This book considers signal processing and physical modeling meth ods for sound synthesis. Such methods are useful for example in mu sic synthesizers, computer sound cards, and computer games. Physical modeling synthesis has been commercialized for the first time about 10 years ago. Recently, it has been one of the most active research topics in musical acoustics and computer music. The authors of this book, Dr. Lutz Trautmann and Dr. Rudolf Rabenstein, are active researchers and inventors in the field of sound synthesis. Together they have developed a new synthesis technique, called the functional transformation method, which can be used for pro ducing musical sound in real time. Before this book, they have published over 20 papers on the topic in journals and conference proceedings. In this excellent textbook, the results are combined in a single volume. I believe that this will be considered an important step forward for the whole community.

This book presents the most recent research advances in the theory, design, control and application of robotic systems, which are intended for a variety of purposes such as manipulation, manufacturing, automation, surgery, locomotion and biomechanics. The issues addressed are fundamentally kinematic in nature, including synthesis, calibration, redundancy, force control, dexterity, inverse and forward kinematics, kinematic singularities, as well as over-constrained systems. Methods used include line geometry, quaternion algebra, screw algebra, and linear algebra. These methods are applied to both parallel and serial multi-degree-of-freedom systems. The results should interest researchers, teachers and students, in fields of engineering and mathematics related to robot theory, design, control and application. All articles in the book were reported at the seventh international symposium on Advances in Robot Kinematics that was organised in June 2000 in the beautiful ancient Mediterranean town of Piran in Slovenia. The preceding symposia of the series took place in Ljubljana (1988), Linz (1990), Ferrara (1992), Ljubljana (1994), and Piran (1996), and Salzburg (1998).

In this book, regular structures are de ned as periodic structures consisting of repeated elements (translational symmetry) as well as structures with a geom- ric symmetry. Regular structures have for a long time been attracting the attention of scientists by the extraordinary beauty of their forms. They have been studied in many areas of science: chemistry, physics, biology, etc. Systems with geometric symmetry are used widely in many areas of engineering. The various kinds of bases under machines, cyclically repeated forms of stators, reduction gears, rotors with blades mounted on them, etc. represent regular structures. The study of real-life engineering structures faces considerable dif culties because they comprise a great number of working mechanisms that, in turn, consist of many different elastic subsystems and elements. The computational models of such systems represent a hierarchical structure and contain hundreds and thousands of parameters. The main problems in the analysis of such systems are the dim- sion reduction of model and revealing the dominant parameters that determine its dynamics and form its energy nucleus. The two most widely used approaches to the simulation of such systems are as follows: 1. Methods using lumped parameters models, i.e., a discretization of the original system and its representation as a system with lumped parameters [including nite-element method (FEM)]. 2. The use of idealized elements with distributed parameters and known analytical solutions for both the local elements and the subsystems.

Free surface flows arise in the natural world, physical and biological sciences and in some areas of modern technology and engineering. Exam ples include the breaking of sea waves on a harbour wall, the transport of sloshing fluids in partly filled containers, and the design of micronozzles for high speed ink-jet printing. Apart from the intrinsic mathematical challenge in describing and solving the governing equations, there are usually important environmental, safety and engineering features which need to be analysed and controlled. A rich variety of techniques has been developed over the past two decades to facilitate this analysis; singular perturbations, dynamical systems, and the development of sophisticated numerical codes. The extreme and sometimes violent nature of some free surface flows taxes these methods to the limit. The work presented at the symposium addressed these limits and can be loosely classified into four areas: (i) Axisymmetric free surface flows. There are a variety of problems in the printing, glass, fertiliser and fine chemical industries in which threads of fluid are made and controlled. Presentations were made in the areas of pinch-off for inviscid and viscous threads of fluid, recoil effects after droplet formation and the control of instability by forced vibration. (ii) Dynamic wetting. The motion of three phase contact lines, which are formed at the junction between two fluids and a solid, plays an important role in fluid mechanics.

By providing all the basic knowledge needed to assess how useful active noise control will be for a given problem, this book assists in the designing, setting up, and tuning of an active noise-control system. Written for students who have no prior knowledge of acoustics, signal processing, or noise control but who do have a reasonable grasp of basic physics and mathematics, the text is short and descriptive, leaving all mathematical details and proofs concerning vibrations, signal processing and the like to more advanced texts or research monographs. The book can thus be used in independent study, in a classroom with laboratories, or in conjunction with a kit for experiment or demonstration. Topics covered include basic acoustics, human perception and sound, sound intensity and related concepts, fundamentals of passive noise- control strategies, basics of digital systems and adaptive controllers, and active noise control systems.

