This book provides a conceptual and computational framework to study how the nervous system exploits the anatomical properties of limbs to produce mechanical function. The study of the neural control of limbs has historically emphasized the use of optimization to find solutions to the muscle redundancy problem. That is, how does the nervous system select a specific muscle coordination pattern when the many muscles of a limb allow for multiple solutions? I revisit this problem from the emerging perspective of neuromechanics that emphasizes finding and implementing families of feasible solutions, instead of a single and unique optimal solution. Those families of feasible solutions emerge naturally from the interactions among the feasible neural commands, anatomy of the limb, and constraints of the task. Such alternative perspective to the neural control of limb function is not only biologically plausible, but sheds light on the most central tenets and debates in the fields of neural control, robotics, rehabilitation, and brain-body co-evolutionary adaptations. This perspective developed from courses I taught to engineers and life scientists at Cornell University and the University of Southern California, and is made possible by combining fundamental concepts from mechanics, anatomy, mathematics, robotics and neuroscience with advances in the field of computational geometry. Fundamentals of Neuromechanics is intended for neuroscientists, roboticists, engineers, physicians, evolutionary biologists, athletes, and physical and occupational therapists seeking to advance their understanding of neuromechanics. Therefore, the tone is decidedly pedagogical, engaging, integrative, and practical to make it accessible to people coming from a broad spectrum of disciplines. I attempt to tread the line between making the mathematical exposition accessible to life scientists, and convey the wonder and complexity of neuroscience to engineers and computational scientists. While no one approach can hope to definitively resolve the important questions in these related fields, I hope to provide you with the fundamental background and tools to allow you to contribute to the emerging field of neuromechanics.

Dry Clutch Control for Automated Manual Transmission Vehiclesanalyses the control of a part of the powertrain which has a key role in ride comfort during standing-start and gear-shifting manoeuvres. The mechanical conception of the various elements in the driveline has long since been optimised so this book takes a more holistic system-oriented view of the problem featuring: a comprehensive description of the driveline elements and their operation paying particular attention to the clutch, a nonlinear model of the driveline for simulation and a simplified model for control design, with a standing-start driver automaton for closed loop simulation, a detailed analysis of the engagement operation and the related comfort criteria, different control schemes aiming at meeting these criteria, friction coefficient and unknown input clutch torque observers, practical implementation issues and solutions based on experience of implementing optimal engagement strategies on two Renault prototypes.

This book provides a rigorous framework in which to study problems in the analysis, stability and design of networked control systems. Four dominant sources of difficulty are considered: packet dropouts, communication bandwidth constraints, parametric uncertainty, and time delays. Past methods and results are reviewed from a contemporary perspective, present trends are examined, and future possibilities proposed. Emphasis is placed on robust and reliable design methods. New control strategies for improving the efficiency of sensor data processing and reducing associated time delay are presented. The coverage provided features: * an overall assessment of recent and current fault-tolerant control algorithms; * treatment of several issues arising at the junction of control and communications; * key concepts followed by their proofs and efficient computational methods for their implementation; and * simulation examples (including TrueTime simulations) to provide hands-on experience. In addition to the theoretical coverage, the author describes a number of applications that demonstrate the real-world relevance of this material, and these include: * a servo system; * a triple inverted pendulum; * power system control; * wireless control of a cart with inverted pendulum and wireless servo application with emphasis on controller area networks; and * switched ethernet and wireless area networks. Researchers and graduate students working in networked and distributed control will find this text a useful guide in avoiding and ameliorating common and serious problems with these systems. The increasing prevalence of networks in many fields of engineering will make Control and Estimation Methods over Communication Networks of interest to practitioners with backgrounds in communications, process engineering, robotics, power, automotive and other areas.

This constitutes the Proceedings of the 22nd IFIP TC7 Conference held in July 2005, in Torino, Italy, and dedicated to Camillo Possio, on the 60th anniversary of his death during the last air raid over Torino. The papers in this volume concern primarily stochastic and distributed systems, their control/optimization, and inverse problems. These proceedings also explore applications of optimization techniques and computational methods in fields such as medicine, biology and economics.

Hydraulic Servo-systems details the basic concepts of many recent developments of nonlinear identification and nonlinear control and their application to hydraulic servo-systems: developments such as feedback linearisation and fuzzy control. It also reviews the principles, benefits and limitations associated with standard control design approaches such as linear state feedback control, feedforward control and compensation for static nonlinearities, because of their continued practical importance. Featuring: theoretical (physically based) modelling of hydraulic servo-systems; experimental modelling (system identification); control strategies for hydraulic servo-systems; case studies and experimental results. Appendices outline the most important fundamentals of (nonlinear) differential geometry and fuzzy control. The book is very application-oriented and provides the reader with detailed working procedures and hints for implementation routines and software tools. It will interest scientists and qualified engineers involved in the analysis and design of hydraulic control systems, especially in advanced hydraulic industries, the aeronautical and space and automotive industries.

