Parallel Kinematic Machines (PKMs) are one of the most radical innovations in production equipment. They attempt to combine the dexterity of robots with the accuracy of machine tools to respond to several industrial needs. This book contains the proceedings of the first European-American Forum on Parallel Kinematic Machines, held in Milan, Italy from 31 August - 1 September 1998. The Forum was established to provide institutions, technology suppliers and industrial end users with an improved understanding of the real advantages to be gained from using PKMs. This book contributes to a mid-term strategy oriented to reduce time to market and costs, improve production flexibility and minimize environmental impacts to increase worldwide competitiveness. In particular the authors focus on enabling technologies and emerging concepts for future manufacturing applications of PKMs. Topics include: Current status of PKM R&D in Europe, the USA and Asia. Industrial requirements, roadblocks and application opportunities. Research issues and possibilities. Industrial applications and requirements.

Presented here are 73 refereed papers given at the 34th MATADOR Conference held at UMIST in July 2004. The MATADOR series of conferences covers the topics of Manufacturing Automation and Systems Technology, Applications, Design, Organisation and Management, and Research. The 34th proceedings contains original papers contributed by researchers from many countries on different continents. The papers cover both the technological aspect of manufacturing processes; and the systems, business and management features of manufacturing enterprise.

The papers in this volume reflect:

- the importance of manufacturing to international wealth creation;

- the necessity of responsiveness and agility of manufacturing companies to meet market-led requirements and international change;

- the role of information technology and electronic communications in the growth of global manufacturing enterprises;

- the impact of new technologies, new materials and processes, on the ability to produce goods of higher quality, more quickly, to meet markets needs at a lower cost.

Some of the major generic developments which have taken place in these areas since the 33rd MATADOR conference was held in 2000 are reported in this volume.

Fatigue and wear are the most damaging phenomena affecting machines since they result in some 90% of breakdowns. This tutorial book systematically develops a unified overview, named tribo-fatigue, which aims to address the complex wear-fatigue damages. Tribo-fatigue synthesizes aspects of three disciplines: mechanical fatigue, tribology, and reliability of mechanical systems.

Tribo-fatigue opens new perspectives for increasing the durability of machines according to the most important criteria of their serviceability. Detailed damage measurement and wear-fatigue tests that enable engineers to design more durable and reliable systems are developed. The book is intended for advanced students, researchers and engineers.

By the dawn of the new millennium, robotics has undergone a major transformation in scope and dimensions. This expansion has been brought about by the maturity of the field and the advances in its related technologies. From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics has been rapidly expanding into the challenges of the human world. The new generation of robots is expected to safely and dependably co-habitat with humans in homes, workplaces, and communities, providing support in services, entertainment, education, healthcare, manufacturing, and assistance. Beyond its impact on physical robots, the body of knowledge robotics has produced is revealing a much wider range of applications reaching across diverse research areas and scientific disciplines, such as: biomechanics, haptics, neurosciences, virtual simulation, animation, surgery, and sensor networks among others. In return, the challenges of the new emerging areas are proving an abundant source of stimulation and insights for the field of robotics. It is indeed at the intersection of disciplines that the most striking advances happen. The goal of the series of Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) is to bring, in a timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on the basis of their significance and quality. It is our hope that the wider dissemination of research developments will stimulate more exchanges and collaborations among the research community and contribute to further advancement of this rapidly growing field.

Not only has Cosworth designed and supplied many race car engines, which won F1, CART, and many other Championship races, but it has also produced many celebrated high-performance road-car engines. In more recent times, its growing expertise in developing electronic data capture components, and in providing ultra-high-tech engine manufacturing facilities, has made it a world leader. The expansion continues, and in this book the Cosworth story has been brought up-to-the-minute to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of the legendary DFV F1 engine.