The aim of this book is to provide an account of the state of the art in Com putational Kinematics. We understand here under this term that branch of kinematics research involving intensive computations not only of the nu merical type, but also of symbolic as well as geometric nature. Research in kinematics over the last decade has been remarkably ori ented towards the computational aspects of kinematics problems. In fact, this work has been prompted by the need to answer fundamental questions such as the number of solutions, whether real or complex, that a given problem can admit as well as computational algorithms to support geo metric analysis. Problems of the first kind occur frequently in the analysis and synthesis of kinematic chains, when fine displacements are considered. The associated models, that are derived from kinematic relations known as closure equations, lead to systems of nonlinear algebraic equations in the variables or parameters sought. The algebraic equations at hand can take the form of multivariate polynomials or may involve trigonometric functions of unknown angles.

Biomedical Engineering Principles in Sports contains in-depth discussions on the fundamental biomechanical and physiological principles underlying the acts of throwing, shooting, hitting, kicking, and tackling in sports, as well as vision training, sports injury, and rehabilitation. The topics include: -Golf ball aerodynamics and golf club design, -Golf swing and putting biomechanics, -Tennis ball aerodynamics and ball- and shoe-surface interactions, -Tennis stroke mechanics and optimizing ball-racket interactions, -Baseball pitching biomechanics and perceptual illusions of batters, -Football forward pass aerodynamics and tackling biomechanics, -Soccer biomechanics, -Basketball aerodynamics and biomechanics, -Vision training in sports, -Children maturation and performance, -Rehabilitation and medical advances in treatment of sports injuries. This book is essential reading for biomedical engineers, physicists, sport scientists, and physiologists who wish to update their knowledge of biomechanical and biomedical principles and their applications to sports. The book can be used in a one-semester Senior or Graduate-level course in Biomechanics, Biomedical Engineering, Sports Technology, Sports Medicine, or Exercise Physiology. In addition, it will be of value to interested athletic laypersons who enjoy watching or participating in sports such as golf, tennis, softball, football, soccer, and basketball.

Objectives This book is used to teach vibratory mechanics to undergraduate engineers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne. It is a basic course, at the level of the first university degree, necessary for the proper comprehension of the following disciplines. Vibrations of continuous linear systems (beams, plates) random vibration of linear systems vibrations of non-linear systems dynamics of structures experimental methods, rheological models, etc. Effective teaching methods have been given the highest priority. Thus the book covers basic theories of vibratory mechanics in an ap propriately rigorous and complete way, and is illustrated by nume rous applied examples. In addition to university students, it is suitable for industrial engineers who want to strengthen or complete their training. It has been written so that someone working alone should find it easy to read. pescription The subject of the book is the vibrations of linear mechanical sys tems having only a finite number of degrees of freedom (ie discrete linear systems). These can be divided into the following two catego ries: -X- systems of solids which are considered to be rigid, and which are acted upon by elastic forces and by linear resist.ive forces (viscous damping forces). deformable continuous systems which have been made discrete. In other words, systems which are replaced (approximately) by systems having only a limited number of degrees of freedom, using digital or experimental methods."

up with automated systems for assessment of road condition. For example, Haas et al (1997) developed an automated algorithm for detecting cracks and joints con- tion. Smith and Lin (1997) developed a fuzzy logic classification scheme for pavement distress condition. Oh et al (1997) developed iterative algorithm for overcoming noisy images of roads due to shadows and low light conditions. Koustsopoulos and Mishalani (1997) presented a model for distress assessment in a local (microscopic) and global (macroscopic) level using captured images of pavement. Lee (1993) presented a comparison between 15 different imaging al- rithms used in crack detection. Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) has also been used for pavement assessment. Special computer algorithms were developed for quick analysis of GPR data (Adeli & Hung 1993 and Maser 1996). Heiler and McNeil (1997) proposed a modified system for analyzing the GPR data using an artificial neural network (ANN). 2.3.2 Traffic Analysis and Control Currently imaging systems provide essential data for transportation and traffic engineering planning (Anon 1999). Machine vision techniques were introduced to intersection traffic signal control in the late 1970's (Chou and Sethi 1993). No- days, many systems have been developed all over the world for traffic analysis and control applications, in addition to image based systems for traffic violations. Nallamathu and Wang (1997) developed one of the first automated systems for license plate recognition using character recognition algorithm for the use in monitoring violators at toll stations and many other traffic applications.

