By the dawn of the new millennium, robotics has undergone a major
transf- mation in scope and dimensions. This expansion has been brought
about by the maturity of the ?eld and the advances in its related
technologies. From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics has
been rapidly expanding into the challenges of the human world. The new
generation of robots is expected to safely and dependably co-habitat
with humans in homes, workplaces, and c- munities, providing support in
services, entertainment, education, healthcare, manufacturing, and
assistance. Beyond its impact on physical robots, the body of knowledge
robotics has produced is revealing a much wider rangeof applications
reaching across diverse research areas and scienti?c disciplines, such
as: biomechanics, haptics, n- rosciences, virtual simulation, animation,
surgery, and sensor networks among others. In return, the challenges of
the new emerging areas are proving an ab- dant source of stimulation and
insights for the ?eld of robotics. It is indeed at the intersection of
disciplines that the most striking advances happen. The goal of the
series of Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) is to bring, in a
timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on
thebasisoftheirsigni?canceandquality.Itisourhopethatthewiderdissemi-
tion of research developments will stimulate more exchanges and
collaborations among the research community and contribute to further
advancement of this rapidly growing ?eld.