Observers are digital algorithms that combine sensor outputs with knowledge of the system to provide results superior to traditional structures, which rely wholly on sensors. Observers have been used in selected industries for years, but most books explain them with complex mathematics. This book uses intuitive discussion, software experiments, and supporting analysis to explain the advantages and disadvantages of observers. If you are working in controls and want to improve your control systems, observers could be the technology you need and this book will give you a clear, thorough explanation of how they work and how to use them.
Control systems and devices have become the most essential part of nearly all mechanical systems, machines, devices and manufacturing systems throughout the world. Increasingly the efficiency of production, the reliability of output and increased energy savings are a direct result of the quality and deployment of the control system. A modern and essential tool within the engineer's kit is the Observer which helps improve the performance and reduce the cost of these systems.
George Ellis is the author of the highly successful Control System Design Guide (2nd Edition). Unlike most controls books, which are written by control theorists and academics, Ellis is a leading engineer, designer, author and lecturer working in industry directly with the users of industrial motion control systems. Observers in Control Systems is written for all professional engineers and is designed to be utilized without an in-depth background in control theory. This is a "real-world" book which will demonstrate how observers work and how they can improve your control system.It also shows how observers operate when conditions are not ideal and teaches the reader how to quickly tune an observer in a working system.
Software Available on line: A free updated and enhanced version of the author's popular Visual ModelQ allows the reader to practice the concepts with Visual ModelQ models on a PC. Based on a virtual laboratory, all key topics are demonstrated with more than twenty control system models. The models are written in Visual ModelQ, and are available on the Internet to every reader with a PC.
* Teaches observers and Kalman filters from an intuitive perspective
* Explains how to reduce control system susceptibility to noise
* Shows how to design an adaptive controller based on estimating parameter variation using observers
Shows how to improve a control system's ability to reject disturbances
* Key topics are demonstrated with PC-based models of control systems. The models are written in both MatLab(R) and ModelQ; models are available free of charge

Semantic Models in IoT and eHealth Applications explores the key role of semantic web modeling in eHealth technologies, including remote monitoring, mobile health, cloud data and biomedical ontologies. The book explores different challenges and issues through the lens of various case studies of healthcare systems currently adopting these technologies. Chapters introduce the concepts of semantic interoperability within a healthcare model setting and explore how semantic representation is key to classifying, analyzing and understanding the massive amounts of biomedical data being generated by connected medical devices. Continuous health monitoring is a strong solution which can provide eHealth services to a community through the use of IoT-based devices that collect sensor data for efficient health diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. All of this collected data needs to be represented in the form of ontologies which are considered the cornerstone of the Semantic Web for knowledge sharing, information integration and information extraction.

Over the next few decades, millions of people, with varying backgrounds and levels of technical expertise, will have to effectively interact with robotic technologies on a daily basis. This means it will have to be possible to modify robot behavior without explicitly writing code, but instead via a small number of wearable devices or visual demonstrations. At the same time, robots will need to infer and predict humans' intentions and internal objectives on the basis of past interactions in order to provide assistance before it is explicitly requested; this is the basis of imitation learning for robotics. This book introduces readers to robotic imitation learning based on human demonstration with wearable devices. It presents an advanced calibration method for wearable sensors and fusion approaches under the Kalman filter framework, as well as a novel wearable device for capturing gestures and other motions. Furthermore it describes the wearable-device-based and vision-based imitation learning method for robotic manipulation, making it a valuable reference guide for graduate students with a basic knowledge of machine learning, and for researchers interested in wearable computing and robotic learning.

This book includes 15 programming and constructional projects, and covers the range of AVR chips currently available, including the recent Tiny AVR. No prior experience with microcontrollers is assumed.
John Morton is author of the popular PIC: Your Personal Introductory Course, also published by Newnes.
*The hands-on way of learning to use the Atmel AVR microcontroller
*Project work designed to put the AVR through its paces
*The only book designed to get you up-and-running with the AVR from square one

Computational intelligence (CI) lies at the interface between engineering and computer science; control engineering, where problems are solved using computer-assisted methods. Thus, it can be regarded as an indispensable basis for all artificial intelligence (AI) activities. This book collects surveys of most recent theoretical approaches focusing on fuzzy systems, neurocomputing, and nature inspired algorithms. It also presents surveys of up-to-date research and application with special focus on fuzzy systems as well as on applications in life sciences and neuronal computing.