Performance-based Earthquake Engineering has emerged before the turn of the century as the most important development in the field of Earthquake Engineering during the last three decades. It has since then started penetrating codes and standards on seismic assessment and retrofitting and making headway towards seismic design standards for new structures as well. The US have been a leader in Performance-based Earthquake Engineering, but also Europe is a major contributor. Two Workshops on Performance-based Earthquake Engineering, held in Bled (Slovenia) in 1997 and 2004 are considered as milestones. The ACES Workshop in Corfu (Greece) of July 2009 builds on them, attracting as contributors world-leaders in Performance-based Earthquake Engineering from North America, Europe and the Pacific rim (Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, China). It covers the entire scope of Performance-based Earthquake Engineering: Ground motions for performance-based earthquake engineering; Methodologies for Performance-based seismic design and retrofitting; Implementation of Performance-based seismic design and retrofitting; and Advanced seismic testing for performance-based earthquake engineering. Audience: This volume will be of interest to scientists and advanced practitioners in structural earthquake engineering, geotechnical earthquake engineering, engineering seismology, and experimental dynamics.

The contributions to this book cover a wide range of applications of Soft Computing to the chemical domain. The early roots of Soft Computing can be traced back to Lotfi Zadeh's work on soft data analysis [1] published in 1981. 'Soft Computing' itself became fully established about 10 years later, when the Berkeley Initiative in Soft Computing (SISC), an industrial liaison program, was put in place at the University of California - Berkeley. Soft Computing applications are characterized by their ability to: * approximate many different kinds of real-world systems; * tolerate imprecision, partial truth, and uncertainty; and * learn from their environment. Such characteristics commonly lead to a better ability to match reality than other approaches can provide, generating solutions of low cost, high robustness, and tractability. Zadeh has argued that soft computing provides a solid foundation for the conception, design, and application of intelligent systems employing its methodologies symbiotically rather than in isolation. There exists an implicit commitment to take advantage of the fusion of the various methodologies, since such a fusion can lead to combinations that may provide performance well beyond that offered by any single technique.

A new approach to the theory of mechanisms and machines, based on a lecture course for mechanical engineering students at the St. Petersburg State Technical University. The material differs from traditional textbooks due to its more profound elaboration of the methods of structural, geometric, kinematic and dynamic analysis. These established and novel methods take into account the needs of modern machine design as well as the potential of computers.

Nonlinear Dynamics represents a wide interdisciplinary area of research dealing with a variety of "unusual" physical phenomena by means of nonlinear differential equations, discrete mappings, and related mathematical algorithms. However, with no real substitute for the linear superposition principle, the methods of Nonlinear Dynamics appeared to be very diverse, individual and technically complicated. This book makes an attempt to find a common ground for nonlinear dynamic analyses based on the existence of strongly nonlinear but quite simple counterparts to the linear models and tools. It is shown that, since the subgroup of rotations, harmonic oscillators, and the conventional complex analysis generate linear and weakly nonlinear approaches, then translations and reflections, impact oscillators, and hyperbolic (Clifford's) algebras must give rise to some "quasi impact" methodology. Such strongly nonlinear methods are developed in several chapters of this book based on the idea of non-smooth time substitutions. Although most of the illustrations are based on mechanical oscillators, the area of applications may include also electric, electro-mechanical, electrochemical and other physical models generating strongly anharmonic temporal signals or spatial distributions. Possible applications to periodic elastic structures with non-smooth or discontinuous characteristics are outlined in the final chapter of the book.

The purpose of this book is to provide students, practicing engineers and scientists with a treatment of nonlinear phenomena occurring in physical systems. Although only mechanical models are used, the theory applies to all physical systems governed by the same equations, so that the book can be used to study nonlinear phenomena in other branches of engineering, such as electrical engineering and aerospace engineering, as well as in physics. The book consists of two volumes. Volume I is concerned with single degree-of-freedom systems and it presents the fundamental concepts of nonlinear analysis. Both analytical methods and computer simulations are included. The material is presented in such a manner that the book can be used as a graduate as well as an undergraduate textbook. Volume II deals with multi-degree-of-freedom systems. Following an introduc tion to linear systems, the volume presents fundamental concepts of geometric theory and stability of motion of general nonlinear systems, as well as a concise discussion of basic approximate methods for the response of such systems. The material represents a generalization of a series of papers on the vibration of nonlinear multi-degree-of-freedom systems, some of which were published by me and my associates during the period 1965 - 1983 and some are not yet published."

