This book collects papers selected by an international program committee for presentation at the 8th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems. The papers present state of the art research advances in the field of distributed robotics. What makes this book distinctive is the emphasis on using multiple robots and on making them autonomous, as opposed to being teleoperated. Novel algorithms, system architectures, technologies, and numerous applications are covered.

These Proceedings contain the papers presented at the 1stAsian Pacific Congress on "Computational Mechanics" held in Sydney, on 20-23 November 2001.
The theme of the first Congress of the Asian-Pacific Association for Computational Mechanics in the new millennium is "New Frontiers for the New Millennium." The papers cover such new frontiers as micromechanics, contact mechanics, environmental geomechanics, chemo-thermo-mechanics, inverse techniques, homogenization, meshless methods, smart materials/smart structures and graphic visualization, besides the general topics related to the application of finite element and boundary element methods in structural mechanics, fluid mechanics, geomechanics and biomechanics.

The unique focus of the book is the close symbiotic relationship between design and manufacture. It covers a large number of actual issues in the field by authors from the main research groups involved in developing methods, models and tools for the improvement of design and manufacturing processes in companies. It presents a selection of thirty-three papers ensuing from the fifth International Conference on Integrated Design and Manufacturing in Mechanical Engineering, held at the University of Bath, UK, in April 2004.

The contributions are divided in the following sections: two keynotes presenting the general synergies and relationships between the design and manufacturing processes through the concepts of production knowledge and integration; design strategies and methodologies, dealing with the critical element of knowledge in design and manufacturing processes and the methods with which designing can be undertaken collaboratively in an integrated manner; integrated design of manufacturing processes, which aim is to ensure a high quality product meeting all requirements, rapidly and at optimum cost; and design tools for particular applications in which texts optimising local decision have been grouped.

The book is of interest to academics, students and practitioners specialising in design and manufacturing issues in mechanical engineering, who will find it of the greatest interest to compare various points of view within the fields broached throughout the Conference. This volume is recommended as a reference textbook for all researchers in this field. It will give teachning staff confronted with training methodologies in integrated design and production a toolto assess the scope of the development prospects in an extremely wide ranging field.

Written to teach students the nature of transonic flow and its mathematical foundation, this book offers a much-needed introduction to transonic aerodynamics. The authors present a quantitative and qualitative assessment of subsonic, supersonic and transonic flow around bodies in two and three dimensions. The book reviews the governing equations and explores their applications and limitations as employed in modeling and computational fluid dynamics. Some concepts, such as shock and expansion theory, are examined from a numerical perspective. Others, including shock-boundary-layer interaction, are discussed from a qualitative point of view. The book includes 60 examples and more than 200 practice problems. The authors also offer analytical methods such as Method of Characteristics (MOC) that allow readers to practice with the subject matter. The result is a wealth of insight into transonic flow phenomena and their impact on aircraft design, including compressibility effects, shock and expansion waves, shock-boundary-layer interaction and aeroelasticity.

A systematic treatment of the thermal and elastic deformation of bearings, seals, and other machine elements under a wide variety of conditions, with particular emphasis on failure mechanisms when high speeds or loads cause significant frictional heating and on methods for predicting and avoiding such failures. Intended for designers and mechanical engineers responsible for high-performance machinery, the book is unique in discussing instabilities driven by frictional heating and thermal expansion and in developing a theoretical approach to engineering design in those cases in which the thermal problems are pivotal. It thus provides a guide as to what is important in the development of high-performance engineering systems. References to recent publications, new material that fill gaps in the literature, a consistent nomenclature, and a large number of worked examples make this a useful text and reference for both researchers and practising engineers.

This book introduces and analyzes the models for engineering leadership and competency skills, as well as frameworks for industry-academia collaboration and is appropriate for students, researchers, and professionals interested in continuous professional development. The authors look at the organizational structures of engineering education in knowledge-based economies and examine the role of innovation and how it is encouraged in schools. It also provides a methodological framework and toolkit for investigating the needs of engineering and technology skills in national contexts. A detailed empirical case study is included that examines the leadership competencies that are needed in knowledge-based economies and how one university encourages these in their program. The book concludes with conceptual modeling and proposals of specific organizational structures for implementation in engineering schools, in order to enable the development of necessary skills for future engineering graduates.

Computational Rheology for Pipeline and Annular Flow develops and applies modern analytical and computational finite difference methods for solving flow problems in drilling and production. It also provides valuable insights into flow assurance analysis in subsea pipeline design. Using modeling techniques that simulate the motion of non-Newtonian fluids, e.g., power law, Bingham plastic, and Herschel-Bulkley flows, this book presents proven annular flow methodologies for cuttings transport and stuck pipe analysis based on detailed experimental data obtained from highly deviated and horizontal wells. These methods are applied for highly eccentric borehole geometries to the design of pipeline bundles in subsea applications, where such annular configurations arise in velocity and thermal modeling applications.
Also covered extensively are the design and modeling of pipelines having non-circular cross-sections, where deviations from ideal circular geometries arise from plugging due to wax deposition and the presence of hydrates and asphaltenes. As in the case of annular flows, the new algorithms apply to fluids with general rheological description; for example, the methods show very precisely how flow rate and pressure gradient vary nonlinearly in practical problem situations.