A successful cyber-physical system, a complex interweaving of hardware and software with some part of the physical environment, depends on proper identification of the, often pre-existing, physical element. A bespoke "cyber" part of the system may then be designed from scratch. Optimal Mobile Sensing and Actuation Strategies in Cyber-physical Systems focuses on distributed-parameter systems the dynamics of which can be modelled with partial differential equations. These are very challenging to observe, their states and inputs being distributed throughout a spatial domain. Consequently, systematic approaches to the optimization of sensor location have to be devised for parameter estimation. The text begins by reviewing the field of cyber-physical systems and introducing background notions of distributed parameter systems and optimal observation theory. New research problems are then defined within this framework. Two important problems considered are optimal mobile sensor trajectory planning and the accuracy effects and allocation of remote sensors. These are followed up with a solution to the problem of optimal robust estimation. Actuation policies are then introduced into the framework with the purpose of improving estimation and optimizing the trajectories of both sensors and actuators simultaneously. The large number of illustrations within the text will assist the reader to visualize the application of the methods proposed. A group of similar examples are used throughout the book to help the reader assimilate the material more easily. The monograph concentrates on the use of methods for which a cyber-physical-systems infrastructure is required. The methods are computationally heavy and require mobile sensors and actuators with communications abilities. Application examples cover fields from environmental science to national security so that readers are encouraged to link the ideas of cyber-physical systems with their own research.

This book mainly investigates the cooperative optimal control of hybrid energy system, it presents security control, multi-objective optimization, distributed optimization and distributed control approaches for tackling with security, economic and stability problem of the hybrid energy system. It aims to solve some challenging problems including security issue, economic cost or benefits from both power generation side and load demand side, and coordination among different power generators. The methods proposed in this book is novel and attractive, it consists of the hierarchical optimal control strategy for the security issue, multi-objective optimization for both economic and emission issue, and distributed optimal control for coordination among power generators. Readers can learn novel methods or technique for tackling with the security issue, multiple-objective problem, and distributed coordination problem. It also may inspire readers to improve some drawbacks of existing alternatives. Some fundamental knowledge prepared to read this book includes basic principles of the multi-agents system, robust optimization, Pareto-dominance optimization, and background of electrical engineering and renewable energy.

This book contains the papers included in the proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on High-speed and Intercity Railways (IWHIR 2011) held in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China from July 19 to July 22, 2011, which is organized by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in collaboration with Southwest Jiaotong University, Beijing Jiaotong University, Dalian Jiaotong University, China Engineering Consultants, Inc., Zhejiang University, and Tsinghua University. Continuing the great initiatives and momentums of the rapid development in high-speed and intercity railways worldwide in recent years, IWHIR 2011 aims at providing a platform for academic scholars and practicing engineers to share knowledge and experience, to promote collaboration, and to strengthen R&D activities related to railway engineering. Engineers, scientists, professors, and students from universities, research institutes, and related industrial companies have been cordially invited to participate in the workshop. These papers have covered a wide range of issues concerning high-speed and intercity railways in the theoretical, numerical, and experimental work pertaining to high-speed and intercity railways. Showcasing diversity and quality, these papers report the state-of-the-art and point to future directions of research and development in this exciting area.

This book introduces physical effects and fundamentals of piezoelectric sensors and actuators. It gives a comprehensive overview of piezoelectric materials such as quartz crystals and polycrystalline ceramic materials. Different modeling approaches and methods to precisely predict the behavior of piezoelectric devices are described. Furthermore, a simulation-based approach is detailed which enables the reliable characterization of sensor and actuator materials. One focus of the book lies on piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers. An optical approach is presented that allows the quantitative determination of the resulting sound fields. The book also deals with various applications of piezoelectric sensors and actuators. In particular, the studied application areas are * process measurement technology, * ultrasonic imaging, * piezoelectric positioning systems and * piezoelectric motors. The book addresses students, academic as well as industrial reseachers and development engineers who are concerned with piezoelectric sensors and actuators.

