Cellular Actuators: Modularity and Variability in Muscle-Inspired Actuation describes the roles actuators play in robotics and their insufficiency in emerging new robotic applications, such as wearable devices and human co-working robots where compactness and compliance are important. Piezoelectric actuators, the topic of this book, provide advantages like displacement scale, force, reliability, and compactness, and rely on material properties to provide displacement and force as reactions to electric stimulation. The authors, renowned researchers in the area, present the fundamentals of muscle-like movement and a system-wide study that includes the design, analysis, and control of biologically inspired actuators. This book is the perfect guide for researchers and practitioners who would like to deploy this technology into their research and products. - Introduces Piezoelectric Actuators concepts in a system wide integrated approach - Acts as a single source for the design, analysis, and control of actuator arrays - Presents applications to illustrate concepts and the potential of the technology - Details the physical assembly possibilities of Piezo actuators - Presents fundamentals of bio inspired actuation - Introduces the concept of cellular actuators

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "QoS in Wireless Sensor/Actuator Networks and Systems" that was published in JSAN

This book discusses biologically inspired robotic actuators designed to offer improved robot performance and approaching human-like efficiency and versatility. It assesses biological actuation and control in the human motor system, presents a range of technical actuation approaches, and discusses potential applications in wearable robots, i.e., powered prostheses and exoskeletons. Gathering the findings of internationally respected researchers from various fields, the book provides a uniquely broad perspective on bioinspired actuator designs for robotics. Its scope includes fundamental aspects of biomechanics and neuromechanics, actuator and control design, and their application in (wearable) robotics. The book offers PhD students and advanced graduate students an essential introduction to the field, while providing researchers a cutting-edge research perspective.

Introduction -- Fundamentals of Cellular Mechanics -- Theoretical Microbiorobotics -- Experimental Microbiorobotics -- Perspectives and Outlook.

Advanced Mechatronics and MEMS Devicesdescribes state-of-the-art MEMS devices and introduces the latest technology in electrical and mechanical microsystems. The evolution of design in microfabrication, as well as emerging issues in nanomaterials, micromachining, micromanufacturing and microassembly are all discussed at length in this volume. Advanced Mechatronics also provides a reader with knowledge of MEMS sensors array, MEMS multidimensional accelerometer, artificial skin with imbedded tactile components, as well as other topics in MEMS sensors and transducers. The book also presents a number of topics in advanced robotics and an abundance of applications of MEMS in robotics, like reconfigurable modular snake robots, magnetic MEMS robots for drug delivery and flying robots with adjustable wings, to name a few.

This timely book offers a mixture of theory, experiments, and simulations that provides qualitative and quantitative insights in the field of sensor and actuator networking. The chapters are selected in a way that makes the book comprehensive and self-contained. It covers a wide range of recognized problems in sensor networks, striking a balance between theoretical and practical coverage. The book is appropriate for graduate students and practitioners working as engineers, programmers, and technologists.

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