Purpose: This paper aims to provide details of recent research into robots capable of ascending vertical or near-vertical surfaces and to illustrate how the ability to climb is set to resolve a critical industrial need arising from the growth in renewable energy. Design/methodology/approach: ...

Purpose: This paper aims to provide details of recent developments in robots aimed at applications in the offshore oil and gas industries. Design/methodology/approach: Following a short introduction, this first discusses developments to remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe recent fruit picking robot developments with an emphasis on corporate activity rather than academic research. It also aims to provide a view on the commercial prospects for these developments. Design/methodology/approach: Following a short...

Purpose – This paper seeks to describe a new flexible, robot‐based welding line, installed at an American DaimlerChrysler vehicle assembly plant. Design/methodology/approach – This paper first considers the motivations behind flexible manufacturing strategies (FMSs) and then describes a...

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...