Additive manufacturing (AM) with metals is currently one of the most promising techniques for 3D printed structures, as it has tremendous potential to produce complex, lightweight, and functionally optimized parts. The medical, aerospace, and automotive industries are some of the many expected to reap particular benefit from the ability to produce high quality models with reduced manufacturing costs and lead times. The main advantages of AM with metals are the flexibility of the process and the wide variety of metal materials that are available. Various materials, including steel, titanium, aluminum alloys, and nickel-based alloys, can be employed to produce end products.
This special issue focuses on additive manufacturing with metals, such as powder bed fusion (PBF), directed energy deposition (DED), and wire and arc-based AM. Authors are requested to display a deep understanding of the physical phenomena in order to improve the mechanical properties and the dimensional accuracies of the structures built. We are also interested in a successful industrial application or a development of materials related to each AM technique.

The special issue, “Machine Learning for Robotics and Swarm Systems,” is focused on machine learning techniques and its application to the field of robotics including swarm systems. Swarm systems were born in a field of robotics as a kind of distributed autonomous robotic systems with the concept of the emergent methodology for extremely redundant systems. They typically consist of homogeneous autonomous robots, similar to living animals that build swarms. Recently, machine learning, such as deep learning, has been more remarkable for controlling the behaviors of these robots in real world. The topics included in this special issue are not only recent advances of machine learning techniques and its applications in the field of robotics and swarm systems, but also the controlling mechanism for multi-robots, such as evolutionary computation or other soft computing methods. Proposals involving new ideas or methods in this field are also welcome.

The emergence of cyber-physical systems makes radical new products and systems possible. Throughout the design, manufacturing, use, maintenance, and end-of-life stages, digital aspects (sensing, inferencing, connectedness) influence the physical, and vice versa (digital fabrication, robotics). A key takeaway is that such innovations can augment human capabilities, to extend our mental and physical skills with computational and robotic support. Furthermore, agile development methods, complemented by mixed-reality systems and 3D-printing systems, enable us to create and adapt such systems on the fly, with almost instant turnaround times.
This special issue focuses on augmented prototyping and fabrication techniques for supporting advanced product design and manufacturing. Papers on the following topics (but not limited to) are expected. Review papers providing the current state-of-the-art or comprehensive outlooks concerning these topics are also welcome.
•Virtual reality/augmented reality/mixed reality applications to product design
•3D environment for agile and collaborative product development
•Digital fabrication technologies for product development and prototyping
•Virtual prototyping technique for human-centered design
•Applications of 3D scanning and as-is/as-built modeling to design and manufacturing
•3D printing and prototyping for medical applications
•Advanced 3D simulations for product design and manufacturing
•Applications of 3D human models to design and manufacturing
•3D geometric modeling techniques to support the above topics
•Combinations of 3D scanning, augmented reality, and digital fabrication
•Case studies/industrial applications/good practices matching the above topics

To realize intelligent mobile robots, self-localization, map generation, and autonomous exploration of unknown environments are necessary. Probabilistic processing can be applied to overcome the problems of uncertainties in movement and measurement errors. Probabilistic robotics and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technologies are thus strongly related, and have been the focus of several extant studies. Owing to the increasing practical applications such as automatic driving and cleaning robots, the applicability of these techniques is increasing. To facilitate innovation, various papers pertaining to these topics are called for, including those on the development of practical technologies.

Surface finishing plays an important role in product quality due to its direct effects on product appearance. As a result, automated precision surface finishing processes are key technologies in the forming and shaping processes of industrial products and molds. The automated precision surface finishing processes can be divided into three main categories: the mechanical process, the electrochemical process, and the high energy beam process. The objective of this special issue for the International Journal of Automation Technology (IJAT) is to collect cutting-edge research works focused on automated precision surface finishing processes. The special issue of IJAT invites papers in the following areas:

• – Ultraprecision surface machining and finishing
• – Ultraprecision polishing
• – Ball burnishing
• – Ball polishing
• – Ultrasound-assisted polishing
• – Hydrodynamic polishing
• – Abrasive fluid jet polishing
• – Magnetorheological polishing
• – Magnetic field-assisted polishing
• – Robot-assisted polishing
• – Electrochemical polishing
• – Electrorheological fluid-assisted polishing
• – Chemical-mechanical polishing
• – Laser polishing
• – In-situ measurement for precision surface finishing