The International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM) initiated and sponsored an International Symposium on Nonlinear Dynamics in Engineering Systems held in 1989 in Stuttgart, FRG. The Symposium was intended to bring together scientists working in different fields of dynamics to exchange ideas and to discuss new trends with special emphasis on nonlinear dynamics in engineering systems. A Scientific Committee was appointed by the Bureau of IUTAM with the following members: S. Arimoto (Japan), F.L. Chernousko (USSR), P.J. Holmes (USA), C.S. Hsu (USA), G. looss (France), F.C. Moon (USA), W. Schiehlen (FRG), Chairman, G. Schmidt (GDR), W. Szemplinska-Stupnicka (Poland), J.M.T. Thompson (UK), H. Troger (Austria). This committee selected the participants to be invited and the papers to be presented at the Symposium. As a result of this procedure 78 active scientific participants from 22 countries followed the invitation, and 44 papers were presented in lecture and poster sessions. They are collected in this volume. At the Symposium an exhibition with experiments took place and the movie "An Introduction to the Analysis of Chaotic Dynamics" by E.J. Kreuzer et.al. was presented. The scientific lectures were devoted to the following topics: o Dynamic Structural Engineering Problems, o Analysis of Nonlinear Dynamic Systems, o Bifurcation Problems, o Chaotic Dynamics and Control Problems, o Miscellaneous Problems, o Experimental and Theoretical Investigations, o Chaotic Oscillations of Engineering Systems, o Characterization of Nonlinear Dynamic Systems, o Nonlinear Stochastic Systems.

In-fl ight simulation experiments performed in 1967 with a variable-stabil ity aircraft during the author's stay at Princeton University, motivated the study of handl ing characteristics of future transport aircraft with closed-loop fl ight control systems. In 1972, the first experiment took place at the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR, using one of its research aircraft. In anticipation of expected developments in (digital) fl ight control technology, the research programme following the first experiments was aimed at the establ ishment of quantitative handl ing qual ities criteria. An appreciable part of that programme has been sponsored by the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programs (Nederlands Instituut voor VI iegtuigontwikkel ing en Ruimtevaart) and the Department of Civil Aviation of the Netherlands (Rijksluchtvaartdienst). In 1981, a thorough review of the extensive and valuable data gathered was started. The result, presented in this book, was also included in the author's thesis for a Ph.D. degree of the Delft University of Technology. To introduce the reader to the multi-discipl inary field of handl ing qual ities research, introductory chapters are presented on longitudinal aircraft dynamics, closed-loop fl ight control systems using non-mechanical signal transmission, human pilot dynamics, hand I ing qual ities assessment techniques, and the present status of handl ing qual ity criteria.

The series Advances in Industrial Control aims to report and encourage technology transfer in control engineering. The rapid development of control technology impacts all areas of the control discipline. New theory, new controllers, actuators, sensors, new industrial processes, computer methods, new applications, new philosophies . . . , new challenges. Much of this development work resides in industrial reports, feasibility study papers and the reports of advanced collaborative projects. The series offers an opportunity for researchers to present an extended exposition of such new work in all aspects of industrial control for wider and rapid dissemination. Operating plant as close as possible to constraint boundaries so often brings economic benefits in industrial process control. This is the conundrum at the heart of this monograph by Tommy Gravdahl and Olav Egeland on stall control for compressors. Operation of the compressor closer to the surge line can increase operational efficiency and flexibility The approach taken by the authors follows the modern control system paradigm: -physical understanding, detailed modelling and simulation studies and finally control studies. The thoroughness of the presentation, bibliography and appendices indicates that the volume has all the hallmarks of being a classic for its subject. Despite the monograph's narrow technical content, the techniques and insights presented should appeal to the wider industrial control community as well as the gas turbine/compressor specialist. M. J. Grimble and M. A.

