This volume presents the proceedings of the 12th IFToMM International Symposium on Science of Mechanisms and Machines (SYROM 2017), that was held in "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Romania, November 02-03, 2017. It contains applications of mechanisms in several modern technical fields such as mechatronics and robotics, biomechanics, machines and apparatus. The book presents original high-quality contributions on topics related to mechanisms within aspects of theory, design, practice and applications in engineering, including but not limited to: theoretical kinematics, computational kinematics, mechanism design, experimental mechanics, mechanics of robots, dynamics of machinery, dynamics of multi-body systems, control issues of mechanical systems, mechanisms for biomechanics, novel designs, mechanical transmissions, linkages and manipulators, micro-mechanisms, teaching methods, history of mechanism science, industrial and non-industrial applications. In connection with these fields, the book combines the theoretical results with experimental tests.

Calibration is playing an increasingly important role in industrial robotics. Higher accuracy demands are being placed on flexible assembly and manufacturing systems which in turn require robot manufacturers to produce higher quality precision robots.

The problem of viability of hybrid systems is considered in this work. A model for a hybrid system is developed including a means of including three forms of uncertainty: transition dynamics, structural uncertainty, and parametric uncertainty. A computational basis for viability of hybrid systems is developed and applied to three control law classes. An approach is developed for robust viability based on two extensions of the controllability operator. The three-tank example is examined for both the viability problem and robust viability problem.

The theory is applied through simulation to an active magnetic bearing system and to a batch polymerization process showing that viability can be satisfied in practice. The problem of viable attainability is examined based on the controllability operator approach introduced by Nerode and colleagues. Lastly, properties of the controllability operator are presented.

One of the fundamental requirements for the success of a robot task is the capability to handle interaction between manipulator and environment. The quantity that describes the state of interaction more effectively is the contact force at the manipulator's end effector. High values of contact force are generally undesirable since they may stress both the manipulator and the manipulated object; hence the need to seek for effective force control strategies. The book provides a theoretical and experimental treatment of robot interaction control. In the framework of model-based operational space control, stiffness control and impedance control are presented as the basic strategies for indirect force control; a key feature is the coverage of six-degree-of-freedom interaction tasks and manipulator kinematic redundancy. Then, direct force control strategies are presented which are obtained from motion control schemes suitably modified by the closure of an outer force regulation feedback loop. Finally, advanced force and position control strategies are presented which include passivity-based, adaptive and output feedback control schemes. Remarkably, all control schemes are experimentally tested on a setup consisting of a seven-joint industrial robot with open control architecture and force/torque sensor. The topic of robot force control is not treated in depth in robotics textbooks, in spite of its crucial importance for practical manipulation tasks. In the few books addressing this topic, the material is often limited to single-degree-of-freedom tasks. On the other hand, several results are available in the robotics literature but no dedicated monograph exists. The book is thus aimed at filling this gap by providing a theoretical and experimental treatment of robot force control.

Nanorobots can be defined as intelligent systems with overall dimensions at or below the micrometer range that are made of assemblies of nanoscale components with individual dimensions ranging between 1 to 100 nm. These devices can now perform a wide variety of tasks at the nanoscale in a wide variety of fields including but not limited to fields such as manufacturing, medicine, supply chain, biology, and aerospace. Nanorobotics: Current Approaches and Techniques offers a comprehensive overview of this emerging interdisciplinary field with a wide ranging discussion that includes nano-manipulation and industrial nanorobotics, nanorobotic manipulation in biology and medicine, nanorobotic sensing, navigation and swarm behavior and CNT, and protein and DNA-based nanorobotics.

IAENG Transactions on Engineering Technologies contains forty-nine revised and extended research articles, written by prominent researchers participating in the conference. Topics covered include circuits, engineering mathematics, control theory, communications systems, systems engineering, manufacture engineering, computational biology, chemical engineering, and industrial applications. This book offers the state of art of tremendous advances in engineering technologies and physical science and applications, and also serves as an excellent source of reference for researchers and graduate students working with/on engineering technologies and physical science and applications.

Nonlinear Control of Vehicles and Robots develops a unified approach to the dynamic modeling of robots in terrestrial, aerial and marine environments. The main classes of nonlinear systems and stability methods are summarized and basic nonlinear control methods, useful in manipulator and vehicle control, are presented. Formation control of ground robots and ships is discussed.

The book also deals with the modeling and control of robotic systems in the presence of non-smooth nonlinearities. Robust adaptive tracking control of robotic systems with unknown payload and friction in the presence of uncertainties is treated.

Theoretical and practical aspects of the control algorithms under discussion are detailed. Examples are included throughout the book allowing the reader to apply the control and modeling techniques in their own research and development work. Some of these examples demonstrate state estimation based on the use of advanced sensors as part of the control system.

