This book consists of 113 selected papers presented at the 2015 International Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Control Systems (MECS2015), which was held in Wuhan, China during January 23-25, 2015. All accepted papers have been subjected to strict peer review by two to four expert referees, and selected based on originality, ability to test ideas and contribution to knowledge.MECS2015 focuses on eight main areas, namely, Mechanical Engineering, Automation, Computer Networks, Signal Processing, Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence, Electrical Engineering, Material Engineering, and System Design. The conference provided an opportunity for researchers to exchange ideas and application experiences, and to establish business or research relations, finding global partners for future collaborations. The conference program was extremely rich, profound and featured high-impact presentations of selected papers and additional late-breaking contributions.

The area of analysis and control of mechanical systems using differential geometry is flourishing. This book collects many results over the last decade and provides a comprehensive introduction to the area.

In recent years, automatic control systems have been rapidly increasing in importance in all fields of engineering. The applications of control systems cover a very wide range, from the design of precision control devices such as delicate electronic equipment to the design of massive equipment such as that used for the manufacture of steel or other industrial processes. Microprocessors have added a new dimension to the capability of control systems. New applications for automatic controls are continually being discovered. This book offers coverage of control engineering beginning with discussions of how typical control systems may be represented by block diagrams. This is accomplished by first demonstrating how to represent each component or part of a system as a simple block diagram, then explaining how these individual diagrams may be connected to form the overall block diagram, just as the actual components are connected to form the complete control system. Because actual control systems frequently contain nonlinear components, considerable emphasis is given to such components. The book goes on to show that important information concerning the basic or inherent operating characteristics of a system may be obtained from knowledge of the steady-state behavior. Continuing on in the book's coverage, readers will find information involving: how the linear differential equations that describe the operation of control systems may be solved algebraically by the use of Laplace transforms; general characteristics of transient behavior; the application of the root-locus method to the design of control systems; the use of the analog computer to simulate control systems; state-space methods;digital control systems; frequency-response methods; and system compensation.

One of the first books to provide in-depth and systematic application of finite element methods to the field of stochastic structural dynamics The parallel developments of the Finite Element Methods in the 1950’s and the engineering applications of stochastic processes in the 1940’s provided a combined numerical analysis tool for the studies of dynamics of structures and structural systems under random loadings. In the open literature, there are books on statistical dynamics of structures and books on structural dynamics with chapters dealing with random response analysis. However, a systematic treatment of stochastic structural dynamics applying the finite element methods seems to be lacking. Aimed at advanced and specialist levels, the author presents and illustrates analytical and direct integration methods for analyzing the statistics of the response of structures to stochastic loads. The analysis methods are based on structural models represented via the Finite Element Method. In addition to linear problems the text also addresses nonlinear problems and non-stationary random excitation with systems having large spatially stochastic property variations.

Thank you for opening the second edition of this monograph, which is devoted to the study of a class of nonsmooth dynamical systems of the general form: ::i; = g(x,u) (0. 1) f(x, t) 2: 0 where x E JRn is the system's state vector, u E JRm is the vector of inputs, and the function f (-, . ) represents a unilateral constraint that is imposed on the state. More precisely, we shall restrict ourselves to a subclass of such systems, namely mechanical systems subject to unilateral constraints on the position, whose dynamical equations may be in a first instance written as: ii= g(q,q,u) (0. 2) f(q, t) 2: 0 where q E JRn is the vector of generalized coordinates of the system and u is an in put (or controller) that generally involves a state feedback loop, i. e. u= u(q, q, t, z), with z= Z(z, q, q, t) when the controller is a dynamic state feedback. Mechanical systems composed of rigid bodies interacting fall into this subclass. A general prop erty of systems as in (0. 1) and (0. 2) is that their solutions are nonsmooth (with respect to time): Nonsmoothness arises primarily from the occurence of impacts (or collisions, or percussions) in the dynamical behaviour, when the trajectories attain the surface f(x, t) = O. They are necessary to keep the trajectories within the subspace = {x : f(x, t) 2: O} of the system's state space.

Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems in Offshore Engineering is a comprehensive treatment of marine mechanical systems (MMS) involved in processes of great importance such as oil drilling and mineral recovery. Ranging from nonlinear dynamic modeling and stability analysis of flexible riser systems, through advanced control design for an installation system with a single rigid payload attached by thrusters, to robust adaptive control for mooring systems, it is an authoritative reference on the dynamics and control of MMS. Readers will gain not only a complete picture of MMS at the system level, but also a better understanding of the technical considerations involved and solutions to problems that commonly arise from dealing with them. The text provides: · a complete framework of dynamical analysis and control design for marine mechanical systems; · new results on the dynamical analysis of riser, mooring and installation systems together with a general modeling method for a class of MMS; · a general method and strategy for realizing the control objectives of marine systems with guaranteed stability the effectiveness of which is illustrated by extensive numerical simulation; and · approximation-based control schemes using neural networks for installation of subsea structures with attached thrusters in the presence of time-varying environmental disturbances and parametric uncertainties. Most of the results presented are analytical with repeatable design algorithms with proven closed-loop stability and performance analysis of the proposed controllers is rigorous and detailed. Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems in Offshore Engineering is primarily intended for researchers and engineers in the system and control community, but graduate students studying control and marine engineering will also find it a useful resource as will practitioners working on the design, running or maintenance of offshore platforms.

The field of robotics is involved in the design, construction and use of robots and their control systems. These are developed with the objective of minimizing human effort or substituting for humans in environments, which are dangerous for human survival such as bomb detection and deactivation, in space, etc. Robotics integrates the techniques of electrical engineering, artificial intelligence, mechanical engineering, etc. for the conception, operation and manufacture of robots. Some common areas where robots are being used include medicine, surgery, military, and manufacturing, where efficiency and precision is of the utmost essence. The components of a robot are a power source, actuators, sensors and manipulators. Solar, nuclear and hydraulic power can be used to drive a robot. This book elucidates the concepts and innovative models around prospective developments in the field of robotics in the modern scenario. Some of the diverse topics covered in this book address the mechanics, systems and control of robotic systems. It aims to serve as a resource guide for students and experts alike and contribute to the growth of the disciplines.