Product Description With the science of robotics undergoing a major transformation just now, Springer’s new, authoritative handbook on the subject couldn’t have come at a better time. Having broken free from its origins in industry, robotics has been rapidly expanding into the challenging terrain of unstructured environments. Unlike other handbooks that focus on industrial applications, the Springer Handbook of Robotics incorporates these new developments. Just like all Springer Handbooks, it is utterly comprehensive, edited by internationally renowned experts, and replete with contributions from leading researchers from around the world. The handbook is an ideal resource for robotics experts but also for people new to this expanding field. Review From the reviews: "A comprehensive collection of the international accomplishments in the field and presents the very latest research in robotics. … Designed for research and practice, the handbook is edited by the internationally renowned robotics experts …. The coverage of all specialist fields infringing into robotics makes this handbook a reliable desk reference for scientists and engineers in the industry. It also provides basic and more advanced content for scholars from related disciplines such as biomechanics, neurosciences, virtual simulation, animation, surgery, and sensor networks, among others." (Renate Bayaz, EurekAlert!, May, 2008) "Together with Oussama Khatib, who is a Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, Siciliano has edited and launched a ‘Handbook of Robotics’ that aims to make the increasingly complex field of robotics more accessible to engineers, doctors, computer scientists and designers. … The handbook was conceived to provide a valuable resource not only for robotics experts, but also for newcomers to this expanding field [such as] engineers, medical doctors, computer scientists, and designers." (Liz Tay, iTnews, June, 2008)<b