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Autonomous robots are already present in a variety of domains performing complex tasks. Their deployment in open-ended environments offers endless possibilities. However, there are still risks due to unresolved issues in dependability and trust. Knowledge representation and reasoning provide tools for handling explicit information, endowing systems with a deeper understanding of the situations they face. This article explores the use of declarative knowledge for autonomous robots to represent and reason about their environment, their designs, and the complex missions they accomplish. This information can be exploited at runtime by the robots themselves to adapt their structure or re-plan their actions to finish their mission goals, even in the presence of unexpected events. The primary focus of this article is to provide an overview of popular and recent research that uses knowledge-based approaches to increase robot autonomy. Specifically, the ontologies surveyed are related to the selection and arrangement of actions, representing concepts such as autonomy, planning, or behavior. Additionally, they may be related to overcoming contingencies with concepts such as fault or adapt. A systematic exploration is carried out to analyze the use of ontologies in autonomous robots, with the objective of facilitating the development of complex missions. Special attention is dedicated to examining how ontologies are leveraged in real time to ensure the successful completion of missions while aligning with user and owner expectations. The motivation of this analysis is to examine the potential of knowledge-driven approaches as a means to improve flexibility, explainability, and efficacy in autonomous robotic systems.

There have been several overlapping crises in North Africa in recent decades. The social contract is in crisis, and this became clear during the antiauthoritarian uprisings of 2011 to 2019. In addition, the region is locked in a socioeconomic crisis that deepened after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and has been aggravated by the global impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This paper underscores the need to reflect on the legitimation of the North African elites in this context, looking at the connection between the domestic and international spheres. It also presents various legitimation strategies that take in the interaction between the domestic and external spaces. This approach seeks to enrich the debate on the relationship between authoritarianism, its legitimation and the international dimension.

Actualmente, los sistemas utilizados en laboratorios para analizar la marcha se basan en técnicas marcadores o sensores colocados sobre el cuerpo del paciente, lo que resulta en un proceso que requiere un tiempo largo de preparación y calibración, así como la incomodidad que causa a los pacientes tener dispositivos colocados por el cuerpo. Además, el espacio en el que se pueden realizar pruebas resulta muy limitado. En respuesta a estas problemáticas, se ha desarrollado el sistema robótico RoboGait. Consiste en un robot móvil capaz de navegar autónomamente delante del paciente. El robot incluye una cámara RGBD en su parte superior para captar el cuerpo humano. Este sistema no requiere marcadores adheridos al cuerpo del paciente ya que utiliza la información proporcionada por la cámara RGBD para analizar la marcha. El objetivo de este estudio es demostrar la validez de RoboGait y su aplicabilidad en entornos clínicos. Para conseguirlo, se ha optado por mejorar la estimación de señales cinemáticas y espacio-temporales de la marcha procesando las medidas de la cámara con redes neuronales artificiales (RNA) entrenadas usando datos obtenidos de un sistema Vicon® certificado. Posteriormente, se ha medido el rendimiento del sistema en la clasificación de patrones normales y patológicos, utilizando como referencia un sistema basado en sensores inerciales Xsens®. De este modo, se ha probado el sistema robótico móvil en un rango amplio de la marcha, al tiempo que se ha comparado con un sistema comercial en las mismas condiciones experimentales. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que RoboGait puede realizar el análisis de la marcha con suficiente precisión,mostrando un gran potencial para su análisis clínico y la identificación de patologías.

