Advancements in mobile robot technologies have led to widespread civil applications in civil. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) utilizing their vision capturing capacity can inspect critical assets such as bridges, tunnels, pipelines, and more. Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) equipped with various sensors can be deployed on difficult terrain and in confined spaces, can complement the capabilities of UAVs. They together provide ideal tools for comprehensive inspection/monitoring of infrastructure and critical sites.​

There exist, however, many challenging problems that require a system integration approach to tackle. Research in topics such as formation control, cooperative planning, IoT-enabled cooperation, heterogeneous vehicle coordination, moving object tracking, fault diagnosis and fault tolerance, communication and networking, and energy efficiency enhancement, among others, are still open for further exploration.​

This Special Session aims to bring together researchers from around the world to discuss the vision, challenges, and key approaches in hardware and software for multiple mobile robots, including UAVs and UGVs, with a system integration methodology in mind.​

Robot prototyping and manufacturing have been done with parts based on traditional machining such as cutting, sheet bending, and die casting. The rapid progress of 3D printing technology in recent years has fundamentally overturned these methodologies. It can enable the development of lighter and higher-performance robots at a lower cost and in a shorter development time. On the other hand, 3D printed materials are lightweight but have low rigidity, and the parts are anisotropic.​

In this session, we aim to establish a robot design methodology based on 3D printing technology and discuss the basic characteristics of 3D printing, the fastening of parts, and the robot system using these parts.​

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: 3D Printing Technology, Robotics, Mechatronics, Mechanical Design, Material Engineering.

With the rapid progress in the fields of robotics and mechatronics, which encompass the human factor, the importance of the human factor in the development and operation of robotic systems has been widely recognised. This special session provides a forum for presenting new research results and discussing cutting-edge research topics and issues of broad interest in related fields. Papers on ergonomics, robotics, mechatronics, behavioural science, social science, design, health, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, haptics, etc. are welcome for submission to this special session.​

All robotics and mechatronics systems operate in interaction with the human who uses them and the environment in which they are used. In other words, it is not sufficient to discuss the system alone, but the interaction between the system, its user and environment should be discussed. We are convinced that in recent years, robotic and mechatronics systems in which human and systems co-operate have rapidly become widespread, and that discussions about systems that inevitably encompass human factors are important.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant upheaval in manufacturing systems across the globe and has led to an economic recession in numerous countries. The disruption caused by the epidemic has underscored the importance of prioritizing resilience in manufacturing systems as a means to revive economic activities. However, it is crucial to recognize that in addition to focusing on resilience, integrating human-centricity into the design and operation of these systems is equally vital for ensuring sustainable development during the ongoing transition from Industry 4.0 to 5.0.​

This session aims to promote research that focuses on novel insights into system design, operation, and integration in manufacturing systems with emphasis of implementing human-centric, resilient and sustainable measures. Managerial and technological solutions as well as empirical research are particularly welcome to bring practical and industrially relevant knowledge to the forefront during the current paradigm shift for manufacturing industry. The session's topic spans multiple disciplines, and contributions are welcome from the intersection of fields in: Human Factors in Systems, Software Design and System Integration, Knowledge Engineering and Management, Cooperation and Organization, Interactions in Cyber Physical System, Human-machine interaction, Skill development and empowerment, Recommender System/Context-Aware Recommender System/Decision Support Systems, Human Machine Interaction (assistance or representation), Robotics and Automation, Digital twin, Numerical Identity, Trust and Privacy.

Mechatronics has been extremely useful in industry and has developed human society. Advances in mechatronics have led to the realization of various types of robots. In addition, mechatronics technologies have started to be used to create robots that coexist with humans, like living creatures. On the other hand, soft materials, which is flexible and stretchable, have not been actively introduced into robots until now. In recent years, soft materials are known to be able to exhibit autonomy and adaptability like living organisms. Thus, system integration of soft materials and mechatronics is one of the most important themes in soft robotics.​

Some venture companies have started up regarding soft grippers, which has a ripple effect on the industry. Soft grippers are one of the most attractive soft robotic technologies, with investments of about $100 million. Soft grippers solve the critical problem of gripping delicate, deformable materials and objects with complex and unpredictable shapes that conventional rigid hands cannot grasp. In other instances, artificial muscles based on fluidic actuators have led to the development of human-assist devices, facilitating the integration of man and machine. Stretchable sensors can easily acquire biometric information from human. Thus, soft materials advance the integration of human and machines.

