Service Robotics


Book Description

We feel the impact of robots on our lives more and more every day. Service robots constitute the broadest and the most exciting applications in this field, such as; personal care and assistance, agriculture, logistics, mobility, medical, and defense-oriented robots. Since service robotics contains many different types of robots, the variety of problems to be solved is also large. Many popular robotic problems, ranging from mechanism design to simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), from motion planning to system security, can be examined in this context. You will find various examples and solutions for this critical area of robotics in this book. We hope that researchers interested in the subject will benefit from this book.




Aerial Manipulation


Book Description

This text is a thorough treatment of the rapidly growing area of aerial manipulation. It details all the design steps required for the modeling and control of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) equipped with robotic manipulators. Starting with the physical basics of rigid-body kinematics, the book gives an in-depth presentation of local and global coordinates, together with the representation of orientation and motion in fixed- and moving-coordinate systems. Coverage of the kinematics and dynamics of unmanned aerial vehicles is developed in a succession of popular UAV configurations for multirotor systems. Such an arrangement, supported by frequent examples and end-of-chapter exercises, leads the reader from simple to more complex UAV configurations. Propulsion-system aerodynamics, essential in UAV design, is analyzed through blade-element and momentum theories, analysis which is followed by a description of drag and ground-aerodynamic effects. The central part of the book is dedicated to aerial-manipulator kinematics, dynamics, and control. Based on foundations laid in the opening chapters, this portion of the book is a structured presentation of Newton–Euler dynamic modeling that results in forward and backward equations in both fixed- and moving-coordinate systems. The Lagrange–Euler approach is applied to expand the model further, providing formalisms to model the variable moment of inertia later used to analyze the dynamics of aerial manipulators in contact with the environment. Using knowledge from sensor data, insights are presented into the ways in which linear, robust, and adaptive control techniques can be applied in aerial manipulation so as to tackle the real-world problems faced by scholars and engineers in the design and implementation of aerial robotics systems. The book is completed by path and trajectory planning with vision-based examples for tracking and manipulation.




Robotics Research


Book Description

This book contains the papers that were presented at the 17th International Symposium of Robotics Research (ISRR). The ISRR promotes the development and dissemination of groundbreaking research and technological innovation in robotics useful to society by providing a lively, intimate, forward-looking forum for discussion and debate about the current status and future trends of robotics with great emphasis on its potential role to benefit humankind. The symposium contributions contained in this book report on a variety of new robotics research results covering a broad spectrum organized into the categories: design, control; grasping and manipulation, planning, robot vision, and robot learning.




Cable-Driven Parallel Robots


Book Description

Gathering presentations to the First International Conference on Cable-Driven Parallel Robots, this book covers classification and definition, kinematics, workspace analysis, cable modeling, hardware/prototype development, control and calibration and more.




Unmanned Aircraft Design


Book Description

This book provides fundamental principles, design procedures, and design tools for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with three sections focusing on vehicle design, autopilot design, and ground system design. The design of manned aircraft and the design of UAVs have some similarities and some differences. They include the design process, constraints (e.g., g-load, pressurization), and UAV main components (autopilot, ground station, communication, sensors, and payload). A UAV designer must be aware of the latest UAV developments; current technologies; know lessons learned from past failures; and they should appreciate the breadth of UAV design options. The contribution of unmanned aircraft continues to expand every day and over 20 countries are developing and employing UAVs for both military and scientific purposes. A UAV system is much more than a reusable air vehicle or vehicles. UAVs are air vehicles, they fly like airplanes and operate in an airplane environment. They are designed like air vehicles; they have to meet flight critical air vehicle requirements. A designer needs to know how to integrate complex, multi-disciplinary systems, and to understand the environment, the requirements and the design challenges and this book is an excellent overview of the fundamentals from an engineering perspective. This book is meant to meet the needs of newcomers into the world of UAVs. The materials are intended to provide enough information in each area and illustrate how they all play together to support the design of a complete UAV. Therefore, this book can be used both as a reference for engineers entering the field or as a supplementary text for a UAV design course to provide system-level context for each specialized topic.