Background and Objective: the use of 3D cameras for gait analysis has been highly questioned due to the low accuracy they have demonstrated in the past. The objective of the study presented in this paper is to improve the accuracy of the estimations made by robot-mounted 3D cameras in human gait analysis by applying a supervised learning stage. Methods: the 3D camera was mounted in a mobile robot to obtain a longer walking distance. This study shows an improvement in detection of kinematic gait signals and gait descriptors by post-processing the raw estimations of the camera using artificial neural networks trained with the data obtained from a certified Vicon system. To achieve this, 37 healthy participants were recruited and data of 207 gait sequences were collected using an Orbbec Astra 3D camera. There are two basic possible approaches for training and both have been studied in order to see which one achieves a better result. The artificial neural network can be trained either to obtain more accurate kinematic gait signals or to improve the gait descriptors obtained after initial processing. The former seeks to improve the waveforms of kinematic gait signals by reducing the error and increasing the correlation with respect to the Vicon system. The second is a more direct approach, focusing on training the artificial neural networks using gait descriptors directly. Results: the accuracy of the 3D camera to objectify human gait was measured before and after training. In both training approaches, a considerable improvement was observed. Kinematic gait signals showed lower errors and higher correlations with respect to the ground truth. The accuracy of the system to detect gait descriptors also showed a substantial improvement, mostly for kinematic descriptors rather than spatio-temporal. When comparing both training approaches, it was not possible to define which was the absolute best. Conclusions: supervised learning improves the accuracy of 3D cameras but the selection of the training approach will depend on the purpose of the study to be conducted. This study reveals the great potential of 3D cameras and encourages the research community to continue exploring their use in gait analysis.

Robotic control is a fundamental part of autonomous robots. Modular legged and climbing robots are complex machines made up of a variety of subsystems, ranging from a single robot with simple legs to a complex system composed of multiple legs (or modules) with computing power and sensitivity. Their complexity, which is increased by the fact of needing elements for climbing, makes a correct structure crucial to achieve a complete, robust, and versatile system during its operation. Control architectures for legged robots are distinguished from other software architectures because of the special needs of these systems. In this paper, we present an original classification of modular legged and climbing robots, a comprehensive review of the most important control architectures in robotics, focusing on the control of modular legged and climbing robots, and a comparison of their features. The control architecture comparison aims to provide the analytical tools necessary to make informed decisions tailored to the specific needs of your robotic applications. This article includes a review and classification of modular legged and climbing robots, breaking down each category separately.

Este artículo presenta el robot ROMERIN, un organismo robótico modularmente compuesto por patas que utilizan ventosas activas como sistema de adhesión al entorno, y cuyo objetivo es la inspección de infraestructuras mediante la escalada. Se detalla la estructura física del organismo robótico, incluyendo una explicación de los módulos y del cuerpo. También se incluye una descripción de la arquitectura de control basada en el control en par de la posición del cuerpo del organismo, cuyo número de patas y disposición de las mismas es variable de forma que el sistema es versátil para su utilización en diferentes entornos y aplicaciones. La arquitectura de control que se ha diseñado sirve de base para el control de robots escaladores con patas de cualquier número de patas. Se ha comprobado su funcionamiento en el robot físico ROMERIN y en su gemelo digital (“digital twin”), registrando y mostrando dichos resultados. Además, se ha comprobado el funcionamiento de la arquitectura de control para diferentes configuraciones del organismo, demostrando su modularidad y versatilidad para diferentes aplicaciones.

Traversing through challenging, unstructured environments, particularly in mining scenarios characterized by dust concentration, darkness, and lack of communication presents formidable obstacles for traditional sensing technologies. Drawing inspiration from naked mole rats, characterized as being skilled subterranean navigators that depend heavily on touch to navigate their environment, this study introduces a new whisker-sensing disk designed for 3D mapping in unstructured environments. The disk comprises a circular array of 32 whisker sensors, each featuring a slender flexible plastic rod attached to a compliant base housing a 3D Hall-effect sensor. The whisker sensor is modeled using both analytical and data-driven approaches to predict rotation angles based on magnetic field measurements. The validation and comparison of both models are performed by evaluating data from other whisker sensors. Additionally, a series of experiments demonstrates the whisker disk’s capability in performing 3D-mapping tasks, along with successful implementation on diverse robotic platforms, highlighting its future potential for effective 3D mapping in complex and unstructured subterranean environments.

