This book explores cloud robotics by casting a light on key issues and proposing a novel approach towards implementation and practical aspects to allow for the widespread adoption of cloud-based functionality. The advent of cloud robotics can to unleash a new generation of smart robotic devices by allowing robots to explore cloud computing capabilities to share data and to offload heavy processing applications. Cloud robotics is investigated as an enabler to a series of applications and devices, questioning how the insertion of network and cloud technologies into such systems might affect the interaction between a robot and the human operating it, and what are the limiting requirements for cloud-based solutions. Aiming at researchers and practitioners, this book also presents a methodology based on open-source software and commercial off-the-shelf devices to provide a common standard for reproducing and benchmarking different cloud robotics systems.
