems in which we work continue to evolve, creating emergent problems and often strengthening intractable issues. In order to remain relevant and impactful, the discipline of ergonomics needs its paradigms to evolve too. The aim of this book is to provide researchers and practitioners with new paradigms in the form of ideas, concepts, theories, methods, practices and values. The chapters take the reader on a journey through underlying theories, new ways to apply those theories and emerging domains in which ergonomics is expected to play a greater role. Readers of this book will be inspired by these new paradigms in ergonomics and seek to push the boundaries even further. The lifeblood of the science depends on continual evolvement and developments to take on the challenges we face in complex sociotechnical systems design and evaluation. Perhaps the most significant take-home message from this book is the demonstration of how theory maps onto practice. As such, the only remaining paradigm shift is for these ideas, concepts, methods and practices to be taken up more widely and the discipline advanced, until the next paradigm shift occurs. The chapters were originally published as a special issue in the journal Ergonomics.




Advanced Human-Robot Collaboration in Manufacturing


Book Description

This book presents state-of-the-art research, challenges and solutions in the area of human–robot collaboration (HRC) in manufacturing. It enables readers to better understand the dynamic behaviour of manufacturing processes, and gives more insight into on-demand adaptive control techniques for industrial robots. With increasing complexity and dynamism in today’s manufacturing practice, more precise, robust and practical approaches are needed to support real-time shop-floor operations. This book presents a collection of recent developments and innovations in this area, relying on a wide range of research efforts. The book is divided into five parts. The first part presents a broad-based review of the key areas of HRC, establishing a common ground of understanding in key aspects. Subsequent chapters focus on selected areas of HRC subject to intense recent interest. The second part discusses human safety within HRC. The third, fourth and fifth parts provide in-depth views of relevant methodologies and algorithms. Discussing dynamic planning and monitoring, adaptive control and multi-modal decision making, the latter parts facilitate a better understanding of HRC in real situations. The balance between scope and depth, and theory and applications, means this book appeals to a wide readership, including academic researchers, graduate students, practicing engineers, and those within a variety of roles in manufacturing sectors.




Mobile Robots Navigation


Book Description

The presence of mobile robots in diverse scenarios is considerably increasing to perform a variety of tasks. Among them, many developments have occurred in the fields of ground, underwater, and flying robotics. Independent of the environment where they move, navigation is a fundamental ability of mobile robots so that they can autonomously complete high-level tasks. This problem can be efficiently addressed through the following actions: First, it is necessary to perceive the environment in which the robot has to move, and extract some relevant information (mapping problem). Second, the robot must be able to estimate its position and orientation within this environment (localization problem). With this information, a trajectory toward the target points must be planned (path planning), and the vehicle must be reactively guided along this trajectory considering either possible changes or interactions with the environment or with the user (control). Given this information, this book introduces current frameworks in these fields (mapping, localization, path planning, and control) and, in general, approaches to any problem related to the navigation of mobile robots, such as odometry, exploration, obstacle avoidance, and simulation.







Cyber-Physical-Human Systems


Book Description

Cyber–Physical–Human Systems A comprehensive edited volume exploring the latest in the interactions between cyber–physical systems and humans In Cyber–Physical–Human Systems: Fundamentals and Applications, a team of distinguished researchers delivers a robust and up-to-date volume of contributions from leading researchers on Cyber–Physical–Human Systems, an emerging class of systems with increased interactions between cyber–physical, and human systems communicating with each other at various levels across space and time, so as to achieve desired performance related to human welfare, efficiency, and sustainability. The editors have focused on papers that address the power of emerging CPHS disciplines, all of which feature humans as an active component during cyber and physical interactions. Articles that span fundamental concepts and methods to various applications in engineering sectors of transportation, robotics, and healthcare and general socio-technical systems such as smart cities are featured. Together, these articles address challenges and opportunities that arise due to the emerging interactions between cyber–physical systems and humans, allowing readers to appreciate the intersection of cyber–physical system research and human behavior in large-scale systems. In the book, readers will also find: A thorough introduction to the fundamentals of cyber–physical–human systems In-depth discussions of cyber–physical–human systems with applications in transportation, robotics, and healthcare A comprehensive treatment of socio-technical systems, including social networks and smart cities Perfect for cyber–physical systems researchers, academics, and graduate students, Cyber–Physical–Human Systems: Fundamentals and Applications will also earn a place in the libraries of research and development professionals working in industry and government agencies.




