The field moves quickly. So much of the material dates quickly. Joining a professional association such as IEEE or IFR and regular reading of publications – magazines and journals – is essential.
The Handbook of Robotics is a massive book. But is amazingly good at giving a broad sweep of the field.
Probabilistic Robotics by Sebastian Thrun et al. gives an excellent grounding in statistical and machine learning methods for robotics.
For people starting out in robotics I recommend the brilliant LEGO MINDSTORMS by Laurens Valk. It provides practical ways to teach and inspire the next generation of roboticists.
I also recommend people read some inspiring science fiction to get motivated! You can’t go past Isaac Asimov and his classic I, Robot.
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Rich Walker from Shadow Robot Company about their advanced robotic hands for research and industry.
Ross King created the first robot scientist back in 2009. He spoke to us about the nature of scientific discovery, the role AI has to play, and his recent work in DNA computing.
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Simona Aracri from National Research Council of Italy about innovative robot designs for oceanography and environmental monitoring.
When a modular robot shares power, sensing, and communication resources among its individual units, it is significantly more resistant to failure than traditional robotic systems.
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Vikas Enti from Reframe Systems about using robotics and automation to build climate-resilient, high-performance homes.