A Subject Resource Guide on Robotics

3

A Subject Resource Guide on Robotics

INFO 674

Mary Gardner

August 23, 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 4

CLASSIFICATION 4

REFERENCE RESOURCES 5

BIBLIOGRAPHIES 5

DICTIONARIES 5

ENCYCLOPEDIAS 5

HANDBOOKS 6

PATENTS – UNITED STATES 6

PATENTS – FOREIGN 7

RESEARCH RESOURCES 7

ABSTRACTING & INDEXING TOOLS 7

BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS 8

JOURNALS 9

NEWSLETTERS 14

TECHNICAL REPORTS 14

CONFERENCES & MEETINGS 15

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS 16

ASSOCIATIONS & SOCIETIES 17

GOVERNMENT RESEARCH CENTERS 18

UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CENTERS 20

ONLINE AND MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES 21

INFORMATIONAL WEBSITES 21

INTERNET DISCUSSION SITES / BLOGS 22

MULTIMEDIA 22

INTRODUCTION

Robotics is a field that has moved quite literally from science fiction to reality. The term “robot” was coined by Czech playwright Karel Capek in his 1921 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). Over the next century, popular works such as Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot trilogy, the Star Trek television show, and the Star Wars movies further lodged the of notion of anthropomorphic machines into our collective imagination. During this same time period, advances such as the modern electronic computer and sensor technology were paving the way for the development of real industrial robots. By the 1960’s, the first robots that could be programmed to respond to external sensory information were being developed at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory. In the 40 years since, robots have been developed to perform an astonishing number of tasks that humans either cannot, or would rather not, perform. Exploring volcanoes, identifying and disposing of hazardous materials, clearing land mines, entering collapsed buildings to look for survivors are just a few of these “dirty, dangerous, and dull” tasks that robots now undertake for our benefit.

This research guide is intended for use by students at the undergraduate level or above with a limited knowledge of robotics. It is intended to provide the novice researcher with a starting point for further exploration of the field. Robotics is a multidisciplinary research area encompassing aspects of mechanical, electrical, and electronic engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, and mathematics. The breadth of the field makes the compilation of a comprehensive research guide for robotics difficult, if not impossible. To limit the scope of this guide, only resources with robotics as the main topic were included, except where only interdisciplinary resources are available (e.g. abstracting and indexing resources).

CLASSIFICATION

Main Library of Congress Subject Headings and Classification Numbers:

Robots; Robotics TJ210.2 – TJ211.495

Robotics—Bibliography Z5853.R58

Robotics—Military applications UG450

Robotics in medicine R857.R63

Robot industry HD9696.R62-.R624

Robots, Industrial TS191.8

Dewey Decimal System:

Robots; Robotics 629.892

Robots, Industrial 670.4272

Robot industry 338.47629892

REFERENCE RESOURCES

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Benne, P.J. (2002). Robotics: A bibliography with indexes. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science.

Focuses on the book literature, with access through author, subject, and title indexes.

Garoogian, A. (1984). Robotics, 1960-1983: An annotated bibliography. Brooklyn, N.Y.: CompuBibs.

DICTIONARIES

Paley, S.M. (1993). Illustrated dictionary of robotics: English, German, French, Russian. Paris. La Maison du dictionnaire.

Rosenberg, J.M. (1986). Dictionary of artificial intelligence and robotics. New York: Wiley.

Tver, D.F. & Bolz, R.W. (1983). Robotics sourcebook and dictionary. New York: Industrial Press.

Waldman, H. (1985). Dictionary of robotics. New York: Macmillan, London: Collier Macmillan.

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Dorf, R.C. & Nof, S.Y. (1988). International encyclopedia of robotics: applications and automation. New York: Wiley.

Gibilisco, S. (2002). Concise Encyclopedia of Robotics. New York: McGraw Hill.

Useful reference for beginning students and hobbyists. Over 400 brief articles explaining basic concepts and terminology. Recommended by Choice.

Gibilisco, S. (1994). The McGraw-Hill illustrated encyclopedia of artificial intelligence and robotics. New York: McGraw-Hill.

HANDBOOKS

Kurfess, T.R. (2005). Robotics and automation handbook. Boca Raton.: CRC Press.

Nof, S. Y. (Ed.) (1999). Handbook of industrial robotics (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley.

Somewhat dated but still useful. Covers topics in the theory, design, control, and applications of robotics, with a large glossary.

Siciliano, B. & Khatib, O. (Eds.). (2008). Springer Handbook of Robotics. New York: Springer.

“[A] very large and truly encyclopedic work, covering all aspects of robotics from fundamental principles to applications. It should be an immensely valuable reference for students and practitioners of robotics for many years to come." (George A. Bekey, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, September, 2008). Winner of the 2008 American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) Award for Excellence in Physical Sciences & Mathematics.

