Robot algorithms are abstractions of computational processes that control or reason about motion and perception in the physical world. Because actions in the physical world are subject to physical laws and geometric constraints, the design and analysis of robot algorithms raise a unique combination of questions in control theory, computational and differential geometry, and computer science. Algorithms serve as a unifying theme in the multi-disciplinary field of robotics.

This volume consists of selected contributions to the sixth Workshop on the Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics. This is a highly competitive meeting of experts in the field of algorithmic issues related to robotics and automation.

HYDRODYNAMIC PROPULSION AND ITS OPTIMIZATION ANALYTIC THEORY Hydrodynamic propulsion has been of major interest ever since craft took to the water. In the course of time, many attempts have been made to invent, develop, or to improve hydrodynamic propulsion devices. Remarkable achievements in this field were made essentially by experienced individuals, who were in need of reliable propulsion units such as paddle wheels, sculling devices, screw propellers, and of course, sails. The problem of minimizing the amount of input energy for a prescribed effective output was first investigated seriously at the beginning of this century. In 1919, BETZ presented a paper on air-screw propellers with minimum consumption of energy which could be applied to ship-screw propellers also. Next, attempts were made to optimize hydrodynamic propulsion units. Ensuing investigations concerned the optimization of the hydrodynamic system: ship-propeller. The first simple theory of ship propulsion which was presented considered more or less only thrust augmentation, wake processing and modification of propeller characteristics when operating behind the ships hull. This theory has been little improved meanwhile and is still useful, particularly with regard to practical ship design and for evaluating results of ship model tests. However, this theory is not adequate for optimization procedures necessary for high-technology propulsion, particularly for ship propellers utilizing propulsion improving devices such as tip end plates or tip fins at the propeller blades, spoilers in front of the propeller, asymmetrical stern etc.

This book covers all aspects of supercharging internal combustion engines. It details charging systems and components, the theoretical basic relations between engines and charging systems, as well as layout and evaluation criteria for best interaction. Coverage also describes recent experiences in design and development of supercharging systems, improved graphical presentations, and most advanced calculation and simulation tools.

The International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER) is a series of bi-annual meetings which are organized in a rotating fashion around North America, Europe and Asia/Oceania. The goal of ISER is to provide a forum for research in robotics that focuses on the novelty of theoretical contributions validated by experimental results. This unique reference presents the latest advances in robotics, with ideas that are conceived conceptually and have been explored experimentally.

This book provides a thorough approach for mastering the behavior and operation of induction motors, an essential device in the modern industrial world. Its way of presentation renders this book suitable for selfteaching by students, engineers, and researchers in the field of electrical engineering. It covers the modern theory of induction motor applications and control methods. The transient analysis of both three-phase and single-phase induction motors as well as that of the double-cage motors are developed. The principles of such modern control methods as Fiel-Oriented Control, Direct Torque Control and Computed Charges Acceleration Method are clearly treated in this monograph. Numerous equations, simulations, and figures are presented.

Friction contacts are used to transmit forces or to dissipate energy. The aim of this second edition is to describe an efficient procedure to model dynamical contact problems with friction. This procedure is applied to different practical problems and validated by experiments. A thorough understanding of friction phenomena can lead to improvements like the reduction of noise and maintenance costs, increased useful life of machines and improved energy efficiency.

This book covers the whole range of today 's technology for pneumatic drives. It details drives for factory automation and automotive applications as well as describes the technology for the process industry like positioners or spring-and-diaphragm. In addition, the book examines several control strategies like binary mode cylinder drives or position controlled drives and computer aided analysis of complex systems.

Highly automated production and logistics facilities require mechatronic drive solutions. This book describes in which way the industrial production and logistics work and shows the structure of the drive solutions required for this purpose. The functionality of the mechanical and electronic elements of a drive system is described, and their basic dimensioning principles are explained. The authors also outline the engineering, reliability, and important aspects of the life cycle.

This book brings together the quick integral approaches and advances in the field for the prediction of stall and surge problems in the compressor. The book is useful for people involved in the flow analysis, design and testing of rotating machinery. For students, it can be used as a specialized topic of senior undergraduate or graduate study. The book can also serve as self-study material.

