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Books > Professional & Technical > Electronics & communications engineering > Electronics engineering > Automatic control engineering > Robotics
This exciting book breaks new ground by introducing the amateur to the ideas and concepts, both theoretical and practical, of robotics - a nascent discipline which will radically change the way we work. Although today we use the term 'robots', in the future other terms will have to be coined in order to describe their utility & capabilities. The book is divided into two sections: 1: How and why robots work and how they are controlled. 2: How to make a simple two-legged humanoid robot that can be programmed to walk. There are no complicated formulae or equations to grapple with or complicated circuit diagrams to decipher, and you don't have to be either a machinist or a programmer - everything is presented in clear, concise, everyday English. The robot can be built quickly on a workbench, or even a kitchen table, with a minimum number of handtools, and all the parts are easily available in the UK and the USA. This is a fascinating and unique book which explains the basics of a subject which is the next generation of model engineering, combining construction skills with computer programming and teaches you to build and run a working robot which can be controlled from any personal computer.
"Virtual Futures" explores the ideas that the future lies in its ability to articulate the consequences of an increasingly synthetic and virtual world. New technologies like cyberspace, the internet, and Chaos theory are often discussed in the context of technology and its potential to liberate or in terms of technophobia. This collection examines both these ideas while also charting a new and controversial route through contemporary discourses on technology; a path that discusses the material evolution and the erotic relation between humans and machines. Including essays by Sadie Plant, Stelarc and Manuel de Landa, the collection heralds the death of humanism and the rise of posthuman pragmatism. This collection provides analyses by both established theorists and the most innovative new voices working in conjunction between the arts and contemporary technology.
There's never been a better time to be an amateur space explorer! From high school programs designed to send real student-led experiments to the International Space Station, to building a working VTVL (vertical take off, vertical landing) model rocket like the one from SpaceX, this issue is packed full of projects with actual space applications. And if a space aesthetic is more to your liking for your earthly abode, we've got a giant light-up full moon to hang on your wall and desktop orreries to simulate the movement of the planets around the sun. Plus 38 more great projects: Program a bot that points to the ISS when overheadLearn to laser-cut EVA foam to customize any cosplay creationBuild a light-up acrylic rainbow that changes colors to tell the weatherMake a cardboard camera that uses sun prints for filmAnd much more!
Robot calibration is the process of enhancing the accuracy of a robot by modifying its control software. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the theory and implementation of robot calibration using computer vision technology. It is the only book to cover the entire process of vision-based robot calibration, including kinematic modeling, camera calibration, pose measurement, error parameter identification, and compensation. The book starts with an overview of available techniques for robot calibration, with an emphasis on vision-based techniques. It then describes various robot-camera systems. Since cameras are used as major measuring devices, camera calibration techniques are reviewed. Camera-Aided Robot Calibration studies the properties of kinematic modeling techniques that are suitable for robot calibration. It summarizes the well-known Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) modeling convention and indicates the drawbacks of the D-H model for robot calibration. The book develops the Complete and Parametrically Continuous (CPC) model and the modified CPC model, that overcome the D-H model singularities. The error models based on these robot kinematic modeling conventions are presented. No other book available addresses the important, practical issue of hand/eye calibration. This book summarizes current research developments and demonstrates the pros and cons of various approaches in this area. The book discusses in detail the final stage of robot calibration - accuracy compensation - using the identified kinematic error parameters. It offers accuracy compensation algorithms, including the intuitive task-point redefinition and inverse-Jacobian algorithms and more advanced algorithms based on optimal control theory, which are particularly attractive for highly redundant manipulators. Camera-Aided Robot Calibration defines performance indices that are designed for off-line, optimal selection of measurement configurations. It then describes three approaches: closed-form, gradient-based, and statistical optimization. The included case study presents experimental results that were obtained by calibrating common industrial robots. Different stages of operation are detailed, illustrating the applicability of the suggested techniques for robot calibration. Appendices provide readers with preliminary materials for easier comprehension of the subject matter. Camera-Aided Robot Calibration is a must-have reference for researchers and practicing engineers-the only one with all the information!