There are many methods of stable controller design for nonlinear systems. In seeking to go beyond the minimum requirement of stability, Adaptive Dynamic Programming in Discrete Time approaches the challenging topic of optimal control for nonlinear systems using the tools of adaptive dynamic programming (ADP). The range of systems treated is extensive; affine, switched, singularly perturbed and time-delay nonlinear systems are discussed as are the uses of neural networks and techniques of value and policy iteration. The text features three main aspects of ADP in which the methods proposed for stabilization and for tracking and games benefit from the incorporation of optimal control methods:
infinite-horizon control for which the difficulty of solving partial differential Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equations directly is overcome, and proof provided that the iterative value function updating sequence converges to the infimum of all the value functions obtained by admissible control law sequences;
finite-horizon control, implemented in discrete-time nonlinear systems showing the reader how to obtain suboptimal control solutions within a fixed number of control steps and with results more easily applied in real systems than those usually gained from infinite-horizon control;
nonlinear games for which a pair of mixed optimal policies are derived for solving games both when the saddle point does not exist, and, when it does, avoiding the existence conditions of the saddle point.
Non-zero-sum games are studied in the context of a single network scheme in which policies are obtained guaranteeing system stability and minimizing the individual performance function yielding a Nash equilibrium.
In order to make the coverage suitable for the student as well as for the expert reader, Adaptive Dynamic Programming in Discrete Time: establishes the fundamental theory involved clearly with each chapter devoted to a clearly identifiable control paradigm;
demonstrates convergence proofs of the ADP algorithms to deepen understanding of the derivation of stability and convergence with the iterative computational methods used; and
shows how ADP methods can be put to use both in simulation and in real applications.
This text will be of considerable interest to researchers interested in optimal control and its applications in operations research, applied mathematics computational intelligence and engineering. Graduate students working in control and operations research will also find the ideas presented here to be a source of powerful methods for furthering their study.

This book covers a wide range of topics related to human-robot interaction, both physical and cognitive, including theories, methodologies, technologies, and empirical and experimental studies. The International Workshop on Human-Friendly Robotics (HFR) is an annual meeting that brings together academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to present their latest, original findings on all aspects concerning the introduction of robots into everyday life. The growing need to automate daily tasks, combined with new robot technologies, is driving the development of human-friendly robots, i.e., safe and dependable machines that operate in close proximity to humans or directly interact with them in a wide range of contexts. The technological shift from classical industrial robots, which are safely kept away from humans in cages, to robots that are used in close collaboration with humans, is faced with major challenges that need to be overcome. The objective of the workshop was to stimulate discussion and exchange knowledge on design, control, safety and ethical issues concerning the introduction of robots into everyday life. The 12th installment was organized by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and took place in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

This book presents recent advances on the design of intelligent systems based on fuzzy logic, neural networks and nature-inspired optimization and their application in areas such as, intelligent control and robotics, pattern recognition, time series prediction and optimization of complex problems. The book is organized in eight main parts, which contain a group of papers around a similar subject. The first part consists of papers with the main theme of theoretical aspects of fuzzy logic, which basically consists of papers that propose new concepts and algorithms based on fuzzy systems. The second part contains papers with the main theme of neural networks theory, which are basically papers dealing with new concepts and algorithms in neural networks. The third part contains papers describing applications of neural networks in diverse areas, such as time series prediction and pattern recognition. The fourth part contains papers describing new nature-inspired optimization algorithms. The fifth part presents diverse applications of nature-inspired optimization algorithms. The sixth part contains papers describing new optimization algorithms. The seventh part contains papers describing applications of fuzzy logic in diverse areas, such as time series prediction and pattern recognition. Finally, the eighth part contains papers that present enhancements to meta-heuristics based on fuzzy logic techniques.

The book provides readers with a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in the field of gait and balance rehabilitation. It describes technologies and devices together with the requirements and factors to be considered during their application in clinical settings. The book covers physiological and pathophysiological basis of locomotion and posture control, describes integrated approaches for the treatment of neurological diseases and spinal cord injury, as well as important principles for designing appropriate clinical studies. It presents computer and robotic technologies currently used in rehabilitation, such as exoskeleton devices, functional electrical stimulation, virtual reality and many more, highlighting the main advantages and challenges both from the clinical and engineering perspective. Written in an easy-to-understand style, the book is intended for people with different background and expertise, including medical and engineering students, clinicians and physiotherapists, as well as technical developers of rehabilitation systems and their corresponding human-compute interfaces. It aims at fostering an increased awareness of available technologies for balance and gait rehabilitation, as well as a better communication and collaboration between their users and developers.

Lego robots Mindstorms are sweeping the world and fans need to learn how to programme them
Lego Mindstorms are a new generation of Lego Robots that can be manipulated using microcomputers, light and touch sensors, an infrared transmitter and CD-ROMs. Since Lego launched Lego Mindstorms in late 1998 sales have skyrocketed - with no sign of slowing down. Mindstorms have captured the imagination of adults and children alike, creating a subculture of Mindstorm enthusiasts around the world. The kits are now a staple part of engineering and computer science classes at many high profile Universities.
Building Robots with Lego Mindstorms provides readers with a fundamental understanding of the geometry, electronics, engineering, and programming required to build your own robots. Mario and Giulio Ferrari are world-renowned experts in the field of Lego Mindstorms robotics, and in this book they share their unrivaled knowledge and expertise of robotics as well as provide a series of chapters detailing how to design and build the most exotic robots. Mario and Giulio also give detailed explanations of how to integrate Lego Mindstorms kits with other Lego programmable bricks such asScout and Cybermaster, as well as with non-robotic Lego Technics models.

