Purpose – This first part of a two-part paper aims to provide an insight into the ethical and legal issues associated with certain classes of robot. This part is concerned with ethics. Design/methodology/approach – Following an introduction, this paper first considers the ethical...

Purpose – This is the second part of a two-part paper which aims to provide an insight into the ethical and legal issues surrounding certain classes of robot. This part is concerned with law. Design/methodology/approach – Following an introduction, this paper first describes the European...

Purpose This paper aims to provide details of the safety considerations, technologies and standards associated with robots that interact with, or operate in proximity to, humans. Design/methodology/approach Following an introduction, this paper first considers collaborative robots and discusses...

Purpose This paper aims to provide an insight into recent developments in the robotic exoskeleton business by considering research, corporate activities, products and emerging applications. Design/methodology/approach Following a short introduction, this first provides examples of exoskeleton...

Purpose This paper aims to illustrate the growing role of robots in the electronics industries. Design/methodology/approach Following a short introduction, this paper discusses robotic applications and products in three sectors of the electronics industry: semiconductor processing, printed...

Purpose – The purpose of this two-part paper is to illustrate how sensors impart robots with perceptive capabilities. This first part considers robots that interact with humans and which seek to mimic human intentions. Design/methodology/approach – Following a short introduction, this paper...

Purpose This paper aims to provide details of a number of recent and significant agricultural robot research and development activities. Design/methodology/approach Following an introduction, this first provides a brief overview of agricultural robot research. It then discusses a number of...

Purpose This paper aims to provide technical details of humanoid robot developments from the 1970s to the present day and to consider their potential applications and prospects. Design/methodology/approach Following an introduction, this first identifies the motivations for developing humanoid...

Purpose This paper aims to show how robotic technology is being used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Following a short introduction, this discusses the role of robots in the following COVID-related applications: disinfection, checking human temperature, monitoring...

Purpose This paper aims to provide an insight into light detection and ranging (lidar) technology and its growing applications in robotics. Design/methodology/approach Following a short introduction, this paper first describes the main lidar techniques and then provides details of a selection of...