PATENTS – UNITED STATES

The main U.S. patent classification for robots is Class 901 – Robots

http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/uspc901/defs901.htm#C901S001000 See Section III – References to Other Classes - to determine which other patent classes should be searched for additional information.

United States Patent and Trademark Office

http://patft.uspto.gov/

Can be searched by patent number, or by key word using the Quick or Advanced Search options, with certain limitations for patents issued from 1790 through 1975. Full text is available from 1976 and full page images from 1790.

Other sources to search for U.S. patents:

Google Patent Search (Beta)

http://www.google.com/patents

Basic search by key word or patent number, or Advanced Patent Search function which includes limiters such as Document Status, Patent Type, Issue Date, or Filing Date.

www.pat2pdf.org

Enter a U.S. patent number to obtain the patent in PDF format.

PATENTS – FOREIGN

Canadian Intellectual Property Office

http://brevets-patents.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/introduction.html

European Patent Office

http://www.espacenet.com/

Japan Patent Office

http://www.jpo.go.jp/

RESEARCH RESOURCES

ABSTRACTING & INDEXING TOOLS

ABI/INFORM Global

Subscription service from ProQuest. Provides citations with abstracts, and full-text where available for articles in over 1000 business and science periodicals including trade journals, newsletters, and specialized newspapers. Coverage begins in 1971.

Compendex

Comprehensive subscription bibliographic database of scientific and technical engineering research, covering all engineering disciplines.

IEEE Explore

Contains full text documents from IEEE books, journals, transactions, magazines, letters, conference proceedings, standards, and IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) publications. Most content available from 1988, with select content dating as far back as 1948. Browsable and searchable, with advanced search capabilities including field or full text key word and phrase searching, and Boolean operators.

INSPEC

Subscription database providing citations and abstracts, plus full text where available, for journal articles and conference proceedings in subject areas of electrical, electronic, and control engineering, physics, information technology, communications, computers, computing, and manufacturing and production engineering. Coverage begins in 1896.

ISI Web of Science

Subscription service providing citations and abstracts, plus full text where available, for journal articles and conference proceedings for all areas of science. Coverage begins in 1980.

Wilson Applied Science & Technology Abstracts (Dialog File 99)

“Provides comprehensive abstracting and indexing of more than 400 core English-language scientific and technical publications . . . includ[ing] trade and industrial publications, journals issued by professional and technical societies, and specialized subject periodicals, as well as special issues such as buyers' guides, directories, and conference proceedings. . . .Types of materials indexed include feature articles, interviews, obituaries, biographies, speeches, and product evaluations.” Indexing coverage begins in 1983; abstracts are available from March 1993. Updated monthly.

BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS

This list is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather to highlight a few recent, well-reviewed books that provide broad coverage of an important topic in robotics, or robotics in general.

Bekey, G.A. (2005). Autonomous robots: From biological inspiration to implementation and control. Cambridge,MA: MIT Press.

Suitable for academic use and as a reference book. Surveys applications and implementations of autonomous robots and examines the underlying technology, including control, architectures, learning, manipulation, grasping, navigation, and mapping.

Choset, H. M., Lynch, K.M., Hutchison, S., Kantor, G., Burgard, W., Kavraki, L.E., et al. (2005). Principles of robot motion: Theory, algorithms, and implementation. Intelligent robotics and autonomous agents. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Intended for advanced undergraduates or new graduate students with an interest in robotics motion. The text “makes the mathematical underpinnings of robot motion accessible to students of computer science and engineering, relating low-level implementation details to high-level algorithmic concepts.” (from the book abstract)

Mataric, M.J. (2007). The robotics primer (Intelligent robotics and autonomous agents). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Intended for a broad audience, in both academic and non-academic settings. Covers topics such as the definition of robots, the history of robotics, components, locomotion, controls, learning, and the future of the filed, including ethical considerations. A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2008.

Nocks, L. (2007). The robot: The life story of a technology. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

Recommended for upper-level undergraduates through faculty, as well as general readers. A “biography” of the robot, covering the entire history of the technology from its roots in mythology through the present, along with its effects on our society and culture. A Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2007.

Siegwart, R. Nourbakhsh, I.R. (2004). Introduction to autonomous mobile robots. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Intended as a textbook or a working tool for newcomers to robotics. “An overview of the technology of mobility--the mechanisms that allow a mobile robot to move through a real world environment to perform its tasks--including locomotion, sensing, localization, and motion planning.” (from the book abstract)

Thrun, S, Burgard, W, Fox, D. (2005). Probabilistic robotics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Probabilistic robotics is concerned with perception and control in uncertain situations. Each chapter includes example implementations in pseudo code, detailed mathematical derivations, discussions from a practitioner’s perspective, and exercises and projects. Supplementary materials are available at the book’s web site: http://www.probabilistic-robotics.org.