Living with Robots


Book Description

Living with Robots: Emerging Issues on the Psychological and Social Implications of Robotics focuses on the issues that come to bear when humans interact and collaborate with robots. The book dives deeply into critical factors that impact how individuals interact with robots at home, work and play. It includes topics ranging from robot anthropomorphic design, degree of autonomy, trust, individual differences and machine learning. While other books focus on engineering capabilities or the highly conceptual, philosophical issues of human-robot interaction, this resource tackles the human elements at play in these interactions, which are essential if humans and robots are to coexist and collaborate effectively. Authored by key psychology robotics researchers, the book limits its focus to specifically those robots who are intended to interact with people, including technology such as drones, self-driving cars, and humanoid robots. Forward-looking, the book examines robots not as the novelty they used to be, but rather the practical idea of robots participating in our everyday lives. - Explores how individual differences in cognitive abilities and personality influence human-robot interaction - Examines the human response to robot autonomy - Includes tools and methods for the measurement of social emotion with robots - Delves into a broad range of domains - military, caregiving, toys, surgery, and more - Anticipates the issues we will encountering with robots in the next ten years - Foreword by Maggie Jackson, author of Distracted




RoboCup-97: Robot Soccer World Cup I


Book Description

RoboCup is an international initiative devoted to advancing the state of the art in artificial intelligence and robotics. The ultimate, long range goal is to build a team of robot soccer players that can beat a human World Cup champion team.This is the first book devoted to RoboCup. It opens with an overview section presenting the history of this young initiative, motivation, the overall perspectives and challenges, and a survey of the state of the art in the area. The technical paper section presents the state of the art of the interdisciplinary research and development efforts in details, essentially building on the progress achieved during the RoboCup-97 Workshop. The team description contributions discuss technical and strategic aspects of the work of the participating teams.




Designing Solutions-Based Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing: New Issues and Trends


Book Description

"This book provides a general overview about research on ubiquitous and pervasive computing and its applications, discussing the recent progress in this area and pointing out to scholars what they should do (best practices) and should not do (bad practices)"--Provided by publisher.




Robotics: Industry 4.0 Issues & New Intelligent Control Paradigms


Book Description

This book focuses on open issues of new intelligent control paradigms and their usage. Industry 4.0 requires new approaches in the context of secure connection, control, and maintenance of robotic systems, as well as enhancing their interaction with humans. The book presents recent advances in industrial robotics, and robotic design and modeling for various domains, and discusses the methodological foundations of the collaborative robotics concept as a breakthrough in modern industrial technologies. It also describes the implementation of multi-agent models, programs and methods that could be used in future processes for control, condition assessment, diagnostics, prognostication, and proactive maintenance. Further, the book addresses the issue of ensuring the space robotics systems and proposes reliable novel solutions. The authors also illustrate the integration of deep-learning methods and mathematical modeling based on examples of successful robotic systems in various countries, and analyze the connections between robotic modeling and design from the positions of new industrial challenges. The book is intended for practitioners and enterprise representatives, as well as scientists and Ph.D. and Master’s students pursuing research in the area of cyber-physical system development and implementation in various domains.




Social Robots: Technological, Societal and Ethical Aspects of Human-Robot Interaction


Book Description

Social robots not only work with humans in collaborative workspaces – we meet them in shopping malls and even more personal settings like health and care. Does this imply they should become more human, able to interpret and adequately respond to human emotions? Do we want them to help elderly people? Do we want them to support us when we are old ourselves? Do we want them to just clean and keep things orderly – or would we accept them helping us to go to the toilet, or even feed us if we suffer from Parkinson’s disease? The answers to these questions differ from person to person. They depend on cultural background, personal experiences – but probably most of all on the robot in question. This book covers the phenomenon of social robots from the historic roots to today’s best practices and future perspectives. To achieve this, we used a hands-on, interdisciplinary approach, incorporating findings from computer scientists, engineers, designers, psychologists, doctors, nurses, historians and many more. The book also covers a vast spectrum of applications, from collaborative industrial work over education to sales. Especially for developments with a high societal impact like robots in health and care settings, the authors discuss not only technology, design and usage but also ethical aspects. Thus this book creates both a compendium and a guideline, helping to navigate the design space for future developments in social robotics.