*Speedy Review (1-2months for the first review)
*IJAT is indexed in Scopus; Compendex (Ei-Index)
*日本語でも投稿できます（採録後、翻訳され英文で出版されます）

Control engineering and instrumentation engineering have significantly contributed to the improvement of industrial productivity, saving of resources and energy, and enrichment of our lives. They have become important cross-cutting study fields not only covering engineering but also having strong relations with the environment, society, and economy. Therefore, various studies have been conducted on the educational methods of related technologies at educational institutes and companies. With this background, we planned this special issue with the latest studies on the instruction and evaluation methods for education on control engineering, instrumentation engineering, and control technologies, expecting its contribution to further development in the future.

Robots consist of many elements, such as actuators, sensors, computers, and mechanical components. Nowadays, progress of AI field induced by the tremendous improvements in computer processing capabilities, has been allowing robots to behave in more sophisticated manner, and this has drawn considerable attention. On the other hand, “the mechanism,” which directly produces robot movements, sometimes brings out abilities that cannot be provided solely by computer control through sensor feedback. “Integrated Knowledge on Innovative Robot Mechanisms” is a knowledge system for robot mechanisms that bring forth useful and innovative functions and values. In this special issue, papers related to robot mechanisms that will widely contribute to robotics development are welcome to be submitted.

Always welcome

Cutting technologies have been widely applied to the manufacturing of products for the aircraft, automobile, medical, energy, and information industries. Cutting operations are generally evaluated in terms of their material removal rates and surface qualities. Material properties have also been improved in material science and engineering. Because workpiece materials have become difficult to cut, scientific work should be done to achieve high performance in difficult-to-cut materials, such as nickel-based super alloy. The cutting technologies for brittle materials require high quality for medical or information devices. Products with complex shapes have recently been required for manufactured products with multi-axis machinings in several industries. Therefore, cutting operations should be well organized with controls, simulations, and monitoring. This special issue invites papers in the following areas:
•cutting mechanisms, including chip formation, temperature, and tool damage, including wear and failure control of machining qualities, such as accuracy, surface finish, residual stress, and affected layers
•model-based cutting simulations in turning, milling, drilling, etc.
•micro- and nano-scale cutting processes
•cutting processes for difficult-to-cut metals, such as titanium alloy, and brittle materials, such as glass
•cutting controls in multi-axis machining or multi-tasking machining
•control, simulation, and monitoring of cutting processes
•material-related research, such as studies on built-up edges and microstructures in materials
•characterization and analysis of surface finishes

*Speedy Review (about 2months for the first review)
*IJAT is indexed in Scopus; Compendex (Ei-Index)
*日本語でも投稿できます（採録後、翻訳され英文で出版されます）

Environmental sustainability’s wide acceptance as vital to industry encourages theoretical and practical development in design and manufacturing.
In design, this includes ecodesign, life cycle design, scenario design, and design for X such as recycling, disassembly, maintenance, inspection, remanufacturing, and upgrading. In manufacturing, this includes sustainable manufacturing, energy and/or resource saving and sustainable value chain management.
The main aim of this special issue is to bring together the latest research results and practical case studies in design and manufacturing for environmental sustainability, especially touching upon a holistic view of technology, business, legislation, energy, resources, infrastructures, and customer behavior.
Papers ranging from theory to applications and case studies are welcomed.
Topics of interest in this special issue include but are not limited to
*design for sustainability including ecodesign, life cycle design, scenario design, and design for X
*manufacturing aspects for sustainability including sustainable manufacturing, energy and/or resource saving, and sustainable value chain management
*business and social aspects of sustainability, including SDGs, ecobusiness planning, sustainable consumption and production, and environmental legislation
*planning and design of sustainable infrastructure systems including “smart” cities, green buildings, green ICT, energy saving data centers, smart grids, and sensor-networks for environmental monitoring
*scenario planning and/or analysis for sustainability
*energy management and new energy technologies

[Special announcement for EcoDesign 2017 speakers]
We cannot accept the manuscripts that appear in the Springer E-book as it is, but we can accept the manuscripts that appear only in the proceedings of EcoDesign 2017.

