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Ultrasound (US) imaging is a widely used diagnostic method in clinics. Real-time-generated US images are used for rapid diagnosis without harm to patients. The quality of US imaging highly depends on the skill of the physician due to the differences among physicians. Techniques for autonomous robotic ultrasound (AU-RUS) acquisitions are expected to become an effective means to improve the level of US diagnosis, reduce the workload of physicians, and improve the standardization of US imaging quality. This paper aims to summarize the current research status of techniques for AU-RUS acquisitions, and to discuss the research trends and challenges regarding related technologies. Firstly, the techniques for AU-RUS acquisitions and systems are outlined. The techniques for teleoperated or autonomous US acquisitions are briefly discussed. Representative RUS acquisition systems are introduced. Then, the current research status of AU-RUS acquisitions is reviewed from four research directions: force sensitivity and control, scanning path-planning and positioning, US treatment guidance, and US image processing technology and quality assessment optimization. This review provides a decision-oriented autonomy perspective by mapping typical methods to workflow components across the stages of perception, decision-making, and execution. We identify major deployment bottlenecks, including safety-verifiable autonomy and failure recovery, motion compensation under deformation, and the lack of standardized, clinically meaningful US image quality metrics. Finally, the shortcomings of current research are summarized and analyzed, and the research trends and challenges for AU-RUS acquisitions are prospected.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, especially in dusty and high-temperature regions, suffer performance degradation due to dust accumulation, surface heating, and delayed maintenance. This study proposes an AI-integrated autonomous robotic system combining real-time monitoring, predictive analytics, and intelligent cleaning for enhanced solar panel performance. We developed a hybrid system that integrates CNN-LSTM-based fault detection, Reinforcement Learning (DQN)-driven robotic cleaning, and Edge AI analytics for low-latency decision-making. Thermal and LiDAR-equipped drones detect panel faults, while ground robots clean panel surfaces based on real-time dust and temperature data. The system is built on Jetson Nano and Raspberry Pi 4B units with MQTT-based IoT communication. The system achieved an average cleaning efficiency of 91.3%, reducing dust density from 3.9 to 0.28 mg/m³, and restoring up to 31.2% energy output on heavily soiled panels. CNN-LSTM-based fault detection delivered 92.3% accuracy, while the RL-based cleaning policy reduced energy and water consumption by 34.9%. Edge inference latency averaged 47.2 ms, outperforming cloud processing by 63%. A strong correlation, r  = 0.87 between dust concentration and thermal anomalies, was confirmed. The proposed IEEE 1876-compliant framework offers a resilient and intelligent solution for real-time solar panel maintenance. By leveraging AI, robotics, and edge computing, the system enhances energy efficiency, reduces manual labor, and provides a scalable model for climate-resilient, smart solar infrastructure.

People with severe motor impairments like tetraplegia are restricted in activities of daily living (ADL) and are dependent on continuous human assistance. Assistive robots perform physical tasks in the context of ADLs to support people in need of assistance. In this work a sensor fusion algorithm and a robot control algorithm for localizing the user’s mouth and autonomously navigating a robot arm are proposed for the assistive drinking task. The sensor fusion algorithm is implemented in a visual tracking system which consists of a 2-D camera and a single point time-of-flight distance sensor. The sensor fusion algorithm utilizes computer vision to combine camera images and distance measurements to achieve reliable localization of the user’s mouth. The robot control algorithm uses visual servoing to navigate a robot-handled drinking cup to the mouth and establish physical contact with the lips. This system features an abort command that is triggered by turning the head and unambiguous tracking of multiple faces which enable safe human robot interaction. A study with nine able-bodied test subjects shows that the proposed system reliably localizes the mouth and is able to autonomously navigate the cup to establish physical contact with the mouth.

This work introduces the Advanced Multi-Objective Salp Swarm Algorithm Exploration Technique (AMET), which is a novel optimization framework designed to enhance the efficiency and robustness of multi-robot exploration. AMET combines the deterministic structure of Coordinated Multi-Robot Exploration (CME) with the adaptive search capabilities of the Multi-Objective Salp Swarm Algorithm (MSSA) to achieve a balanced trade-off between exploration efficiency and mapping accuracy. To validate its effectiveness, AMET is compared to both multi-objective and single-objective exploration strategies, including CME combined with Multi-Objective Grey Wolf Optimizer (CME-MGWO), Multi-Objective Ant Colony Optimization (CME-MACO), Multi-Objective Dragonfly Algorithm (CME-MODA), and the single-objective CME with traditional Salp Swarm Algorithm (CME-SSA). The evaluation focuses on four critical performance metrics: runtime efficiency, exploration area coverage, mission completion resilience, and the reduction of redundant exploration. Experimental results across multiple case studies demonstrate that AMET consistently outperforms both single-objective and multi-objective counterparts, achieving superior area coverage, reduced computational overhead, and enhanced exploration coordination. These findings highlight the potential of AMET as a scalable and efficient approach for robotic exploration, providing a foundation for future advancements in multi-robot systems. The proposed method opens new possibilities for applications in search-and-rescue operations, planetary surface exploration, and large-scale environmental monitoring.