* Includes Windows-based software that contains highly integrated, user-friendly color-graphics algorithms (available via the Gulf Professional Publishing website at www.gulfpp.com)
* Provides valuable insights into flow assurance analysis.
* Contains new algorithms on annular flows and fluids with general rheological descriptions supply solutions to practical problems.

The Fifth International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS 2000) dealt with new strategies to realize complex, modular, robust, and fault-tolerant robotic systems. Technologies, algorithms, and system architectures for distributed autonomous robotic systems were presented and discussed during the meeting. DARS 2000 was truly an international event, with participants represent ing eleven countries from Europe, Asia, and the Americas. All of the papers in this volume were presented at DARS 2000, and were selected on the basis of peer re views to ensure quality and relevance. These papers have the common goal of con tributing solutions to realize robust and intelligent multirobot systems. The topics of the symposium address a wide range of issues that are important in the development of decentralized robotic systems. These topics include architec tures, communication, biological inspirations, reconfigurable robots, localization, exploration and mapping, distributed sensing, multi robot motion coordination, tar get assignment and tracking, multirobot learning, and cooperative object transport. DARS clearly requires a broad area of interdisciplinary technologies related not only to robotics and computer engineering, but also to biology and psychology. The DARS symposium is the leading established conference on distributed au tonomous systems. The First, Second, and Third International Symposia on Distrib uted Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS '92, DARS '94, and DARS '96) were held at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Saitama, Japan."

It is our pleasure to present these proceedings for "The Aerodynamics of Heavy Vehicles II: Trucks, Buses and Trains" International Conference held in Lake - hoe, California, August 26-31, 2007 by Engineering Conferences International (ECI). Brought together were the world's leading scientists and engineers from industry, universities, and research laboratories, including truck and high-speed train manufacturers and operators. All were gathered to discuss computer simu- tion and experimental techniques to be applied for the design of the more efficient trucks, buses and high-speed trains required in future years. This was the second conference in the series. The focus of the first conference in 2002 was the interplay between computations and experiment in minimizing ae- dynamic drag. The present proceedings, from the 2007 conference, address the development and application of advanced aerodynamic simulation and experim- tal methods for state-of-the-art analysis and design, as well as the development of new ideas and trends holding promise for the coming 10-year time span. Also - cluded, are studies of heavy vehicle aerodynamic tractor and trailer add-on - vices, studies of schemes to delay undesirable flow separation, and studies of - derhood thermal management.

The 4th edition includes updated and additional examples and exercises on the core fundamental concepts of mechanics, robots, and kinematics of serial robots. New images of CAD models and physical robots help to motivate concepts being introduced. Each chapter of the book can be read independently of others as it addresses a seperate issue in robotics.

This book concentrates on the design and development of integrated optic waveguide sensors using silicon based materials. The implementation of such system as a tool for detecting adulteration in petroleum based products as well as its use for detection of glucose level in diabetes are highlighted. The first chapters are dedicated to the development of the theoretical model while the final chapters are focused on the different applications of such sensors. It gives the readers the full background in the field of sensors, reasons for using silicon oxynitride as a potential waveguide material as well as its fabrication processes and possible uses.

This book describes how surface tension effects can be used by engineers to provide mechanical functions in miniaturized products (<1 mm). Even if precursors of this field such as Jurin or Laplace already date back to the 18th century, describing surface tension effects from a mechanical perspective is very recent. The originality of this book is to consider the effects of capillary bridges on solids, including forces and torques exerted both statically and dynamically by the liquid along the 6 degrees-of-freedom. It provides a comprehensive approach to various applications, such as capillary adhesion (axial force), centering force in packaging and micro-assembly (lateral force) and recent developments such as a capillary motor (torque). It devises how surface tension can be used to provide mechanical functions such as actuation (bubble-actuated compliant table), sealing and tightness, energy harvesting, nanodispending.

This book highlights cyber-security overview, perspectives, and challenges that affect advanced Vehicular technology. It considers vehicular security issues and possible solutions, with the aim of providing secure vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure and inside-of-vehicle communication. This book introduces vehicle cryptography mechanism including encryption and decryption approaches and cryptography algorithms such as symmetric and asymmetric cryptography, Hash functions and Digital Signature certificates for modern vehicles. It discusses cybersecurity structure and provides specific security challenges and possible solutions in Vehicular Communication such as vehicle to vehicle communication, vehicle to Infrastructure and in-vehicle communciation. It also presents key insights from security with regards to vehicles collaborative information technology. The more our vehicles become intelligent, the more we need to work on safety and security for vehicle technology. This book is of interest to automotive engineers and technical managers who want to learn about security technologies, and for those with a security background who want to learn about basic security issues in modern automotive applications.

Some years ago, silicon-based mechanical sensors, like pressure sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes, started their successful advance. Every year, hundreds of millions of these devices are sold, mainly for medical and automotive applications. The airbag sensor on which research already started several decades ago at Stanford University can be found in every new car and has saved already numerous lives. Pressure sensors are also used in modern electronic blood pressure equipment. Many other mechanical sensors, mostly invisible to the public, perform useful functions in countless industrial and consumer products.

