Household Service Robotics

Preface

Technological breakthroughs in computer hardware, sensors, actuators, controllers, and algorithms have facilitated the increased use of highly integrated robotic technologies in a range of disciplines, enabling robots to step out of their structured manufacturing industries and into our homes and daily lives. This is an exciting trend, and one that seems to hold the promise of science-fiction characters such as R2-D2 and C-3PO of Star Wars fame finding work in unstructured household environments.

Before that promise can be fulfilled, however, a number of research questions need to be answered. How can we design household robots to fit specific functional requirements? How can robots navigate unknown and dynamic environments without colliding ...