An all-in-one resource for designing and implementing embedded control in mobile robotics In Embedded Control for Mobile Robotic Applications, a distinguished trio of researchers delivers an authoritative and fulsome resource for understanding embedded control and robotics. The book includes coverage of a variety of embedded platforms, their use in controller implementation, stability analyses of designed controllers, and two new approaches for designing embedded controllers. The authors offer a full chapter on Field-Programmable-Gate-Array (FPGA) architecture development for controller design that is perfect for both practitioners and students taking robotics courses and provide a companion website that includes MATLAB codes for simulation and embedded platform-specific code for mobile robotic applications (in Embedded C and Verilog). The two approaches discussed by the authors--the top-down methodology and the bottom-up methodology--are of immediate practical utility to both practicing professionals in the field and students studying control applications and mobile robotics. The book also offers: A thorough introduction to embedded control, including processor, IC, and design technology, as well as a discussion of limitations in embedded control design Comprehensive explorations of the bottom-up and top-down methods, including computations using CORDIC, interval arithmetic, sliding surface design, and switched nonlinear systems Practical discussions of generic FPGA architecture design, including Verilog, PID controllers, DC motors and Encoder, and a systematic approach for designing architecture using FSMD In-depth examinations of discrete-time controller design, including the approximation to discrete-time transfer function and embedded implementation stability Perfect for practitioners working in embedded control design and control applications in robotics, Embedded Control for Mobile Robotic Applications will also earn a place in the libraries of academicians, researchers, senior undergraduate students, and graduate students in these fields.
The author compiles everything a student or experienced developmental engineer needs to know about the supporting technologies associated with the rapidly evolving field of robotics. From the table of contents: Design Considerations * Dead Reckoning * Odometry Sensors * Doppler and Inertial Navigation * Typical Mobility Configurations * Tactile and Proximity Sensing * Triangulation Ranging * Stereo Disparity * Active Triangulation * Active Stereoscopic * Hermies * Structured Light * Known Target Size * Time of Flight * Phase-Shift Measurement * Frequency Modulation * Interferometry * Range from Focus * Return Signal Intensity * Acoustical Energy * Electromagnetic Energy * Optical Energy * Microwave Radar * Collision Avoidance * Guidepath Following * Position-Location Systems * Ultrasonic and Optical Position-Location Systems * Wall, Doorway, andCeiling Referencing * Application-Specific Mission Sensors
First published in 1987, the seven chapters that comprise this book review contemporary work on the geometric side of robotics. The first chapter defines the fundamental goal of robotics in very broad terms and outlines a research agenda each of whose items constitutes a substantial area for further research. The second chapter presents recently developed techniques that have begun to address the geometric side of this research agenda and the third reviews several applied geometric ideas central to contemporary work on the problem of motion planning. The use of Voronoi diagrams, a theme opened in these chapters, is explored further later in the book. The fourth chapter develops a theme in computational geometry having obvious significance for the simplification of practical robotics problems - the approximation or decomposition of complex geometric objects into simple ones. The final chapters treat two examples of a class of geometric 'reconstruction' problem that have immediate application to computer-aided geometric design systems.
The primary aim of this volume is to provide researchers and engineers from both academic and industry with up-to-date coverage of new results in the field of robotic welding, intelligent systems and automation. The book is mainly based on papers selected from the 2019 International Workshop on Intelligentized Welding Manufacturing (IWIWM'2019) in USA. The articles show that the intelligentized welding manufacturing (IWM) is becoming an inevitable trend with the intelligentized robotic welding as the key technology. The volume is divided into four logical parts: Intelligent Techniques for Robotic Welding, Sensing of Arc Welding Processing, Modeling and Intelligent Control of Welding Processing, as well as Intelligent Control and its Applications in Engineering.
Despite their tiny size, fruit flies are able to navigate, avoid obstacles and predators and find food or shelter. A first step towards this ultimate desire is the creation of a micro flapping wing robot that flies by itself. The challenges involved are considerable: the design and aerodynamics of flapping wings are still active areas of scientific research, while the artificial intelligence is subject to extreme limitations deriving from the few sensors and little processing on board. The reader is first introduced to the topics most relevant to autonomously flying flapping wing robots: flapping-wing design, micro-electronics, aerodynamics and artificial intelligence. These topics are treated in the context of the "DelFly," a flapping wing robot designed at Delft University. The DelFly project started in 2005 and has ever since served as inspiration not only to many scientific flapping wing studies, but also to the design of flapping wing toys. This book conveys the essential insights that lie behind successes such as the DelFly Micro, with its 3.07 gram and 10 cm wing span still the smallest flapping wing MAV in the world carrying a camera and the DelFly Explorer, the world's first flapping wing MAV able to fly completely autonomously in unknown environments. The combination of introductions to the relevant fields, practical insights and scientific experiments from the DelFly project, make the book a must-read for all intrigued by flapping wing robots, be they students, researchers or engineers.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel are some of the most highly trained people in the military, with a job description that spans defusing unexploded ordnance to protecting VIP's and state dignitaries. EOD are also one of the first military groups to work with robots every day. These robots have become an increasingly important tool in EOD work, enabling people to work at safer distances in many dangerous situations. Based on exploratory research investigating interactions between EOD personnel and the robots they use, this study richly describes the nuances of these reciprocal influences, especially those related to operator emotion associated with the robots. In particular, this book examines the activities, processes and contexts that influence or constrain everyday EOD human-robot interactions, what human factors are shaping the (robotic) technology and how people and culture are being changed by using it. The findings from this research have implications for future personnel training, and the refinement of robot design considerations for many fields that rely on critical small group communication and decision-making skills.