Basic models and concepts of machine dynamics and motion control are presented in the order of the principal steps of machine design. The machine is treated as a coupled dynamical system, including drive, mechanisms and controller, to reveal its behavior at different regimes through the interaction of its units under dynamic and processing loads. The main dynamic effects in machines are explained. The influence of component compliances on accuracy, stability and efficiency of the machines is analyzed. Methods for decreasing internal and external vibration activity of machines are described. The dynamic features of digital control are considered. Special attention is given to machines with intense dynamic behavior: resonant and hand-held percussion ones. Targeted to engineers as well as to lecturers and advanced students.

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.

The papers in this volume address advanced nonlinear topics in the general areas of vibration mitigation and system identification, such as, methods of analysis of strongly nonlinear dyanmical systems; techniques and methodologies for interpreting complex, multi-frequency transitions in damped nonlinear responses; new approaches for passive vibration mitigation based on nonlinear targeted energy transfer (TET) and the associated concept of nonlinear energy sink (NES); and an overview and assessment of current nonlinear system identification techniques.

This book is a collection of papers contributed by some of the greatest names in the areas of chaos and nonlinear dynamics. Each paper examines a research topic at the frontier of the area of dynamical systems. As well as reviewing recent results, each paper also discusses the future perspectives of each topic. The result is an invaluable snapshot of the state of the ?eld by some of the most important researchers in the area. The ?rst contribution in this book (the section entitled "How did you get into Chaos?") is actually not a paper, but a collection of personal accounts by a number of participants of the conference held in Aberdeen in September 2007 to honour Celso Grebogi's 60th birthday. At the instigation of James Yorke, many of the most well-known scientists in the area agreed to share their tales on how they got involved in chaos during a celebratory dinner in Celso's honour during the conference. This was recorded in video, we felt that these accounts were a valuable historic document for the ?eld. So we decided to transcribe it and include it here as the ?rst section of the book.

This volume contains contributions from the speakers at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on "3D 5tructure and Dynamics of RNA", which was held in Renesse, The Netherlands, 21 - 24 August, 1985. Two major developments have determined the progress of nucleic acid research during the last decade. First, manipulation of genetic material by recombinant DNA methodology has enabled detailed studies of the function of nucleic acids in vivo. 5econd, the use of powerful physical methods, such as X-ray diffraction and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, in the study of biomacromolecules has provided information regarding the structure and the dynamics of nucleic acids. Both developments were enabled by the advance of synthetic methods that allow preparation of nucleic acid molecules of required sequence and length. The basic understanding of nucleic acid function will ultimately depend on a close collaboration between molecular biologists and biophy sicists. In the case of RNA, the ground rules for the formation of secondary structure have been derived from physical studies of oligoribonucleotides. Powerfull spectroscopic techniques have revealed more details of ~~A structure including novel conformations (e.g. left-handed Z-RNA). A wealth of information has been obtained by studying the relatively small transfer RNA molecules. A few of these RNAs have been crystallized, enabling determination of their three-dimensional structure. It has become apparent that "non-classical" basepairing between distal nucleotides gives rise to tertiary interactions, determining the overall shape of the molecule.

In 1960, Dr. George Deacon ofthe National Institute ofOceanography in England organized a meeting in Easton, Maryland that summarized the state of our understanding at that time of ocean wave statistics and dynamics. It was a pivotal occasion: spectral techniques for wave measurement were beginning to be used, wave-wave interactions hadjust been discovered, and simple models for the growth of waves by wind were being developed. The meeting laid the foundation for much work that was to follow, but one could hardly have imagined the extent to which new techniques of measurement, particularly by remote sensing, new methods of calculation and computation, and new theoretical and laboratory results would, in the following twenty years, build on this base. When Gaspar Valenzuela of the V. S. Naval Research Laboratory perceived that the time was right for a second such meeting, it was natural that Sir George Deacon would be invited to serve as honorary chairman for the meeting, and the entire waves community was delighted at his acceptance. The present volume contains reviewed and edited papers given at this second meeting, held this time in Miami, Florida, May 13-20, 1981, with the generous support of the Office of Naval Research, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The dynamics of bodies containing fluids is a subject of long-standing im portance in many technical applications. The stability of motion of such bodies, in particular, has been the subject of study by Soviet engineers and applied mathematicians who have brought their fuH powers of analysis to bear on the problem, and have succeeded in developing a very weH-founded body of theory. It is difficult to find a more striking example anywhere of the application of the classical methods of analytical mechanics, together with more modern concepts of stability analysis, in such a comprehensive and elegent form as that presented by Profs. Moiseyev and Rumyantsev. Therefore, it is highly significant that this recent monograph has been trans lated and made available to the English-speaking community. H. NORMAN ABRAMSON San Antonio July, 1967 v Foreword During the last 15-20 years, problems of dynamics of rigid bodies with fluid-filled cavities have increasingly attracted the attention of scientists."

