**1. Introduction**

The world of robotics has evolved rapidly in recent years, with groundbreaking advancements and innovative applications becoming increasingly prevalent. Robots are no longer limited to traditional industrial environments, and are now being utilized across different sectors, revolutionizing processes and transforming how humans perceive robotics. This Special Issue explores the latest trends and challenges in robotic applications, shedding light on how these technological advances are shaping the future of automation, with emphasis on robotics in particular.

This compendium of papers focuses on the current research fields, trends and challenges in robotic applications and includes a set of review papers that allow us to frame this Special Issue in a general context. Four of the presented articles describe areas of robotic application and their associated trends and challenges, including service robots [1], advanced applications in industry [2], multiple object tracking [3] and drone control and localization [4].