Climbing robots play an essential role in performing inspection work in civil infrastructures. These tasks require autonomous robots with competitive costs and the ability to adapt to different types of environments. This article presents ROMERIN, a new concept of a modular legged climbing robot where each leg is an autonomous robotic module in terms of processing capacity, control, and energy. The legs are equipped with suction cups that allow the robot to adhere to different types of surfaces. The proposed design allows the creation of climbing robots with a different number of legs to perform specific inspection tasks. Although each of the legs acts as an independent robot, they have the ability to share information and energy. The proposed control concept enables the development of climbing robots with the ability to adapt to different types of inspection tasks and with resilience characteristics. This article includes a description of the mechatronic design, the kinematics of the seven degree-of-freedom robotic legs, including the adhesion system, and the architecture of the control and simulation system. Finally, we present experimental results to test the modularity concept, mechanical design, and electronics using a four-legged robot configuration. We analyze the performance of the gripping system in different situations on four different surfaces and the behavior of the control architecture for two different robot body trajectories.

Historically, mining operations have faced numerous challenges, including safety hazards, inefficiencies, and environmental concerns. However, recent advances in robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence have presented opportunities for the mining industry. The ROBOMINERS project, a Horizon 2020 European Union initiative, aims to revolutionize the mining ecosystem by implementing disruptive robotic concepts. One such concept is resilience, which involves enabling mining robots to reconfigure morphologically during operation. This article presents the development of a modular robotic system that focuses on modularity and self-assembly to provide insight into developing a highly adaptable and compact solution for future mining robots. The robotic system is composed of a set of highly configurable modular robotic platforms that can be reconfigured with other robotic modules or submodules to form more complex systems to perform different tasks. Several module configurations are presented, and different locomotion experiments were carried out to test the ability of the modules to navigate unstructured environments. The modules exhibited great maneuverability in unstructured terrain and demonstrated self-assembly and reconfiguration capabilities during operation. This is a foundational step towards the long-term goal of developing compact autonomous agents capable of self-assembly and mining task execution.

Three-dimensional (3D) cameras used for gait assessment obviate the need for bodily markers or sensors, making them particularly interesting for clinical applications. Due to their limited field of view, their application has predominantly focused on evaluating gait patterns within short walking distances. However, assessment of gait consistency requires testing over a longer walking distance. The aim of this study is to validate the accuracy for gait assessment of a previously developed method that determines walking spatiotemporal parameters and kinematics measured with a 3D camera mounted on a mobile robot base (ROBOGait). Walking parameters measured with this system were compared with measurements with Xsens IMUs. The experiments were performed on a non-linear corridor of approximately 50 m, resembling the environment of a conventional rehabilitation facility. Eleven individuals exhibiting normal motor function were recruited to walk and to simulate gait patterns representative of common neurological conditions: Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, and Cerebellar Ataxia. Generalized estimating equations were used to determine statistical differences between the measurement systems and between walking conditions. When comparing walking parameters between paired measures of the systems, significant differences were found for eight out of 18 descriptors: range of motion (ROM) of trunk and pelvis tilt, maximum knee flexion in loading response, knee position at toe-off, stride length, step time, cadence; and stance duration. When analyzing how ROBOGait can distinguish simulated pathological gait from physiological gait, a mean accuracy of 70.4%, a sensitivity of 49.3%, and a specificity of 74.4% were found when compared with the Xsens system. The most important gait abnormalities related to the clinical conditions were successfully detected by ROBOGait. The descriptors that best distinguished simulated pathological walking from normal walking in both systems were step width and stride length. This study underscores the promising potential of 3D cameras and encourages exploring their use in clinical gait analysis.

