Meet the editor

Ramana Vinjamuri holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, USA, specializing in dimensionality reduction in control and coordination of the human hand, which he received in 2008. He worked as a postdoctoral research associate in the field of Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI) to control prostheses in the School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, during 2008–2012. In 2010, he received the Mary

E. Switzer Merit Fellowship from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). From 2012 to 2013, he was a research assistant professor in neuroprosthetics at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, USA. Between 2013 and 2020, he served as an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, USA. In 2018, he was honored with the Harvey N. Davis Distinguished Teaching Award for his excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching. In 2019, he was the recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award and in 2020, he received the NSF IUCRC Center Planning grant. He has also received research awards from NIDILRR, United States-India Science & Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF), and New Jersey Health Foundation. Currently, he holds a secondary appointment as an adjunct assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, India. Dr. Vinjamuri is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at UMBC.

## Contents



Preface

This book brings together advances and challenges in multiple exciting fields of research including human–machine interfaces, collaborative and humanoid robots, human–robot symbiosis, human–human collaboration, and robotics. Human–robot interaction has significant applications in health care, education, manufacturing, military, space exploration, and much more. This book compiles perspectives and applications in this thriving field of research. From the contributions of renowned international scientists across the world, this book discusses exciting topics such as advances in fundamental robotics and control, deep neural networks in robot grasp recognition, cooperation and adaptation between humans and robots, integration of drones in farming, and current applications in healthcare robots in smart hospitals. This book is a great resource for students, teachers, researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and readers interested in the latest developments in human–robot interaction.

The introductory chapter summarizes the advances in collaborative and humanoid robots and applications of human–robot interaction. Chapter 2 discusses EEG control of a robotic wheelchair for individuals with motor disabilities and elderly adults. Chapter 3 presents a classification of gestures in robotic hand grasp by deep neural networks. Chapter 4 examines cooperation among humans and robots in remote robot systems with force feedback. Chapter 5 describes multi-contact humanoid stability for increased interaction in unstructured environments. Chapter 6 discusses materials and sensors needed in human–robot interaction, for example, dielectric elastomer sensors capable of measuring deformation and pressure. Chapter 7 considers the design of the 5 degrees of freedom (DOF) industrial robotic arm. Chapter 8 discusses healthcare robots and smart hospitals based on human–robot interaction. Chapter 9 describes the digital inclusion of the farming sector using drone technologies. Finally, Chapter 10 discusses the European robotics league, which holds smart city robot competitions to encourage these technologies and benchmarking.

I would like to thank the authors for their immensely valuable contributions without which this book would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the staff at IntechOpen, especially Blanka Gugic, Lucija Tomicic-Dromgool, and Sara Tikel for their kind assistance throughout the editing process. I truly hope that readers will benefit from these selected chapters and increase their understanding

**Ramana Vinjamuri, Ph.D.**

University of Maryland,

Computer Science and Electrical Engineering,

Assistant Professor,

of human–robot interaction.