The underlying physics and technology of silicon-based mechanical sensors is rather complex and is treated in numerous publications scattered throughout the literature. Therefore, a clear need existed for a handbook that thoroughly and systematically reviews the present basic knowledge on these devices.

After a short introduction, Professor Bao discusses the main issues relevant to silicon-based mechanical sensors. First a thorough treatment of stress and strain in diaphragms and beams is presented. Next, vibration of mechanical structures is illuminated, followed by a chapter on air damping. These basic chapters are then succeeded by chapters in which capacitive and piezoresistive sensing techniques are amply discussed. The book concludes with chapters on commercially available pressure sensors, accelerometers and resonant sensors in which the above principles are applied.

Everybody, involved in designing silicon-based mechanical sensors, will find a wealth of useful information in the book, assisting the designer in obtaining highly optimized devices.

Heat exchangers are important, and used frequently in the processing, heat and power, air-conditioning and refrigeration, heat recovery, transportation and manufacturing industries. Such equipment is also important in electronics cooling and for environmental issues like thermal pollution, waste disposal and sustainable development. The present book concerns plate heat exchangers (PHEs), which are one of the most common types in practice. The overall objectives are to present comprehensive descriptions of such heat exchangers and their advantages and limitations, to provide in-depth thermal and hydraulic design theory for PHEs, and to present state-of-the-art knowledge.The book starts with a general introduction and historical background to PHEs, then discusses construction and operation (PHE types, plate pattern, etc.) and gives examples of PHEs in different application areas. Material issues (plates, gaskets, brazing materials) and manufacturing methods are also treated.The major part of the book concerns the basic design methods for both single-phase and two-phase flow cases, various flow arrangements, thermal-hydraulic performance in single-phase flow and for PHEs operating as condensers and evaporators. Fouling problems are also discussed and in a section on extended design and operation issues, modern Research and Development (R & D) tools like computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are discussed. Unique features for PHEs are discussed throughout.

Practical Ship Hydrodynamics, Second Edition, introduces the reader to modern ship hydrodynamics. It describes experimental and numerical methods for ship resistance and propulsion, maneuvering, seakeeping, hydrodynamic aspects of ship vibrations, and hydrodynamic options for fuel efficiency, as well as new developments in computational methods and model testing techniques relating to marine design and development. Organized into six chapters, the book begins with an overview of problems and approaches, including the basics of modeling and full-scale testing, prediction of ship hydrodynamic performance, and viscous flow computations. It proceeds with a discussion of the marine applications of computational fluid dynamics and boundary element methods, factors affecting ship hydrodynamics, and simple design estimates of hydrodynamic quantities such as resistance and wake fraction. Seakeeping of ships is investigated with respect to issues such as maximum speed in a seaway, route optimization (routing), structural design of the ship with respect to loads in seaways, and habitation comfort and safety of people on board. Exercises and solutions, formula derivations, and texts are included to support teaching or self-studies. This book is suitable for marine engineering students in design and hydrodynamics courses, professors teaching a course in general fluid dynamics, practicing marine engineers and naval architects, and consulting marine engineers.

Thermomechanics of Solids and Structures: Physical Mechanisms, Continuum Mechanics, and Applications covers kinematics, balance equations, the strict thermodynamic frameworks of thermoelasticity, thermoplasticity, creep covering constitutive equations, the physical mechanisms of deformation, along with computational aspects. The book concludes with coverage of the thermodynamics of solids and applications of the constitutive three-dimensional model to both one-dimensional homogeneous and composite beam structures. Practical applications of the theories and techniques covered are emphasized throughout the book, with analytical solutions provided for various problems.

Gain an understanding of the inspection of large synchronous machines, generators, condensers, and motors! This text describes each component of the machine, operational functions, typical design features, and tell-tale signs that indicate each mode of failure. Compact with photos, graphs, commonly-used inspection forms, along with extensive references for each topic, INSPECTION OF LARGE SYNCHRONOUS MACHINES is an excellent tool for operators, inspectors, and student engineers.
Sponsored by
IEEE Power Engineering Society.

The objective of Volume III is to lay down the proper mathematical foundations of the two-dimensional theory of shells. To this end, it provides, without any recourse to any "a priori" assumptions of a geometrical or mechanical nature, a mathematical justification of two-dimensional nonlinear and linear shell theories, by means of asymptotic methods, with the thickness as the "small" parameter.

Increasingly, robots are being used in environments inhospitable to humans such as the deep ocean, inside nuclear reactors, and in deep space. Such robots are controlled by remote links to human operators who may be close by or thousands of miles away. The techniques used to control these robots is the subject of this book. The author begins with a basic introduction to robot control and then considers the important problems to be overcome: delays or noisy control lines, feedback and response information, and predictive displays. Readers are assumed to have a basic understanding of robotics though this may be their first exposure to the subject of telerobotics. Professional engineers and roboticists will find this an invaluable introduction to this subject.