The classic text on robot manipulators now covers visual control, motion planning and mobile robots too! Based on the successful Modelling and Control of Robot Manipulators by Sciavicco and Siciliano (Springer, 2000), Robotics provides the basic know-how on the foundations of robotics: modelling, planning and control. It has been expanded to include coverage of mobile robots, visual control and motion planning. A variety of problems is raised throughout, and the proper tools to find engineering-oriented solutions are introduced and explained. The text includes coverage of fundamental topics like kinematics, and trajectory planning and related technological aspects including actuators and sensors. To impart practical skill, examples and case studies are carefully worked out and interwoven through the text, with frequent resort to simulation. In addition, end-of-chapter exercises are proposed, and the book is accompanied by an electronic solutions manual containing the MATLAB (R) code for computer problems; this is available free of charge to those adopting this volume as a textbook for courses.

Aimed at engineers in product development as well as advanced students of electrical engineering, control and mechatronics, this is the first English-language edition of the bestselling German book in which the authors address the issue of fractional horsepower drives. They are crucial for all kinds of products, from simple domestic utensils to the most complex and advanced technological applications. This handbook gives a practical overview on all of the available drives.

In the paper the author attempts to assess the fatigue life of chosen welded joints. It focuses especially on chosen problems that accompany deter- nation of the fatigue life of welded joints, taking into consideration the strain energy density parameter. Chapter 2 describes the welded joint as a stress concentrator. The state of stress and strain in the notch are described and theoretical and fatigue coefficients are indicated. The fatigue coef- cient of the notch effect is estimated on the basis of fictitious radius in the notch root. Chapter 3 presents a model of fatigue life assessment under uniaxial stress state with statistical handling of data presented. The new energy model of fatigue life assessment, which rests upon the analysis of stress and strain in the critical plane, is described in detail in chapter 4. The principle of such a description is presented in the uniaxial as well as in - axial state of loading. Chapter 5 contains the analysis of tests of four ma- rials subjected to different loadings: cyclic, variable-amplitude with Ga- sian distribution, and variable amplitude with Gaussian distribution and overloading for symmetric and pulsating loading. The analysis is based on the determined fatigue characteristics for all the considered materials. Chapter 6 shows the application of the model in the fatigue life assessment in the complex state of loading (bending with torsion of flange-tube and tube-tube joints) based on fatigue research of steel and aluminum welded joints carried out in well-known German centres.

"Systems of Commercial Turbofan Engines" gives the reader information about the operation of the engine systems, its components and the terminology used throughout the industry. The engine systems are explained by the use of examples from today's engines. So the readers, from aircraft mechanics to commercial pilot, become familiar with the current technology in this field and attains a deeper knowledge of the systems of commercial turbofan engines.

To understand the operation of gas turbine engines used in aircraft, it is not enough to understand the basic operation of a gas turbine. It is also necessary to understand the operation and the design of its auxiliary systems. This book is an introduction into the systems of modern commercial aircraft gas turbine engines. It is made for the reader who is familiar with the basic operation of aircraft gas turbine engine.

This unique reference represents a cross-section of forefront robotics research, ranging from robotics and systems to learning, autonomy and failure detection, from vision and navigation to localization and mapping, which are based on the papers presented at the 1st European Robotics Symposium (EUROS-06) held in Palermo, Italy from 16-18 March, 2006. The European Robotics Symposium (EUROS) is a brand-new International scientific event promoted by EURON, the European Robotics Network.

This is the second book edited with a selection of papers from the two-yearly THIESEL Conference on Thermo- and Fluid Dynamic Processes in Diesel Engines, organised by CMT-Mvtores Termicos of the Universidad Po/itecnica de Valencia, Spain. This volume includes versions of papers selected from those presented at the THIESEL 2002 Conference th held on lOth to 13 September 2002. We hope it will be the second volume of a long series reflecting the quality of the THIESEL Conference. This year, the papers are grouped in six main thematic areas: State of the Art and Prospective, Injection Systems and Spray Formation, Combustion and Emissions, Engine Modelling, Alternative Combustion Concepts and Experimental Techniques. The actual conference covered a wider scope of topics, including Air Management and Fuels for Diesel Engines and a couple of papers included reflect this variety. However, the selection of papers published here represents the most current preoccupations of Diesel engine designers, namely how to improve the combustion process using new injection strategies and alternative concepts such as the Homogeneous Charge Combustion Ignition.

South pointing chariots, walking machines and the astronomical mechanical clock are all used as illustrated examples in this fascinating and unique study of lost machinery in ancient China. This is the first book of its kind, combining creative mechanism design methodology with mechanical evolution and variation theory to set out how some ancient designs can be recreated. Furthermore the book reflects on how age-old wisdoms could stimulate stunning new machinery in the future.