[in Japanese]
Journal of Robotics and Mechatronicsでは、大学の研究者による研究論文だけではなく、企業の技術者や大学・高専の学生による開発報告も募集しています。ロボティクス・メカトロニクスのシステム・技術を開発してみたが学術研究としてはまとめづらい場合であっても、自分たちの開発成果を読者に紹介したいという場合には、開発報告を書いてください。掲載されるとオンラインで無料公開され、世界中の読者に対して自分たちの成果を発信できます。英文誌ですが、英語で書くのが苦手な方でも、日本語で書いて出版社で翻訳することも可能です。開発現場での製品開発やロボット競技会での活動を通して達成した成果を、ぜひとも開発報告として投稿してください。

[in English]
The Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics (JRM) is calling for not only research papers from university researchers but also development reports from corporate engineers and university or college students. If you would like to present to our readers a system or technology you have developed in the field of robotics and mechatronics, you are encouraged to write a development report, even if you find difficulty in writing a research paper. Once published, your report will appear online free of charge and be shared with readers all over the world. JRM is an English journal, but if you are not confident in your English skills, you can write your report in Japanese and we will translate it for you. We are looking forward to receiving your development reports on, such as, product development in your company or an achievement in a robotics competition.
<PDF>: https://www.fujipress.jp/main/wp-content/uploads/JRM_CFP_Development.pdf

The need for difficult-to-machine materials is increasing for opt-electric devices, semiconductors, automobiles, aircraft, and medical devices. Optical glass lenses have been molded with hard molds made of ceramics, such as tungsten carbide (WC) and silicon carbide (SiC), and it is most important to reduce form deviation and surface roughness in these molds. Single crystalline SiC is expected to be applied to semiconductors for the power module devices of automobiles, trains, and electrical devices. Nickel-based super alloys, Ti alloys, CFRP, hardened steels, and other materials are widely used in the aerospace, automobile, and chemical industries because of their superior properties, such as their high operating temperatures or superior specific strengths. Ti alloys are used in medical applications involving bones, dental implants, etc. In order to increase the performance and reduce the cost of these applications, the development of high-precision and high-performance abrasive technologies is very important. This special issue of the IJAT invites papers in the following areas:
• Grinding, finishing, deburring, lapping, polishing, honing, abrasive jet machining, etc.
• Grinding machines/systems and abrasive machines
• Abrasives and tools, tribology between tool and workpiece
• Truing, dressing, ELID (Electrolytic In-Process Dressing) for grinding
• Silicon wafers and hard/brittle materials processing
• Loose/suspended abrasive particle machining/polishing
• Hybrid super-finishing processes
• Precision/ultra-precision, micro-machining, nano-machining, super finishing/nano-surfacing
• Surface characterization/evaluation of surfaces processed with abrasives
• Metrology for precision/ultra-precision machining and in-process measurement/monitoring
• Environmentally friendly coolants/cooling
• Teaching and learning innovations

[in Japanese]
近年、3Dプリンタが急速に注目を集めています。高性能化と低価格化を背景に、一般家庭でも3Dプリンタを所有できる時代になり、個人でも容易にデジタルデータからオリジナルの立体造形物を作り出すことが可能になりました。ものづくり革命の到来とも言われています。JRMでは、3Dプリンタによるものづくりの革新を特集するため、革新的な造形技術やモデリング技術、理工系教育への応用、などロボット・メカトロニクス分野への応用が期待される3Dプリンタの技術の報告を募集します。投稿者と読者の間でモデリングデータやノウハウを共有し、創造的アイデアのネットワークを形成していくことも狙いの１つです。大学や研究機関からはもちろん、企業からも、皆様の投稿をお待ちしております。

[in English]
The high performance and low price of 3D printers have made them available to ordinary homes and individuals. Nowadays original 3D objects can be easily produced by individuals using 3D printers. To focus on the innovation of manufacturing using 3D printers, we are calling for technical reports introducing 3D printer technologies applied to robotics and mechatronics fields. Examples include innovative shaping and modeling technology, scientific and technological education, and so on. One of our aims is to form a creative network among authors and readers through the sharing of modeling data and technical knowledge. Submissions are welcome from both academic institutions such as universities and laboratories and from commercial and other enterprises.
Details are given in the following PDF.
https://www.fujipress.jp/main/wp-content/uploads/JRM_3DPrinter_CFP_En.pdf

Regular paper submission is always welcome.

Regular paper submissions are always welcome!

Regular paper submissions are always welcome!