Modern robotic systems are tied to operate autonomously in real-world environments performing a variety of complex tasks. Autonomous robots must rely on fundamental capabilities such as locomotion, trajectory tracking control, multi-sensor fusion, task/path planning, navigation, and real-time perception. Combining this knowledge is essential to design rolling, walking, aquatic, and hovering robots that sense and self-control. This book contains a mathematical modelling framework to support the learning of modern robotics and mechatronics, aimed at advanced undergraduates or first-year PhD students, as well as researchers and practitioners. The volume exposes a solid understanding of mathematical methods as a common modelling framework to properly interpret advanced robotic systems. Including numerical approximations, solution of linear and non-linear systems of equations, curves fitting, differentiation and integration of functions. The book is suitable for courses on robotics, mechatronics, sensing models, vehicles design and control, modelling, simulation, and mechanisms analysis. It is organised with 17 chapters divided in five parts that conceptualise classical mechanics to model a wide variety of applied robotics. It comprehends a hover-craft, an amphibious hexapod, self-reconfiguration and under-actuation of rolling and passive walking robots with Hoekens, Klann, and Jansen limbs for bipedal, quadruped, and octapod robots.

Introduction -- Math fundamentals -- Numerical methods -- Dynamics -- Optimal estimation -- State estimation -- Control -- Perception -- Localization and mapping -- Motion planning

Written by two of Europe's leading robotics experts, this book provides the tools for a unified approach to the modelling of robotic manipulators, whatever their mechanical structure. No other publication covers the three fundamental issues of robotics: modelling, identification and control. It covers the development of various mathematical models required for the control and simulation of robots.·World class authority·Unique range of coverage not available in any other book·Provides a complete course on robotic control at an undergraduate and graduate level

A modern and unified treatment of the mechanics, planning, and control of robots, suitable for a first course in robotics.

Numerical simulations are essential in different fields of engineering for several types of analysis. They help in solving complex mathematical equations that govern the behavior of physical systems whose analytical solutions might be difficult to obtain. The simulations can be used in conjunction with the experimental results to compare, study and improve physical systems. This thesis focuses on the use of computational tools for three separate systems. The first one is a static structural finite element study of a self-expandable shape memory alloy (SMA) based stent. Different structures such as cantilever and coiled geometry are studied to characterize the SMA material. The SMA material is then applied to different stages of stent deployment. The behavior of a hyper elastic material such as silicone, which is used to mimic the behavior of human tissues and in the study of underwater soft robotics is also characterized and compared through different available models. The second and third parts of this study cover underwater flow simulations for an octopus and a jellyfish-like robots. In the octopus-like robot simulation, emphasis was given to the use of dynamic meshing techniques for underwater rigid motion to capture the flow behavior. Whereas, in the jellyfish simulation, attention was given to the use of fluid-structure interaction analysis, where the flapping movement of the soft jellyfish bell segment is coupled with the surrounding fluid domain to generate the required propulsion for forward motion. The study provides insightful information on the flow behavior of unique bioinspired underwater robots.

This book provides a step-by-step survey of the theory and applications of industrial robots. It includes case studies, numerical examples, and sample robot programs. Robot Modeling develops a mathematical model that is general in purpose and applicable to any robot.

Modeling and Control of Vehicular and Robotic Systems provides a comprehensive coverage of mathematical modeling and model-based control of autonomous vehicular and robotic systems based on three broad application areas, namely, rigid robot systems (with special emphasis on active vision heads, which are rare in contemporary literature), ground vehicles, and surface vehicles. Two main drawbacks of classical methods of model based controller synthesis and implementation, i.e. the need of an accurate knowledge of the dynamics that is a strong requirement in practice and velocity feedback of all degrees-of-freedom are thoroughly addressed. To overcome these deficiencies, design and implementation issues of online adaptive neural networks-based dynamic compensators and controller-observer systems have been included. The related issues of modeling, controller design, stability analysis, sensor requirements and options, and numerical simulations are also presented.