Review article: locomotion systems for ground mobile robots in unstructured environments

Abstract. The world market of mobile robotics is expected to increase substantially in the next 20 yr, surpassing the market of industrial robotics in terms of units and sales. Important fields of application are homeland security, surveillance, demining, reconnaissance in dangerous situations, and agriculture. The design of the locomotion systems of mobile robots for unstructured environments is generally complex, particularly when they are required to move on uneven or soft terrains, or to climb obstacles. This paper sets out to analyse the state-of-the-art of locomotion mechanisms for ground mobile robots, focussing on solutions for unstructured environments, in order to help designers to select the optimal solution for specific operating requirements. The three main categories of locomotion systems (wheeled - W, tracked - T and legged - L) and the four hybrid categories that can be derived by combining these main locomotion systems are discussed with reference to maximum speed, obstacle-crossing capability, step/stair climbing capability, slope climbing capability, walking capability on soft terrains, walking capability on uneven terrains, energy efficiency, mechanical complexity, control complexity and technology readiness. The current and future trends of mobile robotics are also outlined

Disentangling derivatives: international policy reforms concerning central counterparties

After the 2008 financial crisis, international policy reforms were adopted on various aspects of derivatives markets, highlighting the need for precise and consistent rules. We examine the making of international rules concerning the resilience, recovery and resolution of central counterparties (CCPs), which form acritical global financial infrastructure. We argue that regulators played an important role in setting relatively precise and consistent international standards on CCPs over time. Facing common challenges, such as market fragmentation and interlinkages between issues, fostered a problem-solving approach in transgovernmental networks. We also identify the policy coordination tools used by regulators

Explaining the response of the ECB to the COVID-19 related economic crisis: inter-crisis and intra-crisis learning

The economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have placed a renewed strain on the economic governance of the European Union (EU). The European Central Bank (ECB) was a key player in the EU's response to the crisis induced by the pandemic. This paper adopts a theoretical approach focused on policy learning to explain how and why the ECB responded to the crisis in 2020-2021. By drawing on speeches, newspaper articles and interviews with policy-makers, the paper finds that the ECB was able to rely on earlier crisis experiences in the euro area in forming its response to the pandemic crisis. Although the sovereign debt crisis and the pandemic crisis had both similarities and differences from one another, the ECB was able to engage in inter-crisis and intra-crisis learning. Its learning concerned objectives, instruments as well as an awareness that timely and forceful response was crucial, so that the member states and other EU institutions had time to act

Rule maker or rule taker? Brexit, finance and UK regulatory autonomy

Given the integration of the City of London into the single market for financial services in the European Union (EU), theories of transnational governance would expect the United Kingdom (UK) to favour close regulatory alignment with the EU27 post-Brexit to maximise market access and financial stability. Surprisingly, however, the UK has consistently demanded regulatory flexibility in financial services and has accepted reduced market access. We argue that the explanation is twofold. First, UK preferences reflect the need to balance the competing demands of elected officials, the financial industry and financial regulators. Second, drawing on a bureaucratic politics perspective, we suggest that UK preferences have been strongly shaped by the importance to UK regulators of retaining autonomy over high-status policy competences. This article contributes to the broader literature on the politics of financial regulation by highlighting the added value of incorporating a bureaucratic politics perspective when explaining financial regulatory preferences

Weaponisation of finance: the role of European central banks and financial sanctions against Russia

In response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union (EU) adopted a variety of financial sanctions, including the freezing of foreign reserve assets of the Central Bank of Russia held by other central banks. Drawing on a Principal-Agent framework and on speeches, newspaper articles and interviews with policy-makers, this study examines what it means for the ECB and the central banks of the Eurosystem to be involved in these sanctions. As a consequence of these actions, these central banks have been enlisted in monetary and financial warfare. Moreover, the three-fold objective of the ECB has de facto effectively been reweighted somewhat, as the focus on ‘price stability’ (primary objective) has become seemingly temporarily less prominent. Instead, the secondary and tertiary objectives have moved centre-stage, favouring geopolitical considerations

Explaining the EU’s Uneven Influence Across the International Regime Complex in Shadow Banking

This article shows that the EU has exerted uneven influence within the global regime complex in shadow banking. Why? We seek to explain the variation in the EU’s ability to exert influence across different elemental regimes—those on hedge funds and securitization—in the broader regime complex over time. In hedge funds regulation, the EU has pursued more stringent international rules, to no avail. In securitization, the EU has been more successful in promoting more lenient regulation at the international level. We focus on the EU’s internal cohesiveness (which can change over time) as the key explanatory variable

The European Central Bank, the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the COVID-19 related economic crisis: a neofunctionalist analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a major economic crisis worldwide. The monetary policy response of the European Central Bank (ECB) was fast and massive. The ECB also intervened on the supervisory side because, after the establishment of Banking Union, the ECB was given responsibility for banking supervision in the euro area through the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). This paper explains the response of the ECB-SSM to the COVID-19 related economic crisis during 2020 and 2021, up until February 2022. These ECB actions include the reduction of bank capital buffers, the redefinition of non-performing loans, and the limitations on dividends and bonuses paid by banks. We adopt a neofunctionalist approach, which suggests that policies are developed at the EU level in response to need, whereby supranational actors and spillovers are particularly important. We offer some concluding insights into whether the ECB-SSM’s responses have led to a further deepening of integration