Discover a fresh take on classical screw theory and understand the geometry embedded within robots and mechanisms with this essential text. The book begins with a geometrical study of points, lines, and planes and slowly takes the reader toward a mastery of screw theory with some cutting-edge results, all while using only basic linear algebra and ordinary vectors. It features a discussion of the geometry of parallel and serial robot manipulators, in addition to the reciprocity of screws and a singularity study. All 41 essential screw systems are unveiled, establishing the possible freedom twists and constraint wrenches for a kinematic joint. Familiarizing the reader with screw geometry in order to study the statics and kinematics of robots and mechanisms, this is a perfect resource for engineers and graduate students.

This book reviews the fundamentals of screw theory concerned with velocity analysis of rigid-bodies, confirmed with detailed and explicit proofs. The author additionally investigates acceleration, jerk, and hyper-jerk analyses of rigid-bodies following the trend of the velocity analysis. With the material provided in this book, readers can extend the theory of screws into the kinematics of optional order of rigid-bodies. Illustrative examples and exercises to reinforce learning are provided. Of particular note, the kinematics of emblematic parallel manipulators, such as the Delta robot as well as the original Gough and Stewart platforms are revisited applying, in addition to the theory of screws, new methods devoted to simplify the corresponding forward-displacement analysis, a challenging task for most parallel manipulators.

Prof. W. Z. Chien was born on 9 October, 1912 and 1982 saw the 70th anniversary of his birth. Some of his friends, colleagues, and former students prepared this special volume in honour of his outstanding contribution to the field of mechanics. The volume does not contain contributions from all of his students and friends and for this we apologize. Prof. Chien's family have lived. in Qufangquiao Village, Hongshengli, Wuxi County, Jiangsu Province for generations. Many members of his family have been teachers in this village. When he was 14 years old his father died and for a time it appeared necessary to terminate his education but, fortunately, an uncle, Chien Mu, who later became a very famous historian in China, came to his aid and he was able to continue his studies. In 1931 he took entrance exams and was simultaneously admitted to five prestigious Chinese universities. Of these, he chose to enter Tsing-hau University in Beijing, with major work in physics. He received his baccaulaurate in 1935 and taught at middle school for a time until he was awarded a Sino:'British scholarship to study abroad. In the competition for this award, three of the recipients were in the field of mechanics: Prof. C. C. Lin, Prof. Kuo Yung-huai, and Prof. Chien Wei-zang. All three arrived in Toronto in August, 1940 and entered the Depart ment of Applied Mathematics of the University of Toronto to study under Prof. J. L. Synge.

Does a machine run well by virtue of its accuracies, or its freedoms? This work presents an exciting, diagrammatic display of the hidden geometry of freedom and constraint. It bolsters the imaginative design of robots, but applies across all fields of machinery. The figures and their captions comprise alone a self-standing story, and this connects effectively with the rigorously argued text. The seamless combination of the two volumes (1984, 1990) renders the internal cross-referencing (forward and backward within the volumes) easier to look up. The appearance of this paperback is a clear testament to the work's ongoing readership. The term screw theory occurs throughout. This relates (after Ball) to the book's philosophy; and one might equally mention kinetostatics (after Federhofer). An all-pervading, counter-intuitive fact accordingly presents itself: while, analogously, angular velocity relates to force, linear velocity relates to couple. A direct consequence of Freedom in Machinery is a more recent book by the same author. Specifically titled General Spatial Involute Gearing and published in Germany (2003), it exemplifies the many ways in which Freedom in Machinery clarifies the enigmatic field of spatial mechanism. That field continuously expands with the current, continuous thrust of ordinary engineering practice.

This book addresses the design of compliant mechanisms, presenting readers with a good understanding of both the solid mechanics of flexible elements and their configuration design, based on a mechanism-equivalent approach in the framework of screw theory. The book begins with the theoretical background of screw theory, and systematically addresses both the compliance characteristics of flexible elements and their configuration design. The book then covers a broad range of compliant parallel mechanism design topics, from stiffness to constraint decomposition, from conceptual design to dimensional design, and from analysis to synthesis, as well as the large deformation problem; this is followed by both simulations and physical experiments, offering readers a solid foundation and useful tools. Given its scope and the results it presents, the book will certainly benefit and inform future research on the topic. It offers a valuable asset for researchers, developers, engineers and graduate students with an interest in compliant mechanisms, robotics and screw theory.