This article presents a generalizable, low computational cost, simple, and fast gravity compensation method for legged robots with a variable number of legs. It is based on the static problem, which is a reduction in the dynamic model of the robot that takes advantage of the low velocity of climbing robots. To solve it, we propose a method that computes the torque to be applied by each actuator to compensate for the gravitational forces without using the Jacobian matrix for the forces exerted by the end-effector and without using analytical methods for the gravitational components of the model. We compare our method with the most popular method and conclude that ours is twice as fast. Using the proposed gravity compensator, we present a torque-based PD controller for the position of the leg modules, and a body velocity control without dynamic compensation. In addition, we validate the method with both hardware and a simulated version of the ROMERIN robot, a modular legged and climbing robot. Furthermore, we compare our controller with the usual kinematic inverse controllers, demonstrating that the mean angular and linear error is significantly reduced, as well as the power requirements of the actuators.

Objective: Most studies have conducted human gait analysis using expensive and invasive photogrammetric systems. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that non-invasive and cost-effective systems based on depth cameras may be able to retrieve relevant features of human gait patterns. We aimed to prove this by solving the problem of gait classification by gender. Methods: 81 participants (40 female and 41 male) walked at a self-selected speed across a 4.8-meter walkway. Gait data was recorded using multiple depth sensors. Analysis in time domain included joint excursions by gait phases, range of movement (ROM), central tendency and dispersion measures, spatial variables, and center of mass (COM) position. The spectral analysis included principal frequency, magnitude, and phase shift during walking. Only features with significant differences by gender were used to train a support vector machine (SVM) classifier. Results: A total of 108 features presented significant differences by gender (p

MoCLORA (Modular Climbing-and-Legged Robotic Organism Architecture) is a software framework for climbing bio-inspired robotic organisms composed of modular robots (legs). It is presented as a modular low-level architecture that coordinates the modules of an organism with any morphology, at the same time allowing exchanges between the physical robot and its digital twin. It includes the basic layers to control and coordinate all the elements, while allowing adding new higher-level components to improve the organism’s behavior. It is focused on the control of both the body and the legs of the organism, allowing for position and velocity control of the whole robot. Similarly to insects, which are able to adapt to new situations after the variation on the capacity of any of their legs, MoCLORA allows the control of organisms composed of a variable number of modules, arranged in different ways, giving the overall system the versatility to tackle a wide range of tasks in very diverse environments. The article also presents ROMERIN, a modular climbing and legged robotic organism, and its digital twin, which allows the creation of different module arrangements for testing. MoCLORA has been tested and validated with both the physical robot and its digital twin.

Background subtraction is one of the key pre-processing steps necessary for obtaining relevant information from a video sequence. The selection of a background subtraction algorithm and its parameters is also important for achieving optimal detection performance, especially in night environments. The research contribution presented in this paper is the identification of the optimal background subtractor algorithm in indoor night-time environments, with a focus on the detection of human falls. 30 background subtraction algorithms are analyzed to determine which has the best performance in indoor night-time environments. Genetic algorithms have been applied to identify the best background subtraction algorithm, to optimize the background subtractor parameters and to calculate the optimal number of pre- and post-processing operations. The results show that the best algorithm for fall-detection in indoor, night-time environments is the LBAdaptativeSOM, optimal parameters and processing operations for this algorithm are reported.

Este artículo analiza el papel que el islam ha jugado en la política exterior de Marruecos sosteniendo que ha sido utilizado como un recurso ideológico al servicio de una política exterior cuyo proceso de tomas de decisión es monopolizado por la Monarquía. En las relaciones exteriores Marruecos ha utilizado el islam como un instrumento para ganar influencia internacional a través de tres vías principales: la explotación de la legitimidad religiosa de sus soberanos; la exportación de un modelo de islam caracterizado por su apertura interpretativa; y moderación y la utilización de los lazos mantenidos con el exterior por organizaciones trasnacionales arraigadas en el país como la cofradía Tiyaniyya

In this paper, we present a fully original control architecture for legged-and-climber robots that is level-based, hierarchical, and centralized. The architecture gives the robots the ability to perform self-reconfiguration after unforeseen leg failures, because it can control this kind of robot with different numbers of legs. The results show the capability of performing movements in any direction and inclination planes. The components and functionalities of the developed control architecture for these robots are described, and, the architecture’s performance is tested on the ROMHEX robot.

