Guest Editorial Embedded and Networked Systems for Intelligent Vehicles and Robots

The papers in this special section focus on embedded and networked systems for intelligent vehicles and robots. Embedded and networked systems for intelligent vehicles and robots are expected to have a significant economic, societal, and technological impact on industrial and automotive applications. Among the aspects that will benefit from these technologies the first one is safety, thanks to the reduction of accidents caused by human errors. Another positive effect is expected on sustainability, thanks to the increase in transport systems efficiency. Comfort and inclusiveness will be also improved, ensuring users’ freedom for other activities and “mobility for all.” Logistics and factory automation are among the main areas that will take advantages from intelligent vehicles and robots, that are expected to play a key role in Industry 4.0 scenarios, the so-called fourth industrial revolution, where intelligent vehicles and industrial robots will move and operate autonomously and cooperatively. Such a revolution has many key enabling technologies, such as, networked sensors, actuators, and embedded computing and control platforms, that will be distributed on-board the vehicle/robot. The contribution of artificial intelligence and deep learning computing platforms is also emerging to achieve full intelligent autonomous mobility of vehicles and robots.