This book describes how robots can make sense of motion in their surroundings and use the patterns they observe to blend in better in dynamic environments shared with humans.The world around us is constantly changing. Nonetheless, we can find our way and aren't overwhelmed by all the buzz, since motion often follows discernible patterns. Just like humans, robots need to understand the patterns behind the dynamics in their surroundings to be able to efficiently operate e.g. in a busy airport. Yet robotic mapping has traditionally been based on the static world assumption, which disregards motion altogether. In this book, the authors describe how robots can instead explicitly learn patterns of dynamic change from observations, store those patterns in Maps of Dynamics (MoDs), and use MoDs to plan less intrusive, safer and more efficient paths. The authors discuss the pros and cons of recently introduced MoDs and approaches to MoD-informed motion planning, and provide an outlook on future work in this emerging, fascinating field.

This book proposes a complete pipeline for monocular (single camera) based 3D mapping of terrestrial and underwater environments. The aim is to provide a solution to large-scale scene modeling that is both accurate and efficient. To this end, we have developed a novel Structure from Motion algorithm that increases mapping accuracy by registering camera views directly with the maps. The camera registration uses a dual approach that adapts to the type of environment being mapped. In order to further increase the accuracy of the resulting maps, a new method is presented, allowing detection of images corresponding to the same scene region (crossovers). Crossovers then used in conjunction with global alignment methods in order to highly reduce estimation errors, especially when mapping large areas. Our method is based on Visual Bag of Words paradigm (BoW), offering a more efficient and simpler solution by eliminating the training stage, generally required by state of the art BoW algorithms. Also, towards developing methods for efficient mapping of large areas (especially with costs related to map storage, transmission and rendering in mind), an online 3D model simplification algorithm is proposed. This new algorithm presents the advantage of selecting only those vertices that are geometrically representative for the scene.

"The Human Hand as an Inspiration for Robot Hand Development" presents an edited collection of authoritative contributions in the area of robot hands. The results described in the volume are expected to lead to more robust, dependable, and inexpensive distributed systems such as those endowed with complex and advanced sensing, actuation, computation, and communication capabilities. The twenty-four chapters discuss the field of robotic grasping and manipulation viewed in light of the human hand's capabilities and push the state-of-the-art in robot hand design and control. Topics discussed include human hand biomechanics, neural control, sensory feedback and perception, and robotic grasp and manipulation. This book will be useful for researchers from diverse areas such as robotics, biomechanics, neuroscience, and anthropologists.

SYROM conferences have been organized since 1973 by the Romanian branch of the International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanisms and Machine Science IFToMM, Year by year the event grew in quality. Now in its 10th edition, international visibility and recognition among the researchers active in the mechanisms science field has been achieved.

SYROM 2009 brought together researchers and academic staff from the field of mechanisms and machine science from all over the world and served as a forum for presenting the achievements and most recent results in research and education. Topics treated include conceptual design, kinematics and dynamics, modeling and simulation, synthesis and optimization, command and control, current trends in education in this field, applications in high-tech products.

The papers presented at this conference were subjected to a peer-review process to ensure the quality of the paper, the engineering significance, the soundness of results and the originality of the paper. The accepted papers fulfill these criteria and make the proceedings unique among the publications of this type.

This book provides a wide scope of contributions related to optoelectronic device application in a variety of robotic systems for diverse purposes. The contributions are focused on optoelectronic sensors and analyzing systems, 3D and 2D machine vision technologies, robot navigation, pose estimations, robot operation in cyclic procedures, control schemes, motion controllers, and intelligent algorithms and vision systems. Applications of these technologies are outlined for unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous and mobile robots, industrial inspection applications, cultural heritage documentation, and structural health monitoring. Also discussed are recent advanced research in measurement and others areas where 3D and 2D machine vision and machine control play an important role. Surveys and reviews about optoelectronic and vision-based applications are also included. These topics are of interest to readers from a diverse group including those working in optoelectronics, and electrical, electronic and computer engineering.

- Written by world-leading subject specialist in both sport management and artificial intelligence - Includes interviews with elite sports managers and coaches - Examines the competitive advantages offered by AI to a wide-range of areas including Recruitment, Performance & Tactics, Health & Fitness, Pedagogy, Broadcasting, eSports, Gambling, and Stadium Design

This proceedings volume contains papers that have been selected after review for oral presentation at ROMANSY 2016, the 21th CISM-IFToMM Symposium on Theory and Practice of Robots and Manipulators. These papers cover advances on several aspects of the wide field of Robotics as concerning Theory and Practice of Robots and Manipulators. ROMANSY 2016 is the 21st event in a series that started in 1973 as one of the first conference activities in the world on Robotics. The first event was held at CISM (International Centre for Mechanical Science) in Udine, Italy on 5-8 September 1973. It was also the first topic conference of IFToMM (International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science) and it was directed not only to the IFToMM community.

