Infrastructure Robotics Illuminating resource presenting commonly used robotic methodologies and technologies, with recent developments and clear application examples across different project types Infrastructure Robotics presents state-of-the-art research in infrastructure robotics and key methodologies that enable the development of intelligent robots for operation in civil infrastructure environments, describing sensing, perception, localization, map building, environmental and operation awareness, motion and task planning, design methodologies, robot assistance paradigms, and physical human-robot collaboration. The text also presents many case studies of robotic systems developed for real-world applications in maintaining various civil infrastructures, including steel bridges, tunnels, underground water mains, underwater structures, and sewer pipes. In addition, later chapters discuss lessons learned in deployment of intelligent robots in practical applications overall. Infrastructure Robotics provides a timely and thorough treatment of the subject pertaining to recent developments, such as computer vision and machine learning techniques that have been used in inspection and condition assessment of critical civil infrastructures, including bridges, tunnels, and more. Written by highly qualified contributors with significant experience in both academia and industry, Infrastructure Robotics covers topics such as: Design methods for application of robots in civil infrastructure inspired by biological systems including ants, inchworms, and humans Fundamental aspects of research on intelligent robotic co-workers for human-robot collaborative operations The ROBO-SPECT European project and a robotized alternative to manual tunnel structural inspection and assessment Wider context for the use of additive manufacturing techniques on construction sites Infrastructure Robotics is an essential resource for researchers, engineers, and graduate students in related fields. Professionals in civil engineering, asset management, and project management who wish to be on the cutting edge of the future of their industries will also benefit from the text.

Automation and Robotics in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Industry provides distinct and unified insight into current and future construction robotics, offering readers a comprehensive perspective for constructing a road map and illuminating improvements for a successful transition towards construction robotization. The book covers the fundamentals and applications of robotics, autonomous vehicles, and human-perceptive machines at construction sites. Through theoretical and experimental analyses, it examines the potential of robotics and automated systems for current and future fieldwork operations and identifies the factors that determine their implementation pace, adoption scale, and ubiquity throughout the industry. The book evaluates the technical, societal, and economic aspects of adopting robots in construction, both as standalone and collaborative systems, which in return can afford the opportunity to investigate these AI-enabled machines more systematically.

Modelled on the concept of Industry 4.0, the idea of Construction 4.0 is based on a confluence of trends and technologies that promise to reshape the way built environment assets are designed, constructed, and operated. With the pervasive use of Building Information Modelling (BIM), lean principles, digital technologies, and offsite construction, the industry is at the cusp of this transformation. The critical challenge is the fragmented state of teaching, research, and professional practice in the built environment sector. This handbook aims to overcome this fragmentation by describing Construction 4.0 in the context of its current state, emerging trends and technologies, and the people and process issues that surround the coming transformation. Construction 4.0 is a framework that is a confluence and convergence of the following broad themes discussed in this book: Industrial production (prefabrication, 3D printing and assembly, offsite manufacture) Cyber-physical systems (actuators, sensors, IoT, robots, cobots, drones) Digital and computing technologies (BIM, video and laser scanning, AI and cloud computing, big data and data analytics, reality capture, Blockchain, simulation, augmented reality, data standards and interoperability, and vertical and horizontal integration) The aim of this handbook is to describe the Construction 4.0 framework and consequently highlight the resultant processes and practices that allow us to plan, design, deliver, and operate built environment assets more effectively and efficiently by focusing on the physical-to-digital transformation and then digital-to-physical transformation. This book is essential reading for all built environment and AEC stakeholders who need to get to grips with the technological transformations currently shaping their industry, research, and teaching.

With the science of robotics undergoing a major transformation just now, Springer’s new, authoritative handbook on the subject couldn’t have come at a better time. Having broken free from its origins in industry, robotics has been rapidly expanding into the challenging terrain of unstructured environments. Unlike other handbooks that focus on industrial applications, the Springer Handbook of Robotics incorporates these new developments. Just like all Springer Handbooks, it is utterly comprehensive, edited by internationally renowned experts, and replete with contributions from leading researchers from around the world. The handbook is an ideal resource for robotics experts but also for people new to this expanding field.

This book provides state-of-the-art scientific and engineering research findings and developments in the area of mobile robotics and associated support technologies around the theme of assistive robotics. The book contains peer reviewed articles presented at the CLAWAR 2015 conference. The book contains a comprehensive collection of papers on legged locomotion with numbers of legs from two upward to multi-legs, which includes robots cable of climbing walls, poles, or more complex structures such as continuing the distinctive CLAWAR themes. There are also a strong showing of articles covering human assist devices, notably exoskeletal and prosthetic devices, as well as social robots designed to meet the growing challenges of global ageing population.

Appealing to business researchers, academics and practitioners, Process Automation Strategy in Services, Manufacturing and Construction brings to life the current trends in process automation and considers what the future holds.

This book reports on the concepts and ideas discussed at the well attended ICRA2005 Workshop on "Principles and Practice of Software Development in Robotics", held in Barcelona, Spain, April 18 2005. It collects contributions that describe the state of the art in software development for the Robotics domain. It also reports a number of practical applications to real systems and discuss possible future developments.