Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of recent progress in the development of medical microrobots. Design/methodology/approach – The paper first considers some of the critical aspects of medical microrobot design and then illustrates the present state of development...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of robotic cutting techniques and applications. Design/methodology/approach – This paper firstly describes the main cutting techniques used with robots and subsequently discusses robotic cutting applications, giving examples of...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide a review of recent developments in the application of swarm intelligence to robotics. Design/methodology/approach – This paper initially considers swarm intelligence and then discusses its application to robotics through reference to a number of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of finishing robot technology and its applications. Design/methodology/approach – The paper initially considers the development of automated finishing technologies and then discusses robotic systems. The uses of robotic finishing are...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review recent developments in exoskeletons and robotic prosthetics. Design/methodology/approach – This paper first describes a number of recently developed exoskeletons for military, civil and medical applications. It then discusses robotic...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of recent developments in miniaturised flying robots. Design/methodology/approach – Following a brief consideration of micro‐ and nano‐aerial vehicles, the paper discusses recent US and European research into the development of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a technical insight into recent developments in brain‐computer interface (BCI) technology and its applications. Design/methodology/approach – Following an introduction to BCI, this paper considers the different means of detecting brain...

Purpose – The paper aims to provide a technical review of recent developments in microrobots, together with a less detailed consideration of nanorobotics. Design/methodology/approach – Following a brief introduction, this paper describes a number of recently reported microrobot development...

Purpose – The paper aims to provide a review of the uses of robots in non‐destructive testing (NDT). Design/methodology/approach – Following a brief introduction, this paper considers the uses of robotic NDT, with an emphasis on applications in certain key industries. While some...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the uses of robots in the nuclear power industry, with an emphasis on newer developments and applications. Design/methodology/approach – Following an introduction to the nuclear industry, this paper considers robotic applications...