Social robotics is a cutting edge research area gathering researchers and stakeholders from various disciplines and organizations. The transformational potential that these machines, in the form of, for example, caregiving, entertainment or partner robots, pose to our societies and to us as individuals seems to be limited by our technical limitations and phantasy alone. This collection contributes to the field of social robotics by exploring its boundaries from a philosophically informed standpoint. It constructively outlines central potentials and challenges and thereby also provides a stable fundament for further research of empirical, qualitative or methodological nature.
Morality seems to be irrational. Moral agents spread co-operation - this is good for all, but even better for the amoral. If "the virtuous" finish last, one cannot defend morality as rational. "Artificial Morality" addresses and answers this objection, by showing how to build moral agents that succeed in competition with amoral agents. Professor Danielson's agents deviate from the received theory of rational choice. They are bound by moral principles and communicate their principles to others. The central thesis of the book is that these moral agents are more successful in crucial tests, and therefore rational. Why design agents? Human agents and the situations they create are too complex for an investigation of the most elementary aspects of rationality and morality. Danielson uses instead robots paired in abstract games that model social problems, such as environmental pollution, which reward co-operators but even more those that benefit from others' constraint. It is shown that virtuous, not vicious, robots do better in these virtual games. This book should be of interest to those working in the fields of philosophy, artificial intelligence and computer studies.
Morality seems to be irrational. Moral agents spread co-operation - this is good for all, but even better for the amoral. If "the virtuous" finish last, one cannot defend morality as rational. "Artificial Morality" addresses and answers this objection, by showing how to build moral agents that succeed in competition with amoral agents. Professor Danielson's agents deviate from the received theory of rational choice. They are bound by moral principles and communicate their principles to others. The central thesis of the book is that these moral agents are more successful in crucial tests, and therefore rational. Why design agents? Human agents and the situations they create are too complex for an investigation of the most elementary aspects of rationality and morality. Danielson uses instead robots paired in abstract games that model social problems, such as environmental pollution, which reward co-operators but even more those that benefit from others' constraint. It is shown that virtuous, not vicious, robots do better in these virtual games. "Artificial Morality" is inspired by artificial intelligence. The solution presented to the problem of rationality and morality is construct
This book covers three main types of agricultural systems: the use of robotics, drones (unmanned aerial vehicles), and satellite-guided precision farming methods. Some of these are well refined and are currently in use, while others are in need of refinement and are yet to become popular. The book provides a valuable source of information on this developing field for those involved with agriculture and farming and agricultural engineering. The book is also applicable as a textbook for students and a reference for faculty.
A multiplicity of techniques and angles of attack are incorporated in 18 contributions describing recent developments in the structure, architecture, programming, control, and implementation of industrial robots capable of performing intelligent action and decision making. Annotation copyright Book
Takes an interdisciplinary approach to contribute to the ongoing development of human-AI interaction. Current debate and development of AI is "algorithm-driven" or technical-oriented in lieu of human-centered. At present, there is no systematic interdisciplinary discussion to effectively deal with issues and challenges arising from AI. This book offers critical analysis of the logic and social implications of algorithmic processes. Reporting from the processes of scientific research, the results can be useful for understanding the relationship between algorithms and humans, allowing AI designers to assess the quality of the meaningful interactions with AI systems.
Introduces designers to hardware and software tools necessary for planning, laying out, and building advanced robot-based manufacturing cells surveying the available technology for creating innovative machines suitable to individual needs. Considers assembly system simulation, task-oriented programm
This study deals with an underexplored area of the emerging technologies debate: robotics in the healthcare setting. The author explores the role of care and develops a value-sensitive ethical framework for the eventual employment of care robots. Highlighting the range of positive and negative aspects associated with the initiative to design and use care robots, it draws out essential content as a guide to future design both reinforcing this study's contemporary relevance, and giving weight to its prescriptions. The book speaks to, and is meant to be read by, a range of disciplines from science and engineering to philosophers and ethicists.
