Advances In Motion Sensing And Control For Robotic Applications

This book reports on advances in sensing, modeling and control methods for different robotic platforms such as multi-degree of freedom robotic arms, unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous mobile platforms. Based on 2018 Symposium on Mechatronics, Robotics, and Control (SMTRC’18), held as part of the 2018 CSME International Congress, in York University, Toronto, Canada, the book covers a variety of topics, from filtering and state estimation to adaptive control of reconfigurable robots and more. Next-generation systems with advanced control, planning, perception and interaction capabilities will achieve functionalities far beyond today’s technology. Two key challenges remaining for advanced robot technologies are related to sensing and control in robotic systems. Advanced perception is needed to navigate changing environments. Adaptive and intelligent control systems must be developed to enable operation in unstructured and dynamic environments. The selected chapters in this book focus on both of the aforementioned areas and highlight the main trends and challenges in robot sensing and control. The first part of the book introduces chapters which focus on advanced perception and sensing for robotics applications. They include sensor filtering and state estimation for bipedal robots and motion capture systems analysis. The second part focuses on different modeling and control methods for robotic systems including flight control for UAVs, multi-variable robust control for modular and reconfigurable robotics and control for precision micromanipulation.

This monograph presents an updated source of information on the state of the art in advanced control of articulated and mobile robots. It includes relevant selected problems dealing with enhanced actuation, motion planning and control functions for articulated robots, as well as of sensory and autonomous decision capabilities for mobile robots. The basic idea behind the book is to provide a larger community of robotic researchers and developers with a reliable source of information and innovative applications in the field of control of cooperating and mobile robots. This book is the outcome of the research project MISTRAL (Methodologies and Integration of Subsystems and Technologies for Anthropic Robotics and Locomotion) funded in 2001-2002 by the Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research. The thorough discussion, rigorous treatment, and wide span of the presented work reveal the significant advances in the theoretical foundation and technology basis of the robotics field worldwide.

To ensure the capability of defense, a demand for equipment and systems which can be embraced under the title of "Robotics" will emerge in the near future. In this context, "Robotics" represents a specific problem area involving all the guidance and control functions which are associated with achieving goal-oriented autonomous behavior in structured and unstructured environments for mobile and manipulator systems as applied to ground, sea, air, and space operations. Related robotic systems must combine constituent functions such as intelligent decision making, control, manipulation, motion, sensing, and communication. The scope of the special course will cover new developments in the areas of autonomous navigation for planetary and surface systems, and control and operations of remote manipulators.

The first volume of the Advances in Robotics and Automatic Control: Reviews, Book Series started by IFSA Publishing in 2018 contains ten chapters written by 32 contributors from 9 countries: Belgium, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Serbia, Tunisia and USA. We hope that readers will enjoy this book and it can be a valuable tool for those who involved in research and development of various robots and automatic control systems.

The German Workshop on Robotics is a convention of roboticists from academia and industry working on mathematical and algorithmic foundations of robotics, on the design and analysis of robotic systems as well as on robotic applications. Selected contributions from researchers in German-speaking countries as well as from the international robotics community compose this volume. The papers are organized in ten scientific tracks: Kinematic and Dynamic Modeling, Motion Generation, Sensor Integration, Robot Vision, Robot Programming, Humanoid Robots, Grasping, Medical Robotics, Autonomous Helicopters, and Robot Applications. Due to an extensive review and discussion process, this collection of scientific contributions is of very high caliber and promises to strongly influence future robotic research activities.

Robots have come a long way thanks to advances in sensing and computer vision technologies and can be found today in healthcare, medicine and industry. Researchers have been looking at providing them with senses such as the ability to see, smell, hear and perceive touch in order to mimic and interact with humans and their surrounding environments.

Control in Robotics and Automation has been written to meet the rapidly growing need for sensor-based integration to solve problems in the control and planning of robotic systems. Applications of these control methods range from assembly tasks in industrial automation to material handling in hazardous environments and servicing tasks in space. Many advances in a wide range of new applications in robotics and automation will depend on methods presented in this book, including robot-assisted surgery, space exploration, and micro-fabrication.