- the book provides a short and accessible introduction to AI for learners - it examines seven different educational roles and settings, from AI as a peer to AI as a tutor and AI as textbook, among others - it considers both opportunities and risks: technological developments as well as ethical considerations

"Repetitive Motion Planning and Control of Redundant Robot Manipulators" presents four typical motion planning schemes based on optimization techniques, including the fundamental RMP scheme and its extensions. These schemes are unified as quadratic programs (QPs), which are solved by neural networks or numerical algorithms. The RMP schemes are demonstrated effectively by the simulation results based on various robotic models; the experiments applying the fundamental RMP scheme to a physical robot manipulator are also presented. As the schemes and the corresponding solvers presented in the book have solved the non-repetitive motion problems existing in redundant robot manipulators, it is of particular use in applying theoretical research based on the quadratic program for redundant robot manipulators in industrial situations. This book will be a valuable reference work for engineers, researchers, advanced undergraduate and graduate students in robotics fields.

Yunong Zhang is a professor at The School of Information Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; Zhijun Zhang is a research fellow working at the same institute.

"

This book presents the proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of IFToMM ITALY, held online on September 9-11, 2020. It includes peer-reviewed papers on the latest advances in mechanism and machine science, discussing topics such as biomechanical engineering, computational kinematics, the history of mechanism and machine science, gearing and transmissions, multi-body dynamics, robotics and mechatronics, the dynamics of machinery, tribology, vibrations, rotor dynamics and vehicle dynamics. A valuable, up-to-date resource, it offers an essential overview of the subject for scientists and practitioners alike, and will inspire further investigations and research.

Nanorobotics and Nanodiagnostics in Integrative Biology and Biomedicine "Nanorobotics and nanodiagnostics" can be defined as a new generation of biohybrid and nanorobotics that translate fundamental biological principles into engineering design rules, or integrative living components into synthetic structures to create biorobots and nanodiagnotics that perform like natural systems. Nanorobots or nanobots are structured of a nanoscale made of individual assemblies. They can be termed as intelligent systems manufactured with self-assembly strategies by chemical, physical and biological approaches. The nanorobot can determine the structure and enhance the adaptability to the environment in interdisciplinary tasks. "Nanorobotics and nanodiagnostics" is a new generation of biohybrid that translates fundamental biological principles into engineering design rules to create biorobots that perform like natural systems. These biorobotics and diagnostics can now perform various missions to be accomplished certain tasks in the research areas such as integrative biology and biomedicine. "Nanorobotics and Nanodiagnostics in Integrative Biology and Biomedicine" sheds light on a comprehensive overview of the multidisciplinary areas that explore nanotherapeutics and nanorobotic manipulation in biology and medicine. It provides up-to-date knowledge of the promising fields of integrative biology and biomedicine for nano-assisted biorobotics and diagnostics to detect and treat diseases that will enable new scientific discoveries.

This book presents a novel decision-making support system based on paraconsistent annotated evidential logic, which directly handles imprecise, incomplete and contradictory data. The authors offer insights into areas such as engineering and biomedicine, as well as related fields. Decision analysis is useful in making choices when the consequences of actions are uncertain, like in business administration, where it assists in making investment decisions, and in health care, Decision analysis is also valuable when the possible actions may lead to conflicting consequences. A fundamental tenet of decision analysis is that even though the available information is incomplete, a decision must be made. Thus, analyses often contain assumptions about or estimates of missing data. The contribution that this method can provide to professionals and companies has significant relevance in terms of the impact of information systems on productivity and quality of the companies; the lack of training companies for proper planning and management of information systems; and the need for interdisciplinary treatment of several sectors of almost all related scientific areas. This book is a valuable resource for professionals seeking a competitive edge in their performance.

This book provides a decentralized approach for the identification and control of robotics systems. It also presents recent research in decentralized neural control and includes applications to robotics. Decentralized control is free from difficulties due to complexity in design, debugging, data gathering and storage requirements, making it preferable for interconnected systems. Furthermore, as opposed to the centralized approach, it can be implemented with parallel processors. This approach deals with four decentralized control schemes, which are able to identify the robot dynamics. The training of each neural network is performed on-line using an extended Kalman filter (EKF). The first indirect decentralized control scheme applies the discrete-time block control approach, to formulate a nonlinear sliding manifold. The second direct decentralized neural control scheme is based on the backstepping technique, approximated by a high order neural network.The third control scheme applies a decentralized neural inverse optimal control for stabilization. The fourth decentralized neural inverse optimal control is designed for trajectory tracking. This comprehensive work on decentralized control of robot manipulators and mobile robots is intended for professors, students and professionals wanting to understand and apply advanced knowledge in their field of work.