Advances in technology have enabled animators and video game designers to design increasingly realistic, human-like characters in animation and games. Although it was intended that this increased realism would allow viewers to appreciate the emotional state of characters, research has shown that audiences often have a negative reaction as the human likeness of a character increases. This phenomenon, known as the Uncanny Valley, has become a benchmark for measuring if a character is believably realistic and authentically human like. This book is an essential guide on how to overcome the Uncanny Valley phenomenon when designing human-like characters in digital applications. In this book, the author provides a synopsis of literature about the Uncanny Valley phenomenon and explains how it was introduced into contemporary thought. She then presents her theories on its possible psychological causes based on a series of empirical studies. The book focuses on how aspects of facial expression and speech can be manipulated to overcome the Uncanny Valley in character design. The Uncanny Valley in Games and Animation presents a novel theory that goes beyond previous research in that the cause of the Uncanny Valley is based on a perceived lack of empathy in a character. This book makes an original, scholarly contribution to our current understanding of the Uncanny Valley phenomenon and fills a gap in the literature by assessing the biological and social roots of the Uncanny Valley and its implications for computer-graphics animation.
Fundamentals of Robotics presents the basic concepts of robots to engineering and technology students and to practicing engineers who want to grasp the fundamentals in the growing field of robotics.
The book explores the concepts and challenges in developing novel approaches using the Internet of Things, intelligent systems, machine intelligence systems, and data analytics in various industrial sectors such as manufacturing, smart agriculture, smart cities, food processing, environment, defense, stock market and healthcare. Further, it discusses the latest improvements in the industrial sectors using machine intelligence learning and intelligent systems techniques, especially robotics. Features: * Highlights case studies and solutions to industrial problems using machine learning and intelligent systems. * Covers applications in smart agriculture, smart healthcare, intelligent machines for disaster management, and smart manufacturing. * Provides the latest methodologies using machine intelligence systems in the early forecasting of weather. * Examines the research challenges and identifies the gaps in data collection and data analysis, especially imagery, signal, and speech. * Provides applications of digitization and smart processing using the Internet of Things and effective intelligent agent systems in manufacturing. * Discusses a systematic and exhaustive analysis of intelligent software effort estimation models. It will serve as an ideal reference text for graduate students, post-graduate students, IT Professionals, and academic researchers in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics and communication engineering, computer engineering, and information technology.
Underwater robots play a significant role in ocean exploration. This book provides full coverage of the theoretical and practical aspects of bionic gliding underwater robots, including system design, modeling control, and motion planning. To overcome the inherent shortcomings of traditional underwater robots that can simultaneously lack maneuverability and endurance, a new type of robot, the bionic gliding underwater robot, has attracted much attention from scientists and engineers. On the one hand, by imitating the appearance and swimming mechanisms of natural creatures, bionic gliding underwater robots achieve high maneuverability, swimming efficiency, and strong concealment. On the other hand, borrowing from the buoyancy adjustment systems of underwater gliders, bionic gliding underwater robots can obtain strong endurance, which is significant in practical applications. Taking gliding robotic dolphin and fish as examples, the designed prototypes and proposed methods are discussed, offering valuable insights into the development of next-generation underwater robots that are well suited for various oceanic applications. This book will be of great interest to students and professionals alike in the field of robotics or intelligent control. It will also be a great reference for engineers or technicians who deal with the development of underwater robots.
This book summarizes the technology and economics of robotics. It aims to provide sufficient data background so that the technologists can help in deciding about a corporate investment in robotics.
The primary aim of this volume is to provide researchers and engineers from both academic and industry with up-to-date coverage of new results in the field of robotic welding, intelligent systems and automation. The book is mainly based on papers selected from the 2019 International Workshop on Intelligentized Welding Manufacturing (IWIWM'2019) in USA. The articles show that the intelligentized welding manufacturing (IWM) is becoming an inevitable trend with the intelligentized robotic welding as the key technology. The volume is divided into four logical parts: Intelligent Techniques for Robotic Welding, Sensing of Arc Welding Processing, Modeling and Intelligent Control of Welding Processing, as well as Intelligent Control and its Applications in Engineering. |
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