Special Issue CFP Wearable Robotics

The IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine will feature a special issue on Wearable Robotics in December for 2014 and the deadline for submissions is 1 March.

A Wearable Robot (WR) is an artificial apparatus that is placed in a close fit to the human’s body, thereby moving and working in synchrony with its limbs. Examples of WRs include active exoskeletons, which are worn in parallel to the user’s body so as to augment its performance, and active limb-prostheses, which are worn in series to the user’s body so as to replace some missing extremity. WRs make it possible to realize a human-robot symbiotic system with enhanced/restored strength, speed, endurance and energetic autonomy. Practical applications of WRs range from physical assistance of the elderly, disabled people and heavy duty workers to the functional rehabilitation and restoration of lost functions. 

Since the last decade, significant advances have occurred in Wearable Robotics, which is now attracting the interest from the industry and the media. However, the development of a complete and functional WR is still a very challenging task, which deserves innovations under several regards, including ergonomics, kinematics, dynamics, actuation, interaction control and energetics. In this context, this special issue focuses on complete and working Wearable Robots, and specifically targets at presenting new scientific results and methodologies that can assist the practicing engineer in the design, development, control and validation of novel WR systems. 

Scope, Description and information
Researchers working in Industry and Academia are invited to submit their original and unpublished research results on technological and experimental aspects associated with the design, development, control and validation of complete and working Wearable Robotic systems. 

Topics of interest include: 
• Power extenders for material handling; 
• Robotic orthoses for physical assistance and rehabilitation; 
• Active limb-prostheses; 
• Wearable haptic exoskeletons; 
• Novel design and validation methodologies for wearable robots. 

Guest Editors 
• Rocco Vertechy, PERCRO Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa (Italy)
• Dino Accoto, Biomedical Robotics and Biomicrosystems Lab, University Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome (Italy) 
• Hugh Herr, MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (MA, USA)

Deadline for Paper Submission: 1 March 2014
First Review: 31 May 2014
Final Review: 1 September 2014
Publication Schedule: December 2014

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