Atthedawnofthenewmillennium, roboticsisundergoingamajortransformation inscopeanddimension.Fromalargelydominantindustrialfocus, roboticsisrapidly expanding into the challenges of unstructured environments. Interacting with, - sisting, serving, and exploring with humans, the emerging robots will increasingly touchpeopleandtheirlives. ThegoalofthenewseriesofSpringerTractsinAdvancedRobotics(STAR)isto bring, in a timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on the basisoftheirsigni?canceandquality.Itisourhopethatthewiderdisseminationof researchdevelopmentswillstimulatemoreexchangesandcollaborationsamongthe researchcommunityandcontributetofurtheradvancementofthisrapidlygrowing ?eld. Sinceitsinceptionsomefourteenyearsago, ISER, theInternationalSymposium on Experimental Robotics was published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences (LNCIS). With the launching of STAR, a more suitable homeisfoundforthisandotherthematicsymposiadevotedtoexcellenceinrobotics research. TheEightheditionofExperimentalRoboticseditedbyBrunoSicilianoandPaolo Dario offers in its ?fteen-chapter volume a collection of a broad range of topics in robotics.Thecontentsofthesecontributionsrepresentacross-sectionofthecurrent stateofroboticsresearchfromoneparticularaspect: experimentalwork, andhowit re?ectsonthetheoreticalbasisofsubsequentdevelopments.Experimentalvalidation ofalgorithms, designconcepts, ortechniquesisthecommonthreadrunningthrough thislargecollectionofwidelydiversecontributions. From its charming venue to its excellent program, ISER culminates with this unique reference on the current developments and new directions in the ?eld of experimentalrobotics-atributetothecommitmentanddedicationofitshosts California, USA OussamaKhatib November2002 STAREditor Preface The International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER) is a series of - annual meetings, which are organized in a rotating fashion around North Am- ica, EuropeandAsia/Oceania.PreviousvenueswereMontreal(Canada), Toulouse (France), Kyoto (Japan), Stanford (USA), Barcelona (Spain), Sydney (Australia), Honolulu (USA). The goal of these symposia is to provide a forum for research in robotics that focuses on theories and principles that are validated by experiments. Themeetingsareconceivedtobringtogether, inasmallgroupsetting, researchers fromaroundtheworldwhoareintheforefrontofexperimentalroboticsresearch. Thepost-symposiumExperimentalRoboticsproceedingshavetraditionallybeen published by Springer-Verlag. In addition to the proceedings, these symposia have produced compilation of video segments illustrating the reported research, which areavailableasvideoproceedings. The Eight International Symposium on Experimental Robotics (ISER 02) was held in the charming sea village of Sant'Angelo on the island of Ischia in the gulf ofNaples, Italyon8-11July2002.ThesymposiumwaschairedbyBrunoSiciliano andPaol

At the dawn of the new millennium, robotics is undergoing a major transfor- tion in scope and dimension. From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics is rapidly expanding into the challenges of unstructured environments. Inter- ting with, assisting, serving, and exploring with humans, the emerging robots will increasingly touch people and their lives. The goal of this new series of Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics is to bring, inatimelyfashion, thelatestadvancesanddevelopmentsinroboticsonthe basisoftheirsigni?canceandquality.Itisourhopethatthegreaterdissemination of research developments will stimulate more exchanges and collaborations among the research community and contribute to further advancement of this rapidly growing ?eld. As one of robotics pioneering symposia, ISRR, the "International Sym- sium on Robotics Research," has established over the past two decades some of the ?eld's most fundamental and lasting contributions.With the launching of STAR, this and other thematic symposia devoted to excellence in robotics ?nd an important platform for closer links and extended reach within the research community. The Tenth edition of "Robotics Research" edited by Raymond Jarvis and AlexZelinskyoffersinits11-partvolumeacollectionofabroadrangeoftopics in robotics. The content of these contributions provides a wide coverage of the current state of robotics research: the advances and challenges in its theoretical foundation and technology basis, and the developments in its traditional and new areas of applications.

The Japanese original edition of "FEM for Springs" was published in 1997, to com memorate the 50th anniversary of Japan Society for Spring Research (JSSR). While there have been many books published about Finite Element Method (FEM), this book was among the first to address the application of FEM to spring design. When asked about springs, one might imagine a mere shape of helical coil. How ever, there are many more varieties of shapes and functions in the application of springs. Consequently, some are very difficult to calculate by design formula. FEM gives the solutions to those advanced engineering cases. Nowadays, it is strongly desired to have a design method for springs as a com mon base from a global point of view. Under these circumstances, JSSR planned to publish an English version of "FEM for Springs." By improving the contents and adding many examples, this book, FEM for Springs, has been brought to comple tion. It is a truly significant event. I am confident that this book is suitable for engineers in worldwide industrial sectors and for college students as well."

