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This paper aims to discuss, analyze and compare members of a group of actuators with adjustable stiffness, namely: AwAS, AwAS-II and CompACT variable stiffness actuator (VSA) developed at Italian Institute of Technology (IIT).

These actuators are among series type of VSAs where one main motor is dedicated for link positioning and a secondary motor, in series with the first one, regulates the output link stiffness. Regulating the stiffness in this group of actuators is based on the lever concept. Initially, springs were moved along the lever to tune the stiffness while in the later versions stiffness was regulated through relocating pivot point along the lever.

This paper discusses how different mechanisms have been employed in realization of the lever concept in these actuators and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each realization.

Today’s robots are not supposed to be solid, isolated and rigid anymore but rather adaptive, cooperative and compliant entities in our daily life. The new attitudes demand for novel technologies substantially different from those developed for industrial domains both at the hardware and the software levels. This work presents latest three state-of-the-art actuators, developed at IIT, which are great answers to the needs of tomorrow’s robot.

These novel actuators are really ready for commercial exploitation, as they are compact and reliable. The main novelty is based on employing concept of lever mechanism for stiffness regulation. They have been designed and manufactured in a very professional and optimized way.

The purpose of this paper is the increase the flexibility of robots used for handling of 3D (food) objects handling by the development and evaluation of a novel 3D Bernoulli gripper.

A new gripper technology have been designed and evaluated. A deformable surface have been used to enable individual product handling. The lift force generated and the force exerted on the product during gripping is measured using a material tester instrument. Various products are tested with the gripper. A experimental/theoretical approach is used to explain the results.

A deformable surface can be used to generate a lift force using the Bernoulli principle on 3D objects. Using a small forming a significant increase in the lift force generated is recorded. Increasing the forming further was shown to have little or even negative effects. The forces exerted on the product during forming was measured to be sufficiently low to avoid product damage.

To be able to improve the grippers lift strength a better model and understanding of the flow is needed.

A novel Bernoulli gripper for 3D Bernoulli gripping have been designed and evaluated. The gripper enables flexible and delicate handling of various product shapes, 3D as well as 2D. Increased utilization of robots in the food industry can be gained.

At present, the majority of industrial robots are not well suited to the specific needs of the food industry. Additionally, the high cost of robotic systems means that it is currently difficult for food manufacturers to financially justify the use of this technology. This paper aims to examine the unique requirements of the food industry with regards to robot manipulator design and outlines the design features of a low‐cost robotic arm developed specifically for use in food production.

Considerations for the design of the robot arm in addition to industrial requirements for hygienic design, low cost, fast pick and place speed, safety for operation alongside human workers and ease of reprogramming are discussed in detail.

A successful manipulator design must consider functional requirements relevant to food production from the very outset of the design process. The principal three requirements are those of ease of cleaning, speed and low cost.

The availability of low‐cost industrial robots specifically designed for food production might encourage a wider adoption of robotics and automation in the food industry and would benefit food manufacturers by reducing production costs and increasing competitiveness in what is becoming an increasingly difficult market.

This paper is of value to engineers and researchers developing robotic manipulators for use in the food industry.

Aims to show how robots can be used to prototype and prove key handling operations during the design of food processing machines. This can reduce both development time and costs.

A number of examples of the use of robots during the design of food processing machinery are presented in the areas of product handling, product manipulation and product packing. In each example simple grippers were mounted to robots allowing complex manipulations to be performed and rapidly tested allowing a favourite to identified.

Finds that robot prototyping and proving allows mechanisms to be assessed rapidly and at low cost and reduces the number of design modifications needed before final production.

Provides examples of how the technique can be used in all stages of food production, particularly the grasping of products considered difficult to handle.

Provides a method of reducing the development cost of new food processing machinery and allow key operations to be proved without the need to construct full prototype machines.

Introduces the concept of using robots to prototype and prove operations found within food processing machinery. The paper is of value to both researches investigating the handling of food products and manufacturers of automation for the food industry.

To report on a workshop, “Future UK Robotics Research Opportunities and Challenges”, held at Salford University in November 2005.

