Atthedawnofthenewmillennium, roboticsisundergoingamajortransformation inscopeanddimension.Fromalargelydominantindustrialfocus, roboticsisrapidly expanding into the challenges of unstructured environments. Interacting with, - sisting, serving, and exploring with humans, the emerging robots will increasingly touchpeopleandtheirlives. ThegoalofthenewseriesofSpringerTractsinAdvancedRobotics(STAR)isto bring, in a timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on the basisoftheirsigni?canceandquality.Itisourhopethatthewiderdisseminationof...

Atthedawnofthenewmillennium, roboticsisundergoingamajortransformation inscopeanddimension.Fromalargelydominantindustrialfocus, roboticsisrapidly expanding into the challenges of unstructured environments. Interacting with, - sisting, serving, and exploring with humans, the emerging robots will increasingly touchpeopleandtheirlives. ThegoalofthenewseriesofSpringerTractsinAdvancedRobotics(STAR)isto bring, in a timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on the basisoftheirsigni?canceandquality.Itisourhopethatthewiderdisseminationof...