Robotics engineering has progressed from an infant industry in 1961 to one including over 500 robot and allied firms around the world in 1989. During this growth period, many robotics books have been published, so me of which have served as industry standards. Until recently, the design of robotics sys tems has been primarily the responsibility of the mechanical engineer, and their application in factories has been the responsibility of the manufacturing engineer. Few robotics books address the many systems issues facing electron ics engineers or computer programmers. The mid-1980s witnessed a major change in the robotics field. The develop ment of advanced sensor systems (particularly vision), improvements in the intelligence area, and the desire to integrate groups of robots working together in local work cells or in factory-wide systems have greatly increased the partic ipation of electronics engineers and computer programmers. Further, as ro bots ga in mobility, they are being used in completely new areas, such as construction, firefighting, and underwater exploration, and the need for com puters and smart sensors has increased. Fundamentals af Rabaties Engineering is aimed at the practicing electrical engineer or computer analyst who needs to review the fundamentals of engi neering as applied to robotics and to understand the impact on system design caused by constraints unique to robotics. Because there are many good texts covering mechanical engineering topics, this book is limited to an overview of those topics and the effects they have on electrical design and system pro grams.

The topics covered in this book range from modeling and programming languages and environments, via approaches for design and verification, to issues of ethics and regulation. In terms of techniques, there are results on model-based engineering, product lines, mission specification, component-based development, simulation, testing, and proof. Applications range from manufacturing to service robots, to autonomous vehicles, and even robots than evolve in the real world. A final chapter summarizes issues on ethics and regulation based on discussions from a panel of experts. The origin of this book is a two-day event, entitled RoboSoft, that took place in November 2019, in London. Organized with the generous support of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the University of York, UK, RoboSoft brought together more than 100 scientists, engineers and practitioners from all over the world, representing 70 international institutions. The intended readership includes researchers and practitioners with all levels of experience interested in working in the area of robotics, and software engineering more generally. The chapters are all self-contained, include explanations of the core concepts, and finish with a discussion of directions for further work. Chapters 'Towards Autonomous Robot Evolution', 'Composition, Separation of Roles and Model-Driven Approaches as Enabler of a Robotics Software Ecosystem' and 'Verifiable Autonomy and Responsible Robotics' are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Build a nearly two-foot-tall marble run, and learn all about the scientific principles behind your creation with this interactive science book and kit. This is no ordinary maker kit. It contains everything kids need to build a nearly two-foot-high working marble run, complete with wheels, ramps, stops, and drops—two marbles included. As construction begins, young engineers in training can read along in the accompanying 64-page science activity book to test theories, perform experiments, and learn all about mechanics, speed, forces, and other scientific principles that relate to their marble run. Focusing on STEM concepts in a fun and engaging way, this kit is a great option for an upcoming science fair or a quiet rainy day at home.

Assemble a launch pad, build a rocket, and go on a hands-on adventure around our solar system and beyond! This is no ordinary maker kit. It contains everything kids need to assemble a launch pad for a model three-stage rocket, as well as build the rocket and planets of our solar system. As construction begins, young engineers in training can read along in the accompanying 64-page science activity book to test theories, perform experiments, and learn all about gravity, the Law of Motion, orbital velocity, and more as they relate to the space models. Focusing on STEM concepts in a fun and engaging way, this kit is a great option for an upcoming science fair or a quiet rainy day at home.

foreword by Lashon Booker To program an autonomous robot to act reliably in a dynamic environment is a complex task. The dynamics of the environment are unpredictable, and the robots' sensors provide noisy input. A learning autonomous robot, one that can acquire knowledge through interaction with its environment and then adapt its behavior, greatly simplifies the designer's work. A learning robot need not be given all of the details of its environment, and its sensors and actuators need not be finely tuned. Robot Shaping is about designing and building learning autonomous robots. The term "shaping" comes from experimental psychology, where it describes the incremental training of animals. The authors propose a new engineering discipline, "behavior engineering," to provide the methodologies and tools for creating autonomous robots. Their techniques are based on classifier systems, a reinforcement learning architecture originated by John Holland, to which they have added several new ideas, such as "mutespec," classifier system "energy,"and dynamic population size. In the book they present Behavior Analysis and Training (BAT) as an example of a behavior engineering methodology.

Readers will learn what it takes to succeed as a robotics engineer. The book also explains the necessary educational steps, useful character traits, and daily job tasks related to this career, in the framework of the STEAM, Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math, movement. Photos, a glossary, and additional resources are included.