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The last five years marked a surge in interest for and use of smart robots, which operate in dynamic and unstructured environments and might interact with humans. We posit that well-validated computer simulation can provide a virtual proving ground that in many cases is instrumental in understanding safely, faster, at lower costs, and more thoroughly how the robots of the future should be designed and controlled for safe operation and improved performance. Against this backdrop, we discuss how simulation can help in robotics, barriers that currently prevent its broad adoption, and potential steps that can eliminate some of these barriers. The points and recommendations made concern the following simulation-in-robotics aspects: simulation of the dynamics of the robot; simulation of the virtual world; simulation of the sensing of this virtual world; simulation of the interaction between the human and the robot; and, in less depth, simulation of the communication between robots. This Perspectives contribution summarizes the points of view that coalesced during a 2018 National Science Foundation/Department of Defense/National Institute for Standards and Technology workshop dedicated to the topic at hand. The meeting brought together participants from a range of organizations, disciplines, and application fields, with expertise at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and physics-based simulation.

This paper presents a robotic assembly methodology for the manufacturing of large segmented composite structures. The approach addresses three key steps in the assembly process: panel localization and pick-up, panel transport, and panel placement. Multiple stationary and robot-mounted cameras provide information for localization and alignment. A robot wrist-mounted force/torque sensor enables gentle but secure panel pick-up and placement. Human-assisted path planning ensures reliable collision-free motion of the robot with a large load in a tight space. A finite state machine governs the process flow and user interface. It allows process interruption and return to the previous known state in case of error condition or when secondary operations are needed. For performance verification, a high resolution motion capture system provides the ground truth reference. An experimental testbed integrating an industrial robot, vision and force sensors, and representative laminated composite panels demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed assembly process. Experimental results show sub-millimeter placement accuracy with shorter cycle times, lower contact force, and reduced panel oscillation than manual operations. This work demonstrates the versatility of sensor guided robotic assembly operation in a complex end-to-end tasks using the open source Robot Operating System (ROS) software framework.

The last five years marked a surge in interest for and use of smart robots, which operate in dynamic and unstructured environments and might interact with humans. We posit that well-validated computer simulation can provide a virtual proving ground that in many cases is instrumental in understanding safely, faster, at lower costs, and more thoroughly how the robots of the future should be designed and controlled for safe operation and improved performance. Against this backdrop, we discuss how simulation can help in robotics, barriers that currently prevent its broad adoption, and potential steps that can eliminate some of these barriers. The points and recommendations made concern the following simulation-in-robotics aspects: simulation of the dynamics of the robot; simulation of the virtual world; simulation of the sensing of this virtual world; simulation of the interaction between the human and the robot; and, in less depth, simulation of the communication between robots. This Perspectives contribution summarizes the points of view that coalesced during a 2018 National Science Foundation/Department of Defense/National Institute for Standards and Technology workshop dedicated to the topic at hand. The meeting brought together participants from a range of organizations, disciplines, and application fields, with expertise at the intersection of robotics, machine learning, and physics-based simulation.

Robotics: Science and Systems IV spans a wide spectrum of robotics, bringing together researchers working on the foundations of robotics, robotics applications, and analysis of robotics systems. This volume presents the proceedings of the fourth annual Robotics: Science and Systems conference, held in 2008 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. The papers presented cover a range of topics, including computer vision, mapping, terrain identification, distributed systems, localization, manipulation, collision avoidance, multibody dynamics, obstacle detection, microrobotic systems, pursuit-evasion, grasping and manipulation, tracking, spatial kinematics, machine learning, and sensor networks as well as such applications as autonomous driving and design of manipulators for use in functional-MRI. The conference and its proceedings reflect not only the tremendous growth of robotics as a discipline but also the desire in the robotics community for a flagship event at which the best of the research in the field can be presented.

The conference Robotics: Science and Systems was held at the University of Washington in Seattle, from June 28 to July 1, 2009. More than 300 international researchers attended this single‐track conference to learn about the most exciting robotics research and most advanced robotic systems. The program committee selected 39 papers out of 154 submissions. The program also included invited talks. The plenary presentations were complemented by workshops.

Many robotics tasks require a robot to share the same workspace with humans. In such settings, it is important that the robot performs in such a way that does not cause distress to humans in the workspace. In this paper, we address the problem of designing robot controllers which minimize the stress caused by the robot while performing a given task. We present a novel, data-driven algorithm which computes human-friendly trajectories. The algorithm utilizes biofeedback measurements and combines a set of geometric controllers to achieve human friendliness. We evaluate the comfort level of the human using a Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) sensor. We present results from a human tracking task, in which the robot is required to stay within a specified distance without causing high stress values.

Issue Title: Special Issue: Selected papers from Robotics: Science and Systems 2008. Guest Editors: José Neira and Jeff Trinkle

The conference Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) was held at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, from June 25 to June 28, 2008. More than 280 international researchers attended this single‐track conference to learn about the most exciting robotics research and most advanced robotic systems. The program committee, led by 16 area chairs, selected 40 papers out of 163 submissions. The program also included seven invited talks and two Early Career Spotlight presentations. The plenary presentations were complemented by 13 workshops.

State-of-the-art robotics research on such topics as manipulation, motion planning, micro-robotics, distributed systems, autonomous navigation, and mapping. Robotics: Science and Systems IV spans a wide spectrum of robotics, bringing together researchers working on the foundations of robotics, robotics applications, and analysis of robotics systems. This volume presents the proceedings of the fourth annual Robotics: Science and Systems conference, held in 2008 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. The papers presented cover a range of topics, including computer vision, mapping, terrain identification, distributed systems, localization, manipulation, collision avoidance, multibody dynamics, obstacle detection, microrobotic systems, pursuit-evasion, grasping and manipulation, tracking, spatial kinematics, machine learning, and sensor networks as well as such applications as autonomous driving and design of manipulators for use in functional-MRI. The conference and its proceedings reflect not only the tremendous growth of robotics as a discipline but also the desire in the robotics community for a flagship event at which the best of the research in the field can be presented.

State-of-the-art robotics research on topics including manipulation, locomotion, machine learning, localization, visual SLAM, haptics, and biologically inspired design. Robotics: Science and Systems V spans a wide spectrum of robotics, bringing together researchers working on the foundations of robotics, robotics applications, and the analysis of robotics systems. This volume presents the proceedings of the fifth annual Robotics: Science and Systems conference, held in 2009 at the University of Washington in Seattle. The papers presented cover a range of topics, including manipulation, locomotion, machine learning, localization, visual SLAM, haptics, and biologically inspired design. The conference and its proceedings reflect not only the tremendous growth of robotics as a discipline but also the desire in the robotics community for a flagship event at which the best of the research in the field can be presented.