The present monograph is mainly focused on the behaviour of ductile ma terials at cryogenic temperatures, stability issues concerning application of corrugated shells at cryogenic conditions and reliability oriented parametric optimisation of compensation systems containing the corrugated bellows. As there are relatively few publications on combined material and structural be haviour at very low temperatures, the monograph aims at filling this gap. It is worth pointing out that within the class of publications dedicated to low temperature behaviour of materials and structures the majority is based on testing down to the temperature of liquid nitrogen (77 K). Rare publications deal with the analysis of material and structural response at the temperature of liquid helium (4. 5 K) or superfluid helium (below the point T>., = 2. 17 K). This can be explained by the fact that an (by its nature complex) installation for testing at such low temperatures is very expensive. Only the large research centres and universities, working in the domain of superconductivity, cryogen ics or developing superconducting magnets for particle accelerators, can afford such installations. A significant part of the present monograph is dedicated to the analy sis of the phenomena associated with plastic yielding in stainless steels at cryogenic temperatures. Generally, three phenomena are distinguished: plas tic strain induced phase transformations, serrated yielding and evolution of ductile damage."

The ECCOMAS Thematic Conference Multibody Dynamics 2005 was held in Madrid, representing the second edition of a series which began in Lisbon 2003. This book contains the revised and extended versions of selected conference communications, representing the state-of-the-art in the advances on computational multibody models, from the most abstract mathematical developments to practical engineering applications.

This book treats cavitation, which is a unique phenomenon in the field of hyd- dynamics, although it can occur in any hydraulic machinery such as pumps, propellers, artificial hearts, and so forth. Cavitation is generated not only in water, but also in any kind of fluid, such as liquid hydrogen. The generation of cavitation can cause severe damage in hydraulic machinery. Therefore, the prevention of cavitation is an important concern for designers of hydraulic machinery. On the contrary, there is great potential to utilize cavitation in various important applications, such as environmental protection. There have been several books published on cavitation, including one by the same authors. This book differs from those previous ones, in that it is both more physical and more theoretical. Any theoretical explanation of the cavitation phenomenon is rather difficult, but the authors have succeeded in explaining it very well, and a reader can follow the equations easily. It is an advantage in reading this book to have some understanding of the physics of cavitation. Therefore, this book is not an introductory text, but a book for more advanced study. However, this does not mean that this book is too difficult for a beginner, because it explains the cavitation phenomenon using many figures. Therefore, even a beginner on cavitation can read and can understand what cavitation is. If the student studies through this book (with patience), he or she can become an expert on the physics of cavitation.

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.

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.

By the dawn of the new millennium, robotics has undergone a major transformation in scope and dimensions. This expansion has been brought about by the maturity of the field and the advances in its related technologies. From a largely dominant industrial focus, robotics has been rapidly expanding into the challenges of the human world. The new generation of robots is expected to safely and dependably co-habitat with humans in homes, workplaces, and communities, providing support in services, entertainment, education, healthcare, manufacturing, and assistance. Beyond its impact on physical robots, the body of knowledge robotics has produced is revealing a much wider range of applications reaching across diverse research areas and scientific disciplines, such as: biomechanics, haptics, neuros- ences, virtual simulation, animation, surgery, and sensor networks among others. In return, the challenges of the new emerging areas are proving an abundant source of stimulation and insights for the field of robotics. It is indeed at the intersection of disciplines that the most striking advances happen. The goal of the series of Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) is to bring, in a timely fashion, the latest advances and developments in robotics on the basis of their significance and quality. It is our hope that the wider dissemination of research developments will stimulate more exchanges and collaborations among the research community and contribute to further advancement of this rapidly growing field.

Algorithms are a fundamental component of robotic systems: they control or reason about motion and perception in the physical world. They receive input from noisy sensors, consider geometric and physical constraints, and operate on the world through imprecise actuators. The design and analysis of robot algorithms therefore raises a unique combination of questions in control theory, computational and differential geometry, and computer science. This book contains the proceedings from the 2006 Workshop on the Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics. This biannual workshop is a highly selective meeting of leading researchers in the field of algorithmic issues related to robotics. The 32 papers in this book span a wide variety of topics: from fundamental motion planning algorithms to applications in medicine and biology, but they have in common a foundation in the algorithmic problems of robotic systems.

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.

"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.

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 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.

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 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.