Rapid advances in sensors, computers, and algorithms continue to fuel dramatic improvements in intelligent robots. In addition, robot vehicles are starting to appear in a number of applications. For example, they have been installed in public settings to perform such tasks as delivering items in hospitals and cleaning floors in supermarkets; recently, two small robot vehicles were launched to explore Mars.This book presents the latest advances in the principal fields that contribute to robotics. It contains contributions written by leading experts addressing topics such as Path and Motion Planning, Navigation and Sensing, Vision and Object Recognition, Environment Modeling, and others.

Rapid advances in sensors, computers, and algorithms continue to fuel dramatic improvements in intelligent robots. In addition, robot vehicles are starting to appear in a number of applications. For example, they have been installed in public settings to perform such tasks as delivering items in hospitals and cleaning floors in supermarkets; recently, two small robot vehicles were launched to explore Mars.This book presents the latest advances in the principal fields that contribute to robotics. It contains contributions written by leading experts addressing topics such as Path and Motion Planning, Navigation and Sensing, Vision and Object Recognition, Environment Modeling, and others.