An introduction to how neuroethology can inform the development of robots controlled by synaptic networks instead of algorithms, from a pioneer in biorobotics.The trait most fundamental to the evolution of animals is the capability to adapt to novel circumstances in unpredictable environments.

Posture detection targeted towards providing assessments for the monitoring of health and welfare of pigs has been of great interest to researchers from different disciplines. Existing studies applying machine vision techniques are mostly based on methods using three-dimensional imaging systems, or two-dimensional systems with the limitation of monitoring under controlled conditions. Thus, the main goal of this study was to determine whether a two-dimensional imaging system, along with deep learning approaches, could be utilized to detect the standing and lying (belly and side) postures of pigs under commercial farm conditions. Three deep learning-based detector methods, including faster regions with convolutional neural network features (Faster R-CNN), single shot multibox detector (SSD) and region-based fully convolutional network (R-FCN), combined with Inception V2, Residual Network (ResNet) and Inception ResNet V2 feature extractions of RGB images were proposed. Data from different commercial farms were used for training and validation of the proposed models. The experimental results demonstrated that the R-FCN ResNet101 method was able to detect lying and standing postures with higher average precision (AP) of 0.93, 0.95 and 0.92 for standing, lying on side and lying on belly postures, respectively and mean average precision (mAP) of more than 0.93.

A comprehensive introduction to the field of autonomous robotics aimed at upper-level undergraduates and offering additional online resources.Textbooks that provide a broad algorithmic perspective on the mechanics and dynamics of robots almost unfailingly serve students at the graduate level.

Robotised Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) has revolutionised the field, increasing the speed of repetitive scanning procedures and ability to reach hazardous environments. Application of robot-assisted NDT within specific industries such as remanufacturing and Aersopace, in which parts are regularly moulded and susceptible to non-critical deformation has however presented drawbacks. In these cases, digital models for robotic path planning are not always available or accurate. Cutting edge methods to counter the limited flexibility of robots require an initial pre-scan using camera-based systems in order to build a CAD model for path planning. This paper has sought to create a novel algorithm that enables robot-assisted ultrasonic testing of unknown surfaces within a single pass. Key to the impact of this article is the enabled autonomous profiling with sensors whose aperture is several orders of magnitude smaller than the target surface, for surfaces of any scale. Potential applications of the algorithm presented include autonomous drone and crawler inspections of large, complex, unknown environments in addition to situations where traditional metrological profiling equipment is not practical, such as in confined spaces. In simulation, the proposed algorithm has completely mapped significantly curved and complex shapes by utilising only local information, outputting a traditional raster pattern when curvature is present only in a single direction. In practical demonstrations, both curved and non-simple surfaces were fully mapped with no required operator intervention. The core limitations of the algorithm in practical cases is the effective range of the applied sensor, and as a stand-alone method it lacks the required knowledge of the environment to prevent collisions. However, since the approach has met success in fully scanning non-obstructive but still significantly complex surfaces, the objectives of this paper have been met. Future work will focus on low-accuracy environmental sensing capabilities to tackle the challenges faced. The method has been designed to allow single-pass scans for Conformable Wedge Probe UT scanning, but may be applied to any surface scans in the case the sensor aperture is significantly smaller than the part.

Robots, autonomous vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and smart factory, will significantly change human living style in digital society. Artificial Intelligence in Wireless Robotics introduces how wireless communications and networking technology enhances facilitation of artificial intelligence in robotics, which bridges basic multi-disciplinary knowledge among artificial intelligence, wireless communications, computing, and control in robotics. A unique aspect of the book is to introduce applying communication and signal processing techniques to enhance traditional artificial intelligence in robotics and multi-agent systems. The technical contents of this book include fundamental knowledge in robotics, cyber-physical systems, artificial intelligence, statistical decision and Markov decision process, reinforcement learning, state estimation, localization, computer vision and multi-modal data fusion, robot planning, multi-agent systems, networked multi-agent systems, security and robustness of networked robots, and ultra-reliable and low-latency machine-to-machine networking. Examples and exercises are provided for easy and effective comprehension. Engineers wishing to extend knowledge in the robotics, AI, and wireless communications, would be benefited from this book. In the meantime, the book is ready as a textbook for senior undergraduate students or first-year graduate students in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, and general engineering students. The readers of this book shall have basic knowledge in undergraduate probability and linear algebra, and basic programming capability, in order to enjoy deep reading.

This paper proposes an autonomous robotic system to prune sweet pepper leaves using semantic segmentation with deep learning and an articulated manipulator. This system involves three main tasks: the perception of crop parts, the detection of pruning position, and the control of the articulated manipulator. A semantic segmentation neural network is employed to recognize the different parts of the sweet pepper plant, which is then used to create 3D point clouds for detecting the pruning position and the manipulator pose. Eventually, a manipulator robot is controlled to prune the crop part. This article provides a detailed description of the three tasks involved in building the sweet pepper pruning system and how to integrate them. In the experiments, we used a robot arm to manipulate the pruning leaf actions within a certain height range and a depth camera to obtain 3D point clouds. The control program was developed in different modules using various programming languages running on the ROS (Robot Operating System).