The driver for the workshop was fear that the UK could miss out on future opportunities in the robotics market, which recent figures suggest could be six times larger in 20 years' time compared with today. The workshop was split into two main sessions. In the morning, the theme was funding sources currently available for research programmes, with presentations from representatives of the European Commission, EURON (the European Robotics Research Network), EUROP (European Robotics Platform) and the UK EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council). All these bodies can provide support to UK researchers for appropriate projects. In the afternoon, the focus was on the technical challenges for robotics particularly in the service domain, which is forecast to be the big growth area. Three areas were discussed: human‐robot interfaces, robot modularisation and field robotics. Finally, the outcomes from a final “break out” session are given, the main proposal being a UK national “Grand Challenge” that would reinforce the relevance of robotics to future everyday life.

There are many opportunities in both the funding of and the challenges to UK (and other European) researchers in robotics, particularly in service environments.

Provides a review of the current status of European robotics research programmes and the fundings available to UK teams.

A collection of essays by a social economist seeking to balance economics as a science of means with the values deemed necessary to man′s finding the good life and society enduring as a civilized instrumentality. Looks for authority to great men of the past and to today′s moral philosopher: man is an ethical animal. The 13 essays are: 1. Evolutionary Economics: The End of It All? which challenges the view that Darwinism destroyed belief in a universe of purpose and design; 2. Schmoller′s Political Economy: Its Psychic, Moral and Legal Foundations, which centres on the belief that time‐honoured ethical values prevail in an economy formed by ties of common sentiment, ideas, customs and laws; 3. Adam Smith by Gustav von Schmoller – Schmoller rejects Smith′s natural law and sees him as simply spreading the message of Calvinism; 4. Pierre‐Joseph Proudhon, Socialist – Karl Marx, Communist: A Comparison; 5. Marxism and the Instauration of Man, which raises the question for Marx: is the flowering of the new man in Communist society the ultimate end to the dialectical movement of history?; 6. Ethical Progress and Economic Growth in Western Civilization; 7. Ethical Principles in American Society: An Appraisal; 8. The Ugent Need for a Consensus on Moral Values, which focuses on the real dangers inherent in there being no consensus on moral values; 9. Human Resources and the Good Society – man is not to be treated as an economic resource; man′s moral and material wellbeing is the goal; 10. The Social Economist on the Modern Dilemma: Ethical Dwarfs and Nuclear Giants, which argues that it is imperative to distinguish good from evil and to act accordingly: existentialism, situation ethics and evolutionary ethics savour of nihilism; 11. Ethical Principles: The Economist′s Quandary, which is the difficulty of balancing the claims of disinterested science and of the urge to better the human condition; 12. The Role of Government in the Advancement of Cultural Values, which discusses censorship and the funding of art against the background of the US Helms Amendment; 13. Man at the Crossroads draws earlier themes together; the author makes the case for rejecting determinism and the “operant conditioning” of the Skinner school in favour of the moral progress of autonomous man through adherence to traditional ethical values.

The purpose of this paper is to discover peer mentors’ perspectives of an education doctoral (Doctorate of Education) peer mentoring program implemented in a mid-sized public institution.

Data from one focus group and an interview collected from peer mentors as part of a larger case study of mentors and mentees in a peer mentoring program for education doctoral students are presented. Four (n=4) peer mentors participated in a focus group (n=3) and an interview (n=1). Participants were asked about their perceptions of the program and their experiences as mentors.

Four themes were discovered within the data: mentors relate to social, emotional and academic life balances of mentees, mentors provide support and reassurance to mentees, mentors guide mentees to focus on the future, and mentors gain personal and professional growth from the peer mentoring program. Results indicated that mentors believed that the program was helpful for their mentees and beneficial to their own personal and professional development.

Limitations of this study include the small sample size (n=4) and the short period of time in which participants were asked to be a part of the mentoring program and reflect in focus groups and interview (one academic year). Implications of this study include the benefits of peer mentoring for both mentors and mentees alike.

In contrast to many other studies of peer mentoring programs, this peer mentoring program targeted scholar-practitioner students who were balancing full-time careers with their coursework and family lives. Thus, peer mentors focused more on career and work-life balance with mentees than mentors may in other programs, as well as finding benefit to their own professional development.