Robots today are gaining in popularity and complexity. At the same time, their tasks and environments are also increasing in complexity. Recent advances in machine learning have allowed to bridge that gap and enabled robotics to present itself as a practical solution to several real-world problems. The proposed special session aims to promote research focused on, but not limited to, robotics with applications to the environment, construction, forestry, agriculture, mining, subsea, infrastructure, search, and rescue, among others - with emphasis on machine learning applications. Experimental robotics and works possessing both theoretical and practical significance will be promoted.​

Robots are increasingly gaining in complexity, with an ever-increasing number of forms and functions. In parallel, the tasks, problems and environments tackled by robots are also increasing in complexity. Robotics with focus in field applications must therefore bridge across several fields such as sensing, machine learning through system integration in order to allow deployment of robots in the field.

Recently, the integration of information technology, network technology, and robot technology has discussed from various point of view. This special session discusses on real space service system that served various services using IoT and robot technologies in the environments such as homes, offices, stores, nursing homes, hospitals, and etc. The main topics of interest are practical technology/theory to solve the real problems of the environments.​

Manpower shortage is becoming a big problem especially in Japan. The technologies are expected to solve the problem. However, real problems are sometimes too complicated to solve with present methods, or sometimes no novelty but requires muddy works to meet each problems. Therefore, new theory, more efficient system integration method and practical technology are required.

The robot technology has had been widely used in the industry for several decades and represents the background for the main transition from hard human body working till the modern, efficient, EHS friendly manufacturing. However, the health care sector, still focus on the traditional solutions by using humans for both dedicated expert work, but also for pure body work. The result is that the health care sector, suffers from a low percentage of valueadded-work, compared to the industry.​

This special session is going to challenge the traditional way of thinking in the health care sector, by introducing robot technology to facilitate the health care personnel, in order to focus their work on their expertise field. However, there are several challenges in the health care, due to the fact that he service-robots operate in the same environment as the care givers and sometimes, patients with limited cognitive skills. Thus, new, solutions, creating on the intersection between traditional engineering and social science field, are required for the future service-robots.

As developed nations grapple with burgeoning elderly populations, maintaining quality care without overburdening healthcare structures has become pivotal. In the face of declining healthcare workforces and rising costs, innovative solutions are essential to adjust the demand. Robotics and AI technologies offer promising avenues for efficient, costeffective, and personalized aging care. This session seeks to advance this crucial field by encouraging inter-disciplinary dialogues and research on AI and robotics support and care systems for an aging society. From home and care facility automation to smart assistive devices, service robotics and robot-telecare support, we invite novel insights into how technology can foster elder independence, lessen caregiver load, and streamline healthcare institutions. Further, we welcome exploration into AI-enhanced health monitoring, rehabilitation, virtual reality/augmented reality applications, and machine learning-based data analytics. As the integration of these diverse services forms an essential facet of longterm, sustainable solutions, we are particularly interested in discussions on multi-sensory input systems and comprehensive support feedback. With this session, we aim to bridge research gaps and catalyse a transformation in healthcare, ultimately shaping a future where robotics technology and care harmoniously intertwine ​

Recent years have seen the increasingly apparent effects of an aging population, highlighted by declining birth rates and labour shortages in many countries. In the forthcoming three decades, it is projected that the elderly will make up more than half of the population in regions such as Japan, South Korea, and Europe. Robotics and AI technologies are poised to play a crucial role in bolstering healthcare provision and alleviating existing pressures. Researchers around the globe are diligently exploring cuttingedge solutions in service and care robotics. This includes rehabilitation, advanced assistive devices, and ambient assisted living enabled by home automation and exercise support systems. Large scale projects such as the JST Moonshot project in Japan is evident of such effort to accelerate robotics and AI research in elderly care. As such, this session promises to be of considerable interest to numerous research groups, offering a platform to explore and discuss the current state-of-the-art and prospective solutions for these critical technologies.

A robotic teleoperation system is necessary to explore disaster sites and unmanned construction. To effectively achieve teleoperation tasks, human operators of robots need information about the surrounding environment and the robot itself. In this session, studies on robotic teleoperation are introduced from the aspect of remote control systems and sensing technologies to supply the information on sites to operators. ​

Recently, demand for robotic teleoperation systems is rising rapidly due to a large number of calls for disaster responses such as decommissioning of nuclear power plants and unmanned construction for recovery after natural disasters. To achieve these missions, a wide variety of specialties are required. Potential authors of this special session are chosen from several kinds of fields on robotic teleoperation such as nuclear professional, human interface, and environmental sensing. Furthermore, the topics for disaster response are gathering social attention. We believe the topics of this session will interest not only researchers of robotics but also ones of other fields.