Mobile robotic platforms have made inroads in the rehabilitation area as gait assistance devices. They have rarely been used for human gait monitoring and analysis. The integration of mobile robots in this field offers the potential to develop multiple medical applications and achieve new discoveries. This study proposes the use of a mobile robotic platform based on depth cameras to perform the analysis of human gait in practical scenarios. The aim is to prove the validity of this robot and its applicability in clinical settings. The mechanical and software design of the system is presented, as well as the design of the controllers of the lane-keeping, person-following, and servoing systems. The accuracy of the system for the evaluation of joint kinematics and the main gait descriptors was validated by comparison with a Vicon-certified system. Some tests were performed in practical scenarios, where the effectiveness of the lane-keeping algorithm was evaluated. Clinical tests with patients with multiple sclerosis gave an initial impression of the applicability of the instrument in patients with abnormal walking patterns. The results demonstrate that the system can perform gait analysis with high accuracy. In the curved sections of the paths, the knee joint is affected by occlusion and the deviation of the person in the camera reference system. This issue was greatly improved by adjusting the servoing system and the following distance. The control strategy of this robot was specifically designed for the analysis of human gait from the frontal part of the participant, which allows one to capture the gait properly and represents one of the major contributions of this study in clinical practice.

This paper presents a new architecture that integrates Internet of Things (IoT) devices, service robots, and users in a smart assistive environment. A new intuitive and multimodal interaction system supporting people with disabilities and bedbound patients is presented. This interaction system allows the user to control service robots and devices inside the room in five different ways: touch control, eye control, gesture control, voice control, and augmented reality control. The interaction system is comprised of an assistive robotic arm holding a tablet PC. The robotic arm can place the tablet PC in front of the user. A demonstration of the developed technology, a prototype of a smart room equipped with home automation devices, and the robotic assistive arm are presented. The results obtained from the use of the various interfaces and technologies are presented in the article. The results include user preference with regard to eye-base control (performing clicks, and using winks or gaze) and the use of mobile phones over augmented reality glasses, among others.

Adhesion systems are very important in robots for infrastructure inspection (especially in vertical walls). They present the challenge of optimizing the ratio vacuum/power consumption in battery-powered robots. In this paper, a CFD (computer fluid dynamics) modelling and optimization process of a robot adhesion system is carried out to determine the best performing configuration in terms of vacuum and power consumption. Analytical and numerical models were developed to predict the behaviour of the system for different configurations. The models were validated, using test rig measurements, by calibrating an arbitrary defined inlet height that simulates the leakage flow. Then, different geometric parameters were varied to determine the best performing configuration based on the vacuum/power consumption ratio value. The model presented in the paper was capable of predicting the behaviour of the system for different configurations, with a margin of error of 15% for the vacuum prediction and 25% for the motor power calculation. Finally, the model was used to optimize parameters of the system, like the number of blades of the impeller. The adhesion system was conceived for the modular autonomous climbing legged robot ROMERIN.

Several studies have examined the accuracy of the Kinect V2 sensor during gait analysis. Usually the data retrieved by the Kinect V2 sensor are compared with the ground truth of certified systems using a Euclidean comparison. Due to the Kinect V2 sensor latency, the application of a uniform temporal alignment is not adequate to compare the signals. On that basis, the purpose of this study was to explore the abilities of the dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm to compensate for sensor latency (3 samples or 90 ms) and develop a proper accuracy estimation. During the experimental stage, six iterations were performed using the a dual Kinect V2 system. The walking tests were developed at a self-selected speed. The sensor accuracy for Euclidean matching was consistent with that reported in previous studies. After latency compensation, the sensor accuracy demonstrated considerably lower error rates for all joints. This demonstrated that the accuracy was underestimated due to the use of inappropriate comparison techniques. On the contrary, DTW is a potential method that compensates for the sensor latency, and works sufficiently in comparison with certified systems.

