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The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new manipulator structure to configure power‐assist devices in order to protect the operator from suffering musculoskeletal disorders. The mechanical structure and the control system along with their main features are presented.

The new structure was designed under the criterion of minimizing the torques required for handling payloads up to 75 kg as well as to configure a system to be controlled easily.

A new structure based on electrical AC motors and capable of handling high payloads exerting low motor torque is provided.

The paper describes how application of the criterion of minimizing the required torques to handle heavy payload produced a new manipulator structure. This structure is patent protected.

Explains how the Automatic Control Department of the Instituto de Automatica Industrial (CSIC) in Madrid, Spain has been developing robots for over 15 years. This activity began in the 1980s with the realization of industrial robots and then the department focused its attention on the area of robots for hostile/hazardous environments. Describes several achievements in this field including a complex tele‐operated system for steam generator inspection and maintenance in nuclear power plants; a tele‐manipulator for servicing a new concept of urban infrastructures; a self‐propelling climbing robot with magnetic feet; and a four‐legged walking robot for hazardous environments.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the design of a training tool intended to improve deminers' technique during close‐in detection tasks.

Following an introduction that highlights the impact of mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and the importance of training for enhancing the safety and the efficiency of the deminers, this paper considers the utilization of a sensory tracking system to study the skill of the hand‐held detector expert operators. With the compiled information, some critical performance variables can be extracted, assessed, and quantified, so that they can be used afterwards as reference values for the training task. In a second stage, the sensory tracking system is used for analysing the trainee skills. The experimentation phase aims to test the effectiveness of the elements that compose the sensory system to track the hand‐held detector during the training sessions.

The proposed training tool will be able to evaluate the deminers' efficiency during the scanning tasks and will provide important information for improving their competences.

This paper highlights the need of introducing emerging technologies for enhancing the current training techniques for deminers and proposes a sensory tracking system that can be successfully utilised for evaluating trainees' performance with hand‐held detectors.

Explains how the Tracminer project aimed to provide a robust, low cost device to be mounted as an accessory on the motorized wheels of traction machines, in order to increase grip on loose soils. The main goal was to provide a device increasing by 30‐40 per cent the traction capacity of the given machine in soft or marshy soil working conditions. The intended device was designed to be robust and simple to adapt to existing machines. A key element of the development strategy was to provide an accessory easy to mount on the machine, which can remain “idle” (in this case, retracted) while not needed. The machine may then be operated as usual, with the opportunity to engage the accessory in action when a better ground grip is required. Such a possibility offers significant advantages for the Tracminer accessory when compared with other permanent traction enhancement solutions such as metallic frames with grids attached to the wheels, accessory caterpillars, etc.

Building construction is a great area for automation, but the incorporation of robots in the construction industry is a very slow affair because of the intrinsic difficulties. New requirements, however, now call for material‐handling manipulators to be used to help operators move and position heavy payloads without accidents. Builders are also being encouraged to provide automatic tools by the EU labour legislation, which limits the maximum payload that operators are allowed to carry. This paper introduces a manipulator to assist the operators in handling and installing pre‐manufactured plaster panels for indoor‐wall construction. This six degrees of freedom manipulator is fixed between floor and ceiling so that it can carry heavy payloads without tumbling. The whole system is easily assembled and disassembled to facilitate transportation between construction sites. The system's main features and its functions are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to propose going one step further in the simulation tools related to agriculture by integrating fleets of mobile robots for the execution of precision agriculture techniques. The proposed new simulation environment allows the user to define different mobiles robots and agricultural implements.

With this computational tool, the crop field, the fleet of robots and the different sensors and actuators that are incorporated into each robot can be configured by means of two interfaces: a configuration interface and a graphical interface, which interact with each other.

The system presented in this article unifies two very different areas – robotics and agriculture – to study and evaluate the implementation of precision agriculture techniques in a 3D virtual world. The simulation environment allows the users to represent realistic characteristics from a defined location and to model different variabilities that may affect the task performance accuracy of the fleet of robots.

This simulation environment, the first in incorporating fleets of heterogeneous mobile robots, provides realistic 3D simulations and videos, which grant a good representation and a better understanding of the robot labor in agricultural activities for researchers and engineers from different areas, who could be involved in the design and application of precision agriculture techniques. The environment is available at the internet, which is an added value for its expansion in the agriculture/robotics family.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

This paper aims to show the relationships between corporate social responsibility, job satisfaction (in its different facets or aspects) and employee commitment. In addition, the paper aims to identify the mediating role that facets of job satisfaction in the relationship between CSR and worker commitment.

The authors propose a model of relations between the variables indicated and the use of a variance-based structural equation modelling technique to identify the relations in a sample of 318 workers from Ecuadorian companies who answered a questionnaire. Specifically, the partial least squares (PLS) methodology was employed using the Smart PLS software.

The results and findings of this work confirm the theoretical hypotheses specific to the influence of CSR on the five facets of job satisfaction. On the other hand, it should be stressed that only job satisfaction in itself has positive effects on employee engagement. Furthermore, our study shows that satisfaction with co-workers has a negative effect on commitment. However, this study's most relevant contribution is the consideration of the mediating nature of some aspects of job satisfaction in the relationship between CSR and organisational commitment: positive for job satisfaction itself and negative in the case of satisfaction with co-workers. Therefore, implementing CSR practices can be useful for organisations that wish to foster positive attitudes among their employees.

The work enriches specific knowledge about the relationships between CSR and some employee attitudes and behaviours: commitment and job satisfaction. Of particular relevance is the fact that CSR favourably conditions the commitment of employees through the satisfaction derived from the work itself. The presence of a negative impact of co-worker satisfaction on engagement highlights the need to examine CSR actions that generate adverse impacts on this facet of satisfaction.

The main aim of this study is to characterise and identify specific chemo-sensory profiles of ciders from the Canary Islands (Spain).

Commercial samples of Canary ciders were compared to ciders from the Basque Country and Asturias. In total, 18 samples were studied, six for each region. The analysis comprised their sensory profiling and chemical characterisation of their polyphenolic profile, volatile composition, conventional chemical parameters and CIELAB colour coordinates. In parallel, the sensory profile of the samples from the Canary Islands was first compared with their Basque and Asturian counterparts by labelled sorting task. Then, their specific aroma profile was characterised by flash profile. Further quantification of sensory-active compounds was performed by GC–MS and GC-FID to identify the volatile compounds involved in their aroma profile.

Results show that Canary ciders present a specific chemical profile characterised by higher levels of ethanol, and hydroxycinnamic acids, mainly t-ferulic, t-coumaric and neochologenic acids, and lower levels of volatile and total acidity than their Asturian and Basque counterparts. They also present a specific aroma profile characterised by fruity aroma, mainly fruit in syrup and confectionary, and sweet flavours related to their highest levels of vinylphenols formed by transformation of hydroxycinnamic acids.

An integrated strategy to explore the typicity of the currently existing Canary ciders in the market was developed. The results are important in that they will help other regions to identify specific typical chemo-sensory profiles and to promote the creation of certifications supporting regional typicity.