This book investigates in detail cutting-edge technologies of underactuated manipulator control, which is a frontier topic in robotics that possesses great significance in energy conservation as well as fault tolerance for industrial applications. It is also the crucial technology associated with systems in special environments, including underwater or aerospace environments. So far, the topic of underactuated manipulator control has attracted engineers and scientists from various disciplines, such as applied physics, material, automation and robotics. Pursuing a holistic approach, the book establishes a fundamental framework for this topic, while emphasizing the importance of design and optimization in the control of underactuated manipulators. Chapters of the book cover a wide variety of manipulator systems, including vertical underactuated manipulator, planar underactuated manipulator with first-order nonholonomic constraint, planar underactuated manipulator with second-order nonholonomic constraint and flexible underactuated manipulator. The book is intended for undergraduate and graduate students that are interested in underactuated manipulators, researchers that investigate the design and optimization for controllers of underactuated manipulators and engineers working with underactuated systems.

The vast majority of automatic controllers used to compensate industrial processes are of PI or PID type. This book comprehensively compiles, using a unified notation, tuning rules for these controllers proposed over the last seven decades (1935-2005). The tuning rules are carefully categorized and application information about each rule is given. The book discusses controller architecture and process modeling issues, as well as the performance and robustness of loops compensated with PI or PID controllers. This unique publication brings together in an easy-to-use format material previously published in a large number of papers and books.This wholly revised second edition extends the presentation of PI and PID controller tuning rules, for single variable processes with time delays, to include additional rules compiled since the first edition was published in 2003.

Soft computing embraces various methodologies for the development of intelligent systems that have been successfully applied to a large number of real-world problems. Soft Computing in Industry contains a collection of papers that were presented at the 6th On-line World Conference on Soft Computing in Industrial Applications that was held in September 2001. It provides a comprehensive overview of recent theoretical developments in soft computing as well as of successful industrial applications. It is divided into seven parts covering material on: keynote papers on various subjects ranging from computing with autopoietic systems to the effects of the Internet on education; intelligent control; classification, clustering and optimization; image and signal processing; agents, multimedia and Internet; theoretical advances; prediction, design and diagnosis. The book is aimed at researchers and professional engineers who develop and apply intelligent systems in computer engineering.

By far the most commonly encountered and energy-intensive unit operation in almost all industrial sectors, industrial drying continues to attract the interest of scientists, researchers, and engineers. The Handbook of Industrial Drying, Fourth Edition not only delivers a comprehensive treatment of the current state of the art, but also serves as a consultative reference for streamlining industrial drying operations. New to the Fourth Edition: Computational fluid dynamic simulation Solar, impingement, and pulse combustion drying Drying of fruits, vegetables, sugar, biomass, and coal Physicochemical aspects of sludge drying Life-cycle assessment of drying systems Covering commonly encountered dryers as well as innovative dryers with future potential, the Handbook of Industrial Drying, Fourth Edition not only details the latest developments in the field, but also explains how improvements in dryer design and operation can increase energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

This book describes the development of an integrated approach for generating the path and gait of realistic hexapod robotic systems. It discusses in detail locomation with straight-ahead, crab and turning motion capabilities in varying terrains, like sloping surfaces, staircases, and various user-defined rough terrains. It also presents computer simulations and validation using Virtual Prototyping (VP) tools and real-world experiments. The book also explores improving solutions by applying the developed nonlinear, constrained inverse dynamics model of the system formulated as a coupled dynamical problem based on the Newton–Euler (NE) approach and taking into account realistic environmental conditions. The approach is developed on the basis of rigid multi-body modelling and the concept that there is no change in the configuration of the system in the short time span of collisions.

The development and launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik more than five decades ago propelled both the scientific and engineering communities to new heights as they worked together to develop novel solutions to the challenges of spacecraft system design. This symbiotic relationship has brought significant technological advances that have enabled the design of systems that can withstand the rigors of space while providing valuable space-based services. With its 26 chapters divided into three sections, this book brings together critical contributions from renowned international researchers to provide an outstanding survey of recent advances in spacecraft technologies. The first section includes nine chapters that focus on innovative hardware technologies while the next section is comprised of seven chapters that center on cutting-edge state estimation techniques. The final section contains eleven chapters that present a series of novel control methods for spacecraft orbit and attitude control.