This article presents a review on trends in modular reconfigurable robots, comparing the evolution of the features of the most significant robots over the years and focusing on the latest designs. These features are reconfiguration, docking, degrees of freedom, locomotion, control, communications, size, and powering. For each feature, some of the most relevant designs are presented and the current trends in the design are discussed.

Relations between Spain and Morocco are characterised since 1956 by a pattern of cyclical instability, which is largely linked to the latter’s stepwise decolonisation process and the persistence of Moroccan territorial claims. Taking advantage of the diversification in bilateral relations witnessed as of Spain’s accession to the European Community in 1986, the Spanish diplomacy promoted the doctrine of the "colchón de intereses" (buffer of interests) as a way to inject stability into them. This article aims at assessing the results of that policy by analysing the evolution of indicators of interdependence between both countries between 1995 and 2009. It uses for this purpose the Integrated Database on Foreign Policy (BDPEX) developed by GRESAM in the framework of the research project “Actors and interests in Spain’s external relations with the Arab and Muslim world” (CSO2008-06232-C03-03/CPOL).

Resumen: En el desarrollo de sistemas robóticos complejos es común usar herramientas y arquitecturas software que facilitan la tarea de integración y reutilización del código. Ejemplos son el Robot Operating System (ROS) de WillowGarage, Player/Stage, etc. No obstante, la robótica móvil es cada vez más multidisciplinar, involucrando equipos de investigación de diferentes áreas incluyendo las tecnologías del habla, visión, aprendizaje automático, etc. Por ello es altamente improbable que dichos equipos adopten como elemento de desarrollo una plataforma intrínsecamente ligada a la robótica. A veces incluso, las restricciones de lenguajes de desarrollo o sistemas operativos, lo hacen impracticable y perjudicaría tanto a la velocidad de desarrollo como a la eficiencia del producto final. Este artículo presenta una novedosa arquitectura basada totalmente en los estándares de los Servicios Web. La arquitectura permite el desarrollo de agentes software de modo independiente de una forma totalmente desacoplada, manteniendo una intrusividad mínima a la par que una gran sencillez de uso. Usando posteriormente un intermediador o bróker totalmente dinámico se conectan dichos agentes en tiempo de ejecución. Esta arquitectura, que no sustituye a los sistemas ya existentes sino que los complementa, ha sido usada en un complejo demostrador multi-robot con una gran heterogenia de sistemas y agentes, en un proceso de instalación y puesta en funcionamiento de un robot guía interactivo en un nuevo ambiente. Abstract: Development of complex robotics systems usually requires tools and software frameworks such as the WillowGarage Robot Operating System (ROS) to ease code integration and reuse tasks. Nevertheless, research in robotics is increasingly becoming multidisciplinary, involving areas of voice technology, artificial intelligence or web systems, which can make researchers highly reluctant to use such robotic-specific systems. Even existing constraints, such as using different Operating Systems, can make this task impossible. This paper presents a novel architecture completely based on standards such as Web Services, that allows a totally decoupled development of agents with minimal intrusiveness and high simplicity by using a dynamic broker to interconnect agents at runtime. This architecture, which does not replace other systems but complements them. It has been used successfully inside a complex multi-robot demonstrator in a fully automated system deployment of an interactive tour guide robot in a new environment. Palabras clave: Arquitectura Software, Integración de sistemas, Control de Robots, Keywords: software architecture, system integration, robot control

Twenty years ago the central states of the Maghreb – Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia – initiated political reforms which would have legitimized the problem of change. Since then, the proliferation of political actors and electoral fields has become a favourite government technique for regime survival who by these techniques hope to engage opponents in a political game where power is not at risk. In such a context, the opposition may take various forms including partisan, syndicated, associative or protestant. Protest movements may in fact arise out of a spirit of individuality, even if the objective is to generate collective action. But in an authoritarian context, the first difficulty lies in recruiting political actors and by extension, mobilizing the opposition. The various areas where action unfolds are themselves indicative of the different forms of opposition and indeed, political protest is channelled through parliament, university campuses, mosques, public areas and cyberspace.

