ABSTRACT
Robotics is the discipline concerned with the science and technology of computer controlled autonomous mechanisms. It includes both an effectuator side and a sensory side. As this remark indicates, robotics is highly interdisciplinary in character, combining computer science, engineering, and applied physics. Most recently the methods developed by computational geometers have been applied to robotics, and conversely robotics has begun to enrich the range of problems that challenge the geometer. From a deeper point-of-view, the algorithms presented by our authors highlight the fundamental difficulties of robotics by pinpointing some of the very challenging problems that arise whenever one attempts to make a computer duplicate even the most elementary human manipulative or sensory activities. The foregoing reflections justify the claim that robotics has a truly rich scientific content and is likely to exert a major influence on computer science during coming years. This introduction presents an overveiw of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book.
