This book presents in a systematic manner the advanced technologies used for various modern robot applications. By bringing fresh ideas, new concepts, novel methods and tools into robot control, robot vision, human robot interaction, teleoperation of robot and multiple robots system, we are to provide a state-of-the-art and comprehensive treatment of the advanced technologies for a wide range of robotic applications. Particularly, we focus on the topics of advanced control and obstacle avoidance techniques for robot to deal with unknown perturbations, of visual servoing techniques which enable robot to autonomously operate in a dynamic environment, and of advanced techniques involved in human robot interaction. The book is primarily intended for researchers and engineers in the robotic and control community. It can also serve as complementary reading for robotics at the both graduate and undergraduate levels.

This book addresses a key technology for digital information processing: Kalman filtering, which is generally considered to be one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century. It introduces readers to issues concerning various uncertainties in a single plant, and to corresponding solutions based on adaptive estimation. Further, it discusses in detail the issues that arise when Kalman filtering technology is applied in multi-sensor systems and/or multi-agent systems, especially when various sensors are used in systems like intelligent robots, autonomous cars, smart homes, smart buildings, etc., requiring multi-sensor information fusion techniques. Furthermore, when multiple agents (subsystems) interact with one another, it produces coupling uncertainties, a challenging issue that is addressed here with the aid of novel decentralized adaptive filtering techniques.Overall, the book's goal is to provide readers with a comprehensive investigation into the challenging problem of making Kalman filtering work well in the presence of various uncertainties and/or for multiple sensors/components. State-of-art techniques are introduced, together with a wealth of novel findings. As such, it can be a good reference book for researchers whose work involves filtering and applications; yet it can also serve as a postgraduate textbook for students in mathematics, engineering, automation, and related fields.To read this book, only a basic grasp of linear algebra and probability theory is needed, though experience with least squares, navigation, robotics, etc. would definitely be a plus.

This book presents the fundamental fluid flow and heat transfer principles occurring in oscillating heat pipes and also provides updated developments and recent innovations in research and applications of heat pipes. Starting with fundamental presentation of heat pipes, the focus is on oscillating motions and its heat transfer enhancement in a two-phase heat transfer system. The book covers thermodynamic analysis, interfacial phenomenon, thin film evaporation, theoretical models of oscillating motion and heat transfer of single phase and two-phase flows, primary factors affecting oscillating motions and heat transfer, neutron imaging study of oscillating motions in an oscillating heat pipes, and nanofluid's effect on the heat transfer performance in oscillating heat pipes. The importance of thermally-excited oscillating motion combined with phase change heat transfer to a wide variety of applications is emphasized. This book is an essential resource and learning tool for senior undergraduate, graduate students, practicing engineers, researchers, and scientists working in the area of heat pipes. This book also * Includes detailed descriptions on how an oscillating heat pipe is fabricated, tested, and utilized * Covers fundamentals of oscillating flow and heat transfer in an oscillating heat pipe * Provides general presentation of conventional heat pipes