Los dispositivos de alta energía son diseñados para que funcionen con campos eléctricos y magnéticos extrema-damente altos. Debido a esto, dichos dispositivos presentan fenómenos y comportamientos no lineales, como el aislamiento magnético que altera el transporte de los electrones. La no linealidad ha obligado a analizar y revisar desde el punto de vista matemático las condiciones de frontera y las soluciones del problema. El objetivo de este trabajo es exponer el tema a un nivel que facilite su difusión entre la comunidad académica no familiarizada con el mismo. Para ello, el trabajo presenta una descripción de los fenómenos que se generan cuando hay campos eléctricos y magnéticos muy altos, tomando el caso de un diodo plano al vacío, así como las ecuaciones que modelan el fenómeno de aislamiento magnético; también demuestra la existencia de las soluciones y encuentra las positivas en base a los métodos de solución superior e inferior para problemas de valor de frontera, y pro-porciona algunos ejemplos de aplicación del fenómeno de aislamiento magnético.

Falls are the leading cause of injury and death in elderly individuals. Unfortunately, fall detectors are typically based on wearable devices, and the elderly often forget to wear them. In addition, fall detectors based on artificial vision are not yet available on the market. In this paper, we present a new low-cost fall detector for smart homes based on artificial vision algorithms. Our detector combines several algorithms (background subtraction, Kalman filtering and optical flow) as input to a machine learning algorithm with high detection accuracy. Tests conducted on over 50 different fall videos have shown a detection ratio of greater than 96%.

This paper presents a new simulation environment aimed at heterogeneous chained modular robots. This simulator allows for the testing of the feasibility of the design, the checking of how the modules will perform in the field, and the verifying of the hardware, electronics and communication designs before the prototype is built, saving time and resources. The paper shows how the simulator is built and how it can be set up to adapt to new designs. It also gives some examples of its use showing different heterogeneous modular robots running in different environments.

El presente texto pretende arrojar nuevas hipótesis de trabajo sobre el papel de los actores y de los intereses subestatales y no-gubernamentales en la política exterior de España hacia los países del Magreb. A partir de la información obtenida en la Base de Datos de Política Exterior (BDPEX) se observa, en primer lugar, si existe una correlación entre el objetivo y el destino de la Ayuda Oficial al Desarrollo (AOD) descentralizada y la “agenda de política exterior” de los diputados en la Cámara baja, clasificados por su circunscripción provincial. En segundo lugar se ofrece una modesta tipología de las Comunidades Autónomas como actores, con intereses propios en la política exterior hacia el Norte de África. Y, por último, se discute si esta actuación descentralizada converge o diverge con la que se lleva a cabo desde el ámbito de la administración central del Estado. This paper aims to shed new hypotheses on the role and goals of both subnational and non-governmental actors in Spanish foreign policy towards the Maghreb countries. Taking information from the BDPEX, the paper tests first if there is a correlation between the goals and final destination of the decentralized Official Development Assistance (ODA) and the decentralized "policy agenda” of the members of the Spanish “Congreso de los Diputados” (lower chamber of Parliament), classified by provincial constituency. Second, it provides a sort of classification of the “Comunidades Autónomas” (regional governments) as actors, with their own interests in foreign policy towards North Africa. Finally, we discuss whether this decentralised action converges or diverges with that taking place within the central state administration.

El análisis de la producción bibliográfica española muestra un creciente, aunque todavía limitado, interés hacia la política exterior española con respecto al mundo árabe y musulmán. La mayor parte de los estudios han centrado sus análisis en el discurso oficial del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores o en el de las crisis que surgen y que periódicamente contaminan las relaciones bilaterales (conflicto del Sáhara Occidental, ocupación del islote Perejil, inmigración irregular…). Desde una perspectiva multilateral también existen numerosos estudios sobre el Proceso Euro-mediterráneo iniciado en Barcelona en 1995.