This book covers all topics relevant for the design of haptic interfaces and teleoperation systems. The book provides the basic knowledge required for understanding more complex approaches and more importantly it introduces all issues that must be considered for designing efficient and safe haptic interfaces. Topics covered in this book provide insight into all relevant components of a haptic system.
The reader is guided from understanding the virtual reality concept to the final goal of being able to design haptic interfaces for specific tasks such as nanomanipulation.

The introduction chapter positions the haptic interfaces within the virtual reality context. In order to design haptic interfaces that will comply with human capabilities at least basic understanding of human sensors-motor system is required. An overview of this topic is provided in the chapter related to human haptics. The book does not try to introduce the state-of-the-art haptic interface solutions because these tend to change quickly. Only a careful selection of different kinematic configurations is shown to introduce the reader into this field.
Mathematical models of virtual environment, collision detection and force rendering topics are strongly interrelated and are described in the next two chapters. The interaction with the virtual environment is simulated with a haptic interface. Impedance and admittance based approaches to haptic robot control are presented. Stability issues of haptic interaction are analyzed in details and solutions are proposed for guaranteeing stable and safe operation. Finally, haptic interaction is extended to teleoperation systems. Virtual fixtures which improve the teleoperation and human-robot cooperation in complex environments are covered next and the last chapter presents nanomanipulation as one specific example of teleoperation.

Identification Modeling and Characteristics of Miniature Rotorcraft introduces an approach to developing a simple and effective linear parameterized model of vehicle dynamics using the CIFERa identification tool created by the Army/NASA Rotorcraft Division. It also presents the first application of the advanced control system optimization tool CONDUITa to systematically and efficiently tune control laws for a model-scale UAV helicopter against multiple and competing dynamic response criteria.

Identification Modeling and Characteristics of Miniature Rotorcraft presents the detailed account of how the theory was developed, the experimentation performed, and how the results were used.

This book will serve as a basic and illustrative guide for all students that are interested in developing autonomous flying helicopters. "

Robots and autonomous agents have permeated every aspect of human life. They are not only omnipresent on the shop floors; they have pervaded our homes and are around us everywhere. Design methodologies and implementation techniques of intelligent machines are making progress in leaps and bounds. Smart interaction, cooperation, and pro-activeness are the hallmarks of modern intelligent machines.

This book deals with the theoretical and methodological aspects of incorporating intelligence in "Autonomous Robots and Agents." Challenges faced in the real world to accomplish complex tasks, which require collaborative efforts, and methods to overcome them, are detailed. Several informative articles deal with navigation, localization and mapping of mobile robots, a problem that engineers and researchers are grappling with all the time.

This edited volume is targeted to present the latest state-of-the-art methodologies in Robotics. It is a compilation of the extended versions of the very best papers selected from the many that were presented at the 3rd International Conference on Autonomous Robots and Agents (ICARA 2006) which was held at Palmerston North, New Zealand from 11-14 December, 2006. Scientists and engineers who work with mobile robots will find this book very useful and stimulating.

This book provides a thorough overview of cutting-edge research on electronics applications relevant to industry, the environment, and society at large. It covers a broad spectrum of application domains, from automotive to space and from health to security, while devoting special attention to the use of embedded devices and sensors for imaging, communication and control. The book is based on the 2015 ApplePies Conference, held in Rome, which brought together researchers and stakeholders to consider the most significant current trends in the field of applied electronics and to debate visions for the future. Areas addressed by the conference included information communication technology; biotechnology and biomedical imaging; space; secure, clean and efficient energy; the environment; and smart, green and integrated transport. As electronics technology continues to develop apace, constantly meeting previously unthinkable targets, further attention needs to be directed toward the electronics applications and the development of systems that facilitate human activities. This book, written by industrial and academic professionals, represents a valuable contribution in this endeavor.

Studies on integer optimization in emergency management have attracted engineers and scientists from various disciplines such as management, mathematics, computer science, and other fields. Although there are a large number of literature reports on integer planning and emergency events, few books systematically explain the combination of the two. Researchers need a clear and thorough presentation of the theory and application of integer programming methods for emergency management. Integer Optimization and its Computation in Emergency Management investigates the computation theory of integer optimization, developing integer programming methods for emergency management and explores related practical applications. Pursuing a holistic approach, this book establishes a fundamental framework for this topic, intended for graduate students who are interested in operations research and optimization, researchers investigating emergency management, and algorithm design engineers working on integer programming or other optimization applications.