In contrast with previous books on mechatronics and machine vision in practice, a significant number of chapters focus on systems designed for human interaction and deciphering human motion. Examples illustrate assistive actuation of hip joints, the augmentation of touch sense in artificial hand prostheses and helping stroke survivors in repetitive motion therapy. Interactive mechatronics and the experience of developing machine interfaces has enabled an examination of how we use mechatronics in the service of training, and even to consider why computer games perhaps appear to capture attention so much more readily than a human instructor! Mechatronics continues to be an exciting and developing field. It is now an essential part of our world and living experience. This and the previous books in this series illustrate the journey in developing the use of mechatronics so far. We anticipate that you will find the chapters here an equal source of inspiration for new devices to solve the challenges of new applications, and of course as a resource for teaching and inspiring the new generation of mechatronics engineers.

This book presents a specially edited selection of papers from the 10th Annual Conference of Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice(M2VIP 2003), which provides a forum for international experts and researchers to present and review advances in Mechatronics and Machine Vision. The conference was held in Perth,Australia, 9-11 December 2003.

The many intriguing examples on the application of mechatronics reinforce the excitement of this creative field of technology. As a collection they present a stimulating resource to developers of future mechatronics technology, and to educators searching for interesting examples. From structured-light measurement of the build-up of detritus on railway bogies and detection of uncracked spores of Chinese medicine to a practical tractor vision guidance system embedded in a smart-phone application, the practical applications of mechatronics and machine vision abound. Fruits are counted on the tree, pasture biomass is measured and a robot collects camel dung as a resource. 3D printing is in vogue, but papers here discuss the construction and strategy of the printer itself. The measurement and analysis of myoelectric muscle signals enable a prosthesis to be controlled and a feeding robot is used for patient care. An exoskeleton has both soft and rigid links and an optical sensor analyses the tissue into which a surgical needle is being inserted. These are some of the papers in this collection from the 26th annual conference on Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice, carefully selected to exclude papers that are merely theoretical and to highlight those that show practical verification. Papers have been contributed from China, New Zealand, the Philippines, Emirates, Germany and of course Australia.

Rapid developments in electronics over the past two decades have induced a move from purely mechanical vehicles to mechatronics design. Recent advances in computing, sensors, and information technology are pushing mobile equipment design to incorporate higher levels of automation under the novel concept of intelligent vehicles. Mechatronics and Intelligent Systems for Off-road Vehicles introduces this concept, and provides an overview of recent applications and future approaches within this field. Several case studies present real examples of vehicles designed to navigate in off-road environments typically encountered by agriculture, forestry, and construction machines. The examples analyzed describe and illustrate key features for agricultural robotics, such as automatic steering, safeguarding, mapping, and precision agriculture applications. The eight chapters include numerous figures, each designed to improve the reader’s comprehension of subjects such as: • automatic steering systems; • navigation systems; • vehicle architecture; • image processing and vision; and • three-dimensional perception and localization. Mechatronics and Intelligent Systems for Off-road Vehicles will be of great interest to professional engineers and researchers in vehicle automation, robotics, and the application of artificial intelligence to mobile equipment; as well as to graduate students of mechanical, electrical, and agricultural engineering.

This volume represents the proceedings of a prestigious international conference organized by Loughborough University which will be of interest to all those involved in this rapidly advancing field, proving to be a vital read for all who wish to be well informed of developments and advances. Also included is a CD-ROM containing all the papers that were presented at the conference. The CD-ROM has been created using Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 with Search. Acrobat Reader is a unique software application that allows the user the opportunity to view, search, download, and print information electronically generated and produced in PDF format. It has extensive search facilities by author, subject, key-words, etc. Topics covered include: Fundamental Enabling Technologies Automatic Control of Mechatronic Systems Mechatronic Components Robotics and Automation Mobile robots Integrated Mechatronic Systems Biomedical Applications Mechatronics Education

Mechatronics is the blending of mechanics, electronics and computer control into an integrated design. It is the basis of an expanding list of products and techniques of great technical and commercial value. Ideas that were merely visions in the laboratory have emerged to find real applications in areas of vehicle guidance, robot aided inspection and agriculture. Low cost cameras developed for multimedia applications offer a whole new field of low-cost vision-based control through their ease of interfacing.

The field of mechatronics continues to be the basis for an ever-growing list of products and techniques of great technical and commercial value. Mechatronic design can result in products which are much simpler than their intricate and costly predecessors and can make commonplace the miracles of yesterday. Machine vision has emerged from the laboratory to find real applications in areas, including vehicle guidance, robot control and agriculture. Low-cost cameras have been developed for multimedia applications - but with their ease of interfacing, they offer a whole new field of low-cost vision-based control.