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.

Includes sections on: Sliding mode control with switching command devices. Hyperplane design and CAD of variable structure control systems. Variable structure controllers for robots. The hyperstability approach to VSCS design. Nonlinear continuous feedback for robust tracking. Control of uncertain systems with neglected dynamics. Control of infinite dimensional plants.

There is increasing interest in the potential of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and MAV (Micro Air Vehicle) technology and their wide ranging applications including defence missions, reconnaissance and surveillance, border patrol, disaster zone assessment and atmospheric research. High investment levels from the military sector globally is driving research and development and increasing the viability of autonomous platforms as replacements for the remotely piloted vehicles more commonly in use. UAV/UAS pose a number of new challenges, with the autonomy and in particular collision avoidance, detect and avoid, or sense and avoid, as the most challenging one, involving both regulatory and technical issues. Sense and Avoid in UAS: Research and Applications covers the problem of detect, sense and avoid in UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) in depth and combines the theoretical and application results by leading academics and researchers from industry and academia. Key features: Presents a holistic view of the sense and avoid problem in the wider application of autonomous systems Includes information on human factors, regulatory issues and navigation, control, aerodynamics and physics aspects of the sense and avoid problem in UAS Provides professional, scientific and reliable content that is easy to understand, and Includes contributions from leading engineers and researchers in the field Sense and Avoid in UAS: Research and Applications is an invaluable source of original and specialised information. It acts as a reference manual for practising engineers and advanced theoretical researchers and also forms a useful resource for younger engineers and postgraduate students. With its credible sources and thorough review process, Sense and Avoid in UAS: Research and Applications provides a reliable source of information in an area that is fast expanding but scarcely covered.

Maintaining a stable level of power quality in the distribution network is a growing challenge due to increased use of power electronics converters in domestic, commercial and industrial sectors. Power quality deterioration is manifested in increased losses; poor utilization of distribution systems; mal-operation of sensitive equipment and disturbances to nearby consumers, protective devices, and communication systems. However, as the energy-saving benefits will result in increased AC power processed through power electronics converters, there is a compelling need for improved understanding of mitigation techniques for power quality problems. This timely book comprehensively identifies, classifies, analyses and quantifies all associated power quality problems, including the direct integration of renewable energy sources in the distribution system, and systematically delivers mitigation techniques to overcome these problems. Key features: • Emphasis on in-depth learning of the latest topics in power quality extensively illustrated with waveforms and phasor diagrams. • Essential theory supported by solved numerical examples, review questions, and unsolved numerical problems to reinforce understanding. • Companion website contains solutions to unsolved numerical problems, providing hands-on experience. Senior undergraduate and graduate electrical engineering students and instructors will find this an invaluable resource for education in the field of power quality. It will also support continuing professional development for practicing engineers in distribution and transmission system operators.

This book offers a timely overview of nonlinear control methods applied to a set of vehicles and their applications to study vehicle dynamics. The first part on the book presents the mathematical models used for describing motion of three class of vehicles such as underwater vehicles, hovercrafts and airships. In turn, each model is expressed in terms of Inertial Quasi-Velocities. Various control strategies from the literature, including model-free ones, are then analyzed. The second part and core of the book guides readers to developing model-based control algorithms using Inertial Quasi-Velocities. Both non-adaptive and adaptive versions are covered. Each controller is validated through simulation tests, which are reported in detail. In turn, this part shows how to use the controllers to gain information about vehicle dynamics, thus describing an important relationship between the dynamics of the moving object and its motion control. The effects of mechanical couplings between variables describing vehicle motion due to inertial forces are also discussed. All in all, this book offers a timely guide and extensive information on nonlinear control schemes for unmanned marine and aerial vehicles. It covers specifically the simulation tests and is therefore meant as a starting point for engineers and researchers that would like to verify experimentally the suitability of the proposed models in real vehicles. Further, it also supports advanced-level students and educators in their courses on vehicle dynamics, control engineering and robotics.

The first three CEAS (Counsil of European Aerospace Societies) Specialist Conferences on Guidance, Navigation and Control (CEAS EuroGNC) were held in Munich, Germany in 2011, in Delft, Netherlands in 2013 and in Toulouse, France in 2017. The Warsaw University of Technology (WUT) and the Rzeszow University of Technology (RzUT) accepted the challenge of jointly organizing the 4th edition. The conference aims to promote scientific and technical excellence in the fields of Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) in aerospace and other fields of technology. The Conference joins together the industry with the academia research. This book covers four main topics: Guidance and Control, Control Theory Application, Navigation, UAV Control and Dynamic. The papers included focus on the most advanced and actual topics in guidance, navigation and control research areas: · Control theory, analysis, and design · ; Novel navigation, estimation, and tracking methods · Aircraft, spacecraft, missile and UAV guidance, navigation, and control · Flight testing and experimental results · Intelligent control in aerospace applications · Aerospace robotics and unmanned/autonomous systems · Sensor systems for guidance, navigation and control · Guidance, navigation, and control concepts in air traffic control systems For the 4th CEAS Specialist Conference on Guidance, Navigation and Control the International Technical Committee established a formal review process. Each paper was reviewed in compliance with good journal practices by independent and anonymous reviewers. At the end of the review process papers were selected for publication in this book.