Mobile robots walk into the future

Describes some of the papers presented at an international colloquium on autonomous mobile systems held to celebrate 10 years of the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation (IFF) in Magdeburg, Germany. Following definition of a mobile robot, papers on wheeled and biped robot platforms are discussed. These are followed by a review of some of the applications using dedicated robot systems, including an autonomous welding cell, a concept for process plant maintenance, a pipe inspection robot and systems for cleaning glass facades on high buildings. The latter work at IFF has resulted in two commercial systems, one already installed for the 1997 Leipzig Trade Fair and the other to be installed at the new Fraunhofer Foundation building in Munich in 2003.