20<< ROBOTICS Exceeding the current paradigm Currently, industrial robots are widely used in repetitive manufacturing operations. The car industry, the rst and biggest user of industrial robots in the world, is a prime example of this situation. The robots are used in various positions throughout the vehicle produc- tion chain, but there is a limited exibility with respect to the possible uses of each robot, as these units have been designed to carry out a particular task in the optimal way. European manufacturing companies that offer new and numerous products attempt to react quickly to market changes and they face a series of limitations with current industrial robots: • Time consumed in the installation of the robotic cell for the new operation or product. • Inability to learn. Robots specialise in repeating programmed ope- rations, but, in contrast to human workers, they do not learn from previous experiences. • Limited mobility. The great majority of industrial robots are loca- ted in static workstations. • Safety requirements. The majority of industrial robots operate in segregated environments, away from human workers. • Speci c process tools. When different manufacturing operations are required for a robot, special tools and tool changers are needed which add additional costs and greater complexity to the use of robots for manufacture. In this context, the mission of the Coroma project is to design a new robotic concept that allows current limitations to be overcome and so progress towards a new paradigm.