Robotics Research


Book Description

This book contains the papers that were presented at the 17th International Symposium of Robotics Research (ISRR). The ISRR promotes the development and dissemination of groundbreaking research and technological innovation in robotics useful to society by providing a lively, intimate, forward-looking forum for discussion and debate about the current status and future trends of robotics with great emphasis on its potential role to benefit humankind. The symposium contributions contained in this book report on a variety of new robotics research results covering a broad spectrum organized into the categories: design, control; grasping and manipulation, planning, robot vision, and robot learning.




Modelling and Control of Robot Manipulators


Book Description

Fundamental and technological topics are blended uniquely and developed clearly in nine chapters with a gradually increasing level of complexity. A wide variety of relevant problems is raised throughout, and the proper tools to find engineering-oriented solutions are introduced and explained, step by step. Fundamental coverage includes: Kinematics; Statics and dynamics of manipulators; Trajectory planning and motion control in free space. Technological aspects include: Actuators; Sensors; Hardware/software control architectures; Industrial robot-control algorithms. Furthermore, established research results involving description of end-effector orientation, closed kinematic chains, kinematic redundancy and singularities, dynamic parameter identification, robust and adaptive control and force/motion control are provided. To provide readers with a homogeneous background, three appendices are included on: Linear algebra; Rigid-body mechanics; Feedback control. To acquire practical skill, more than 50 examples and case studies are carefully worked out and interwoven through the text, with frequent resort to simulation. In addition, more than 80 end-of-chapter exercises are proposed, and the book is accompanied by a solutions manual containing the MATLAB code for computer problems; this is available from the publisher free of charge to those adopting this work as a textbook for courses.




Visual Control of Robots


Book Description




Robot Operating System (ROS)


Book Description

The objective of this book is to provide the reader with a comprehensive coverage on the Robot Operating Systems (ROS) and latest related systems, which is currently considered as the main development framework for robotics applications. The book includes twenty-seven chapters organized into eight parts. Part 1 presents the basics and foundations of ROS. In Part 2, four chapters deal with navigation, motion and planning. Part 3 provides four examples of service and experimental robots. Part 4 deals with real-world deployment of applications. Part 5 presents signal-processing tools for perception and sensing. Part 6 provides software engineering methodologies to design complex software with ROS. Simulations frameworks are presented in Part 7. Finally, Part 8 presents advanced tools and frameworks for ROS including multi-master extension, network introspection, controllers and cognitive systems. This book will be a valuable companion for ROS users and developers to learn more ROS capabilities and features.




Handbook of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors


Book Description

Handbook of Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, Second Edition is a fully updated comprehensive reference on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), which reflects the latest research and technological advances in the field from the last five years. Editors Daniel T. Ingersoll and Mario D. Carelli, along with their team of expert contributors, combine their wealth of collective experience to update this comprehensive handbook that provides the reader with all required knowledge on SMRs, expanding on the rapidly growing interest and development of SMRs around the globe. This book begins with an introduction to SMRs for power generation, an overview of international developments, and an analysis of Integral Pressurized Water Reactors as a popular class of SMRs. The second part of the book is dedicated to SMR technologies, including physics, components, I&C, human-system interfaces and safety aspects. Part three discusses the implementation of SMRs, covering economic factors, construction methods, hybrid energy systems and licensing considerations. The fourth part of the book provides an in-depth analysis of SMR R&D and deployment of SMRs within eight countries, including the United States, Republic of Korea, Russia, China, Argentina, and Japan. This edition includes brand new content on the United Kingdom and Canada, where interests in SMRs have increased considerably since the first edition was published. The final part of the book adds a new analysis of the global SMR market and concludes with a perspective on SMR benefits to developing economies. This authoritative and practical handbook benefits engineers, designers, operators, and regulators working in nuclear energy, as well as academics and graduate students researching nuclear reactor technologies. - Presents the latest research on SMR technologies and global developments - Includes new case study chapters on the United Kingdom and Canada and a chapter on global SMR markets - Discusses new technologies such as floating SMRs and molten salt SMRs