Thank you for the positive comments. The book was put together as an off-shoot of a study we did for the National Science Foundation and NASA. The purpose of the study was to conduct a comparative assessment of the state-of-the-art in robotics technology in Europe, North America, and Asia. We visited over 50 advanced robotics technology labs around the world and assessed the research areas of each. As the study was completed we were asked to re-write it in book form. The book examines robotic technology in several application areas, including space robotics, field robotic systems, robot networks, humanoids, medical applications, and service robots. The book is intended to provide many examples of different robot system morphologies, applications, and challenges, how they are being addressed by major robotics research labs around the world, and where the leadership is in each area.
The book was interesting to work on, and everyone on the study team learned a lot doing it. But it may be a long time before we all recover from the process and are willing to do another one of these.
-dave
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