The interest of the media in dust explosions increased considerably following two major grain-elevator disasters in the United States in 1979. However, these were not isolated incidents and were statistically unusual only in the high loss of life involved. Any oxidizable material that is dispersed in fine powder form may be explosive, and ignition sources with sufficient energy to ignite a dust cloud are easily produced in normal industrial processing. Dust fires and minor incidents are not uncommon in many industries, but fortunately the combination of events and circumstances that must coincide for a large-scale explosion arise only rarely. Nevertheless, this is often more by luck than by good management and many potentially hazardous situations are common in industry. An explosive dust cloud and the circumstances in which it can ignite are not as simple to define as the equivalent situation in gases or flammable vapors. A large number of definitions and experimental tests have been devised to characterize the explosibility of dusts and ignition sources. The aim of this book is to provide a guide describing conditions in industry that could lead to dust explosions and the means to avoid them. Ignition sources and the way in which they can arise in powder processing are discussed and illustrated by case histories of reported incidents. The methods by which the potential hazards of a process or product can be evaluated are described, with special attention paid to the interpretation of the results of the different experimental methods.

Master the conceptual, theoretical and practical aspects of kinematics with this exhaustive text, which provides a rigorous analysis and description of general motion in mechanical systems, with numerous examples from spinning tops to wheel ground-vehicles. Over 400 figures illustrate the main ideas and provide a geometrical interpretation and a deeper understanding of concepts, and exercises and problems throughout the text provide additional hands-on practice. Ideal for students taking courses on rigid body kinematics, and an invaluable reference for researchers.

How is free will possible in the light of the physical and chemical underpinnings of brain activity and recent neurobiological experiments? How can the emergence of complexity in hierarchical systems such as the brain, based at the lower levels in physical interactions, lead to something like genuine free will? The nature of our understanding of free will in the light of present-day neuroscience is becoming increasingly important because of remarkable discoveries on the topic being made by neuroscientists at the present time, on the one hand, and its crucial importance for the way we view ourselves as human beings, on the other. A key tool in understanding how free will may arise in this context is the idea of downward causation in complex systems, happening coterminously with bottom up causation, to form an integral whole. Top-down causation is usually neglected, and is therefore emphasized in the other part of the book's title. The concept is explored in depth, as are the ethical and legal implications of our understanding of free will. This book arises out of a workshop held in California in April of 2007, which was chaired by Dr. Christof Koch. It was unusual in terms of the breadth of people involved: they included physicists, neuroscientists, psychiatrists, philosophers, and theologians. This enabled the meeting, and hence the resulting book, to attain a rather broader perspective on the issue than is often attained at academic symposia. The book includes contributions by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, George F. R. Ellis , Christopher D. Frith, Mark Hallett, David Hodgson, Owen D. Jones, Alicia Juarrero, J. A. Scott Kelso, Christof Koch, Hans Kung, Hakwan C. Lau, Dean Mobbs, Nancey Murphy, William Newsome, Timothy O'Connor, Sean A.. Spence, and Evan Thompson.

The paradigm of complexity is pervading both science and engineering, le- ing to the emergence of novel approaches oriented at the development of a systemic view of the phenomena under study; the de?nition of powerful tools for modelling, estimation, and control; and the cross-fertilization of di?erent disciplines and approaches. One of the most promising paradigms to cope with complexity is that of networked systems. Complex, dynamical networks are powerful tools to model, estimate, and control many interesting phenomena, like agent coordination, synch- nization, social and economics events, networks of critical infrastructures, resourcesallocation, informationprocessing, controlovercommunicationn- works, etc. Advances in this ?eld are highlighting approaches that are more and more oftenbasedondynamicalandtime-varyingnetworks, i.e.networksconsisting of dynamical nodes with links that can change over time. Moreover, recent technological advances in wireless communication and decreasing cost and size of electronic devices are promoting the appearance of large inexpensive interconnected systems, each with computational, sensing and mobile ca- bilities. This is fostering the development of many engineering applications, which exploit the availability of these systems of systems to monitor and control very large-scale phenomena with ?ne resoluti