In this book, leading authors in the field discuss developments of Ambient Assisted Living. The contributions have been chosen and invited at the 8th AAL Congress, Frankfurt/M. The meeting presents new technological developments which support the autonomy and independence of individuals with special needs. The 8th AAL Congress focusses its attention on technical assistance systems and their applications in homecare, health and care.

Emerging Trends in Computing, Informatics, Systems Sciences, and Engineering includes a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts addressing and detailing state-of-the-art research projects in the areas of Industrial Electronics, Technology & Automation, Telecommunications and Networking, Systems, Computing Sciences and Software Engineering, Engineering Education, Instructional Technology, Assessment, and E-learning. This book includes the proceedings of the International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information, and Systems Sciences, and Engineering (CISSE 2010). The proceedings are a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts presenting the state of international practice in Innovative Algorithms and Techniques in Automation, Industrial Electronics and Telecommunications.

The direct generation of physical objects based on three dimensional computer aided design (3D-CAD) data is currently a manufacturing process of major importance. The dynamic development in this new high tech area is characterized by the different kinds of equipment commercially available at present, as well as the many new procedures that have been patented or are under development.
This book provides a major contribution to progress in industrial applications through its in-depth descriptions of the new technological methodologies and their implications in the planning and shaping of design.
All the essential commercially available systems are discussed in detail, and some important systems currently in development are also reviewed. Starting with the necessary 3D-Geometrical Modelling the general tasks for process realization are explained.
Further essential main points covered in the volume are:
Characteristics of the most suitable areas of application in the manufacturing industry.
Systematic approaches for decision-making for the most suitable equipment and usages (whether to invest or job out).
Methodical support for proper utilization of selected equipment.
Efficient combination with current manufacturing technologies.
Technological and economical aspects for evaluation and comparison of other traditional procedures.
The book will be of particular interest to workers and researchers in the fields of manufacturing (especially tool making), engineering, marketing, and CAD/CAM; CIM. The book is also suitable for students of engineering, management and economic disciplines.

During the past decade model predictive control (MPC), also referred to as receding horizon control or moving horizon control, has become the preferred control strategy for quite a number of industrial processes. There have been many significant advances in this area over the past years, one of the most important ones being its extension to nonlinear systems. This book gives an up-to-date assessment of the current state of the art in the new field of nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC). The main topic areas that appear to be of central importance for NMPC are covered, namely receding horizon control theory, modeling for NMPC, computational aspects of on-line optimization and application issues. The book consists of selected papers presented at the International Symposium on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control - Assessment and Future Directions, which took place from June 3 to 5, 1998, in Ascona, Switzerland.
The book is geared towards researchers and practitioners in the area of control engineering and control theory. It is also suited for postgraduate students as the book contains several overview articles that give a tutorial introduction into the various aspects of nonlinear model predictive control, including systems theory, computations, modeling and applications.

This book uses techniques of Fourier series and functional analysis to deal with certain problems in differential equations. The Fourier series and functional analysis are merely tools; the authors' real interest lies in the differential equations that they study. It has been known since 1967 that a wide variety of sets {ewikt} of complex exponential functions play an important role in the control theory of systems governed by partial differential equations. However, this book is the first serious attempt to gather all of the available theory of these "nonharmonic Fourier series" in one place, combining published results with new results by the authors, to create a unique source of such material for practicing applied mathematicians, engineers and other scientific professionals.

This book covers various topics regarding the design of compliant mechanisms using topology optimization that have attracted a great deal of attention in recent decades. After comprehensively describing state-of-the-art methods for designing compliant mechanisms, it provides a new topology optimization method for finding new flexure hinges. It then presents several attempts to obtain distributed compliant mechanisms using the topology optimization method. Further, it discusses a Jacobian-based topology optimization method for compliant parallel mechanisms, and introduces readers to the topology optimization of compliant mechanisms, taking into account geometrical nonlinearity and reliability. Providing a systematic method for topology optimization of flexure hinges, which are essential for designing compliant mechanisms, the book offers a valuable resource for all readers who are interested in designing compliant mechanism-based positioning stages. In addition, the methods for solving the de facto hinges in topology optimized compliant mechanisms will benefit all engineers seeking to design micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) structures.