Indexes and Bibliography


Book Description




Teleoperation and Robotics


Book Description

It is a privilege to be asked to introduce this important work. Such a book has long been needed. Industrial manipulators and robots have caught the attention of the general public and become very fashionable in the last few years. The casual reader of current newspapers and magazit:les or the viewer of television and films might easily conclude that the development of mechanical hands, arms and legs or other mobility devices has progressed rapidly in only the last few years. Most people are unaware of the gradual orderly succession of creative designs and painstaking refinements which have been produced over a greater number of years. That story is carefully described in this volume, together with diagrams and photographs which document in detail this elegant phase in the history of machine design. This volume together with Volume 3A constitute the most complete and comprehensive work on manipulators and teleoperators. Jean Vertut and Philippe Coiffet are well known not only as authors but also as engineers who have produced some of the finest devices in the world. Of course for the complete history of manipulators and teleoperators one must look back to the artisans who crafted the delightful clock works, mechanical puppets and toys before and during the Renaissance.




Advances in Telerobotics


Book Description

A fascinating book that covers in detail all of the most recent advances in Telerobotics. A must-read for scientists, researchers and students in teleoperation, it describes everything from methods and experimental results to applications and developments. Its three sections cover human system interfaces, control, and applications.




Intelligent Control Systems with an Introduction to System of Systems Engineering


Book Description

From aeronautics and manufacturing to healthcare and disaster management, systems engineering (SE) now focuses on designing applications that ensure performance optimization, robustness, and reliability while combining an emerging group of heterogeneous systems to realize a common goal. Use SoS to Revolutionize Management of Large Organizations, Factories, and Systems Intelligent Control Systems with an Introduction to System of Systems Engineering integrates the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and systems control in a framework applicable to both simple dynamic systems and large-scale system of systems (SoS). For decades, NASA has used SoS methods, and major manufacturers—including Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon, BAE Systems—now make large-scale systems integration and SoS a key part of their business strategies, dedicating entire business units to this remarkably efficient approach. Simulate Novel Robotic Systems and Applications Transcending theory, this book offers a complete and practical review of SoS and some of its fascinating applications, including: Manipulation of robots through neural-based network control Use of robotic swarms, based on ant colonies, to detect mines Other novel systems in which intelligent robots, trained animals, and humans cooperate to achieve humanitarian objectives Training engineers to integrate traditional systems control theory with soft computing techniques further nourishes emerging SoS technology. With this in mind, the authors address the fundamental precepts at the core of SoS, which uses human heuristics to model complex systems, providing a scientific rationale for integrating independent, complex systems into a single coordinated, stabilized, and optimized one. They provide readers with MATLAB® code, which can be downloaded from the publisher's website to simulate presented results and projects that offer practical, hands-on experience using concepts discussed throughout the book.







Designs and Prototypes of Mobile Robots


Book Description

For several decades now, mobile robots have been integral to the development of new robotic systems for new applications, even in nontechnical areas. Mobile robots have already been developed for such uses as industrial automation, medical care, space exploration, demining operations, surveillance, entertainment, museum guides and many other industrial and non-industrial applications. In some cases these products are readily available on the market. A considerable amount of literature is also available; not all of which pertains to technical issues, as listed in the chapters of this book and its companion. Readers will enjoy this book and its companion and will utilize the knowledge gained with satisfaction and will be assisted by its content in their interdisciplinary work for engineering developments of mobile robots, in both old and new applications. This book and its companion can be used as a graduate level course book or a guide book for the practicing engineer who is working on a specific problem which is described in one of the chapters. The companion volume for this book, Mobile Robots for Dynamic Environments, is also available from Momentum Press.