JOURNALS

Advanced Robotics

Publisher: Published jointly by Brill and the Robotics Society of Japan

Frequency: 15 issues/year

Established: 1986

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://www.rsj.or.jp/AR/index_e.html

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://brill.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/vsp/arb

Official journal of the Robotics Society of Japan. An international, interdisciplinary journal publishing original research papers and review papers on analysis, theory, design, development, implementation and use of robots and robot technology, along with aspects of social and managerial analysis and policy regarding robots.

Autonomous Robots

Publisher: Springer Netherlands

Frequency: Irregular, 6-8 issues/year

Established: 1994

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://www.springer.com/computer/artificial/journal/10514

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/0929-5593

Focuses on papers on theory and applications of robotic systems capable of movement and some degree of self-sufficiency. Coverage includes topics such as real-time vision, terrain mapping and recognition, self-calibration and repair, self-reproducing intelligent structures, and much more.

IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine (IEEE RAM)

Publisher: IEEE Robotics and Automation Society

Frequency: Quarterly

Established: 1994

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://www.ieee-ras.org/ram

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=100

Focuses on robotics and automation technology as applied to real-world systems. As noted on the magazine’s web page, IEEE RAM was established “to provide a forum for publications which lay between the academic and theoretical orientation of scholarly journals . . . and the vendor sponsored trade publications.” Ranked by Thompson Journal of Citation Reports as one of the top four Robotics publications world-wide.

IEEE Transactions on Robotics (formerly IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation (1985-1988) and IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation (1989-2004)

Publisher: IEEE Robotics and Automation Society

Frequency: Bi-monthly

Established: 1985

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://www.ieee-ras.org/tro

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=8860

“Covers both theory and applications on topics including: kinematics, dynamics, control, and simulation of robots and intelligent machines and systems; design of robotic mechanisms; man-machine interface and integration; motion and manipulation; robotics-related computer hardware, software, and architectures; linkage to computer-aided engineering; robotics in manufacturing and flexible automation; robotics and automation in less structured environments; vision and other non-contact sensory systems; and tactile and other contact sensory technology.” (see web page). Most-cited journal in robotics according to the Institute for Scientific Information’s Journal Citation Report.

Industrial Robot

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing

Frequency: Bi-monthly

Established: 1973

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/journals.htm?id=ir

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContainer.do?containerType=Journal&containerId=10674

Peer-reviewed articles about robots in industrial settings including the automotive and plastic industries, military applications, farming, and health care/medical robots.

International Journal of Humanoid Robotics

Publisher: World Scientific Publishing

Frequency: Quarterly

Established: 2004

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://www.worldscinet.com/ijhr/ijhr.shtml

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://www.worldscinet.com/ijhr/ijhr.shtml

Relatively new journal “dedicated to advancing new theories, new techniques, and new implementations contributing to the successful achievement of future robots which not only imitate human beings, but also serve human beings.”

International Journal of Robotics Research

Publisher: Sage Publications

Frequency: Monthly

Established: 1982

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsProdDesc.nav?prodId=Journal201324

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://ijr.sagepub.com/

Supplementary Material (video clips, charts, graphs, models, programs, etc.) Available At:

http://www.ijrr.org/

Peer-reviewed, scholarly articles on current research in robotics, including applied mathematics, artificial intelligence, computer science, and electrical and mechanical engineering.

Journal of Field Robotics (formerly Journal of Robotics Systems)

Publisher: Wiley Periodicals

Frequency: 12 issues/year

Established: 1984

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/117946193/grouphome/home.html

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/117946193/grouphome/home.html

Focuses on experimental robotics. Publishes scholarly articles of both theoretical and practical significance, dealing with the fundamentals of robotics in dynamic and unstructured environments such as mining, subsea, construction, forestry, military and space.

Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems

Publisher: Springer Netherlands

Frequency: 15 issues/year

Established: 1988

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://www.springer.com/engineering/robotics/journal/10846

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/0921-0296

Publishes original, peer-reviewed papers on theoretical and practical aspects of intelligent systems and robotics, including topics such as multi-robot systems, underwater robots, aerial vehicles, sensor-based controls, and industrial robotic systems.

Robotica

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Frequency: Bi-monthly

Established: 1983

Format(s): Print and electronic

Web Page:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=ROB

Electronic Issues Available At:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=ROB

Official journal of the International Federation of Robotics. “Coverage includes activities in hostile environments, applications in the service and manufacturing industries, biological robotics, dynamics and kinematics involved in robot design and uses, on-line robots, robot task planning, rehabilitation robotics, sensory perception, software in the widest sense, particularly in respect of programming languages and links with CAD/CAM systems, telerobotics and various other areas.”

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

Publisher: Elsevier

Frequency: Monthly

Established: 1984

Format(s): Print and electronic