About this Research Topic
Industry 4.0 represents a global shift towards interconnectivity, digitization, and automation to meet the evolving demands of modern industry. Robotics has become a fundamental component of Industry 4.0 technologies, finding applications across manufacturing, warehousing, retail, transportation, logistics, and various industrial processes. The integration of robotics aims to enhance operational efficiency, flexibility, and productivity. With ongoing digital transformation, increasing product variety and volume demands by consumers, and the adoption of smart manufacturing and logistics practices, there is a pressing need for autonomous robots in Industry 4.0 technologies. These robots must navigate complex environments, grasp and manipulate diverse objects in clutter, use effective end-tools, seamlessly integrate into automated workflows, learn and generalize skills, and collaborate safely with humans. In recent times, mobile manipulation has emerged as a crucial aspect, bridging static manipulation and navigation, and expanding the scope of achievable tasks in diverse settings.
This Research Topic is dedicated to exploring and showcasing the latest innovations in robot mobility, manipulation, and mobile manipulation, specifically tailored to enable flexible and collaborative automation across diverse industrial sectors. We welcome original research, case studies, and reviews, especially those with experimental results. While we emphasize articles with real-world data, simulation-based studies will also be considered.
The scope of this collection encompasses a wide range of topics, including but
not limited to:
● Advanced locomotion techniques (legged, wheeled, aerial) for industrial environments.
● Flexible navigation strategies.
● Object grasping and manipulation in cluttered environments.
● Active perception in unexplored and partially observable settings.
● Bi-manual manipulation techniques.
● Mobile manipulation methodologies.
● Embodied AI approaches.
● Active learning, skill acquisition, and generalization in robotic systems.
● Control architectures and end-to-end learning models (vision-language-action).
● Multi-modal sensing (vision, tactile, force) for enhanced adaptability.
● Novel end tools designed for industrial assembly and operations.
● Adaptive hands/grippers for versatile object handling tasks.
● Strategic deployment of precise and imprecise tasks (e.g., pick and place, in-contact, complex operations).
● Hierarchical abstractions in robotic planning.
● Long-horizon planning and reasoning capabilities.
● Human-robot interaction methodologies.
● Human-Robot centered approaches to production automation.
This Research Topic is dedicated to exploring and showcasing the latest innovations in robot mobility, manipulation, and mobile manipulation, specifically tailored to enable flexible and collaborative automation across diverse industrial sectors. We welcome original research, case studies, and reviews, especially those with experimental results. While we emphasize articles with real-world data, simulation-based studies will also be considered.
The scope of this collection encompasses a wide range of topics, including but
not limited to:
● Advanced locomotion techniques (legged, wheeled, aerial) for industrial environments.
● Flexible navigation strategies.
● Object grasping and manipulation in cluttered environments.
● Active perception in unexplored and partially observable settings.
● Bi-manual manipulation techniques.
● Mobile manipulation methodologies.
● Embodied AI approaches.
● Active learning, skill acquisition, and generalization in robotic systems.
● Control architectures and end-to-end learning models (vision-language-action).
● Multi-modal sensing (vision, tactile, force) for enhanced adaptability.
● Novel end tools designed for industrial assembly and operations.
● Adaptive hands/grippers for versatile object handling tasks.
● Strategic deployment of precise and imprecise tasks (e.g., pick and place, in-contact, complex operations).
● Hierarchical abstractions in robotic planning.
● Long-horizon planning and reasoning capabilities.
● Human-robot interaction methodologies.
● Human-Robot centered approaches to production automation.
Keywords: Industry 4.0, robot, manipulation, mobile manipulation, manufacturing, assembly
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