Overview of recent achievements, describing the microactuator development of microvalves and liner actuators comprehensively from concept through prototype. Further key aspects included are three-dimensional models for handling complex SMA actuator geometries and coupled simulation routines that take multifunctional properties into account. Mechanical and thermal optimization criteria are introduced for actuator design, allowing an optimum use of the shape memory effect. It is shown that some of the prototypes presented, e.g. SMA microgrippers, already outperform conventional components.

This monograph is a comprehensive introduction to the field of soccer robotics. Soccer robotics has become an important research area integrating mechatronics, computer science and artificial intelligence techniques to create real-world autonomous systems. It also serves as a popular test arena in which to compare the different approaches, in diverse types of competition and with varying levels of distributed perception and collaboration. The focus of this monograph is the FIRA framework of Soccer Robotics, in particular MiroSot, which uses a central overhead camera to overview the whole soccer field and a central control of the robots. "Soccer Robotics" completely describes the different requirements to create a soccer team and details the hardware aspects, the computer vision needed, navigation, action selection, basic skills and game strategy. These aspects are described at an undergraduate level, resulting in a book not only useful as a text for courses but also indispensable for everyone who wants to participate in MiroSot robotics.

This book provides complete coverage of the slitting method. It details new results in analysis, computation, and estimation and discusses different roles of residual stresses from the fracture mechanics perspective. It provides detailed formulations and examples of compliance functions, weighted least squares fit and convergence test in stress estimation, and computer programs to facilitate the implementation of the slitting method.

This sourcebook presents the most important metal-working and shearing processes - and their related machines and tooling - in a concise form supplemented by ample illustrations, tables and flow charts. Practical examples show how to calculate forces and strain energy of the processes and the specific parameters of the machines, and exercises help readers improve understanding. Because much production today is automated using modern Computer Numerical Control engineering, the book covers automated flexible metal forming and handling systems. Carefully translated from the eighth revised German-language edition, Metal Forming Practise offers a valuable reference tool for students, engineers and technicians.

Major progress has been made in the field of driveshafts since the authors presented their first edition of this unique reference work. Correspondingly, major revisions have been done for second edition of the German Textbook (Springer 2003), which is present here in the English translation.

The presentation was adjusted, novel improvements of manufacturing and design are described, and modern aspects of production are incorporated. The design and application of Hooke 's joint driveshafts is discussed as well as constant velocity joints for the construction of agricultural engines, road and rail vehicles.

This work can be used as a textbook as well as a reference for practitioners, scientists, and students dealing with drive technology.

This book guides the reader through general and fundamental problems of pressure vessel design. The basic approach is rigorously scientific with a complete theoretical development of the topics treated. The concrete and precise calculation criteria provided can be immediately applied to actual designs. The book also comprises unique contributions on important topics like Deformed Cylinders, Flat Heads, or Flanges.

Over the past three decades turbomachines experienced a steep increase in efficiency and performance. Based on fundamental principles of turbomachinery thermo-fluid mechanics, numerous CFD based calculation methods are being developed to simulate the complex 3-dimensional, highly unsteady turbulent flow within turbine or compressor stages. The objective of this book is to present the fundamental principals of turbomachinery fluid-thermodynamic design process of turbine and compressor components, power generation and aircraft gas turbines in a unified and compact manner. The book provides senior undergraduate students, graduate students and engineers in the turbomachinery industry with a solid background of turbomachinery flow physics and performance fundamentals that are essential for understanding turbomachinery performance and flow complexes.

Machining is one of the most important manufacturing processes. Parts manufactured by other processes often require further operations before the product is ready for application. "Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances" is divided into two parts. Part I explains the fundamentals of machining, with special emphasis on three important aspects: mechanics of machining, tools, and work-piece integrity. Part II is dedicated to recent advances in machining, including: machining of hard materials, machining of metal matrix composites, drilling polymeric matrix composites, ecological machining (minimal quantity of lubrication), high-speed machining (sculptured surfaces), grinding technology and new grinding wheels, micro- and nano-machining, non-traditional machining processes, and intelligent machining (computational methods and optimization). Advanced students, researchers and professionals interested or involved in modern manufacturing engineering will find the book a useful reference.

This book covers the background theory of fluid power and indicates the range of concepts needed for a modern approach to condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. The theory is leavened by 15-years-worth of practical measurements by the author, working with major fluid power companies, and real industrial case studies. Heavily supported with examples drawn from real industrial plants - the methods in this book have been shown to work.