Satoshi Tadokoro – författare

Electroactive polymers (EAPs) respond to electrical stimulation with large deformations. They are dynamic actuators which have interested an interdisciplinary audience of engineers and scientists. An enabling EAP technology is emerging which attempts to imitate the properties of natural muscle and which can perform a unique function in a variety of biologically-inspired robotics applications.

This book covers the properties, modelling and demonstration of EAPs in robotic applications, focusing on artificial muscles and sensors. Ionic Polymer–Metal Composite Actuators and Dielectric Elastomers are discussed with chapters on their properties and their uses in robotics applications.

With its concentration on devices based on EAPs and their uses, this book will interest researchers working within the field as well as postgraduate students studying robotics or smart materials and structures. Practitioners working in the mechanical, electrical and materials industries will also find this book of value.

Rescue Robotics presents the most significant findings of the DDT Project on robots and systems for urban search and rescue. This project was launched by the Japanese government in 2002 with the aim of applying a wide variety of robotics technologies to find a solution to the problem of disaster response, especially urban search and rescue in large-scale earthquakes.

From 2002 to 2007 more than 100 researchers took part in the DDT Project, coming from a wide spectrum of research and development to make up four research groups: Aerial Robot Systems MU (Mission Unit), Information Infrastructure System MU, In-Rubble Robot System MU, and On-Rubble Robot System MU. This book discusses their development and testing of various robotic systems and technologies such as serpentine robots, traced vehicles, intelligent human interface and data processing, as well as analysing and verifying the results of these experiments.

Rescue Robotics will be of interest to researchers and students, but will also prove useful for emergency response personnel. It offers an insight into the state of the art of rescue robotics and its readers will benefit from a knowledge of the advanced technologies involved in this field.

Next-Generation Actuators Leading Breakthroughs is the proceedings of the final symposium of MEXT Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas: Next-Generation Actuators Leading Breakthroughs, held in January 2010.

Since the realization of next-generation actuators requires an interdisciplinary approach, the research has been organized according to a broad technological perspective that consists of: actuators for small motion of nano-meters, small-size actuators of micro-meters structures, intelligent actuators for functional motions, power actuators for large force/torque and actuators for special environments.

Next-Generation Actuators Leading Breakthroughs also deals with common fundamental technologies for these actuators, such as intelligent materials, machining processes, control technologies, evaluation methods, and system integration. It provides cutting-edge research for researchers, postgraduates, and practitioners in mechanical, electrical, and materials industries.

FSR, the International Conference on Field and Service Robotics, is the leading single track conference of robotics for field and service applications. This book presents the results of FSR2012, the eighth conference of Field and Service Robotics, which was originally planned for 2011 with the venue of Matsushima in Tohoku region of Japan. However, on March 11, 2011, a magnitude M9.0 earthquake occurred off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, and a large-scale disaster was caused by the Tsunami which resulted, therefore the conference was postponed by one year to July, 2012. In fact, this earthquake raised issues concerning the contribution of field and service robotics technology to emergency scenarios. A number of precious lessons were learned from operation of robots in the resulting, very real and challenging, disaster environments. Up-to-date study on disaster response, relief and recovery was then featured in the conference. This book offers 43 papers on a broad range of topics including: Disaster Response, Service/Entertainment Robots, Inspection/Maintenance Robots, Mobile Robot Navigation, Agricultural Robots, Robots for Excavation, Planetary Exploration, Large Area Mapping, SLAM for Outdoor Robots, and Elemental Technology for Mobile Robots.