New frontiers of parallel robotics (third edition)

Rigid-link parallel robotics is a mature research area and an enabler for developing a range of industrial applications (e.g., pick-and-place manipulation, machine tools, simulators, etc.). Fundamental scientific questions for these robots are now solved, which led to the question of what the next steps should be for this research field. Over the past decade, innovation resulted in new types of parallel robots such as soft/continuum robots, flying robots, cable-driven robots, multi-finger hands, etc. These novel closed-chain mechanisms, with no rigid links or no fixed base or no traditional end-effector, lead to new scientific challenges in terms of design, modeling, perception, control. While those scientific questions are exciting, they remain largely unsolved, and prevent new parallel robots from transitioning from academia to industry or society. This workshop aims at (1) bringing together researchers from distinct communities (e.g., soft/continuum robotics, aerial robotics, cable-driven robotics, tensegrity structures, physical interactions) with a common interest in parallel robotics to share their experiences, methods, and issues and who are willing to address from several complementary perspectives the challenges and solutions related to these novel complex solutions; (2) fostering interest and collaboration of researchers to investigate the exciting challenges arising from the new frontiers in parallel robotics.