Fundamental and technological topics are blended uniquely and developed clearly in nine chapters with a gradually increasing level of complexity. A wide variety of relevant problems is raised throughout, and the proper tools to find engineering-oriented solutions are introduced and explained, step by step.
Fundamental coverage includes: Kinematics; Statics and dynamics of manipulators; Trajectory planning and motion control in free space. Technological aspects include: Actuators; Sensors; Hardware/software control architectures; Industrial robot-control algorithms.
Furthermore, established research results involving description of end-effector orientation, closed kinematic chains, kinematic redundancy and singularities, dynamic parameter identification, robust and adaptive control and force/motion control are provided.
To provide readers with a homogeneous background, three appendices are included on: Linear algebra; Rigid-body mechanics; Feedback control.
To acquire practical skill, more than 50 examples and case studies are carefully worked out and interwoven through the text, with frequent resort to simulation. In addition, more than 80 end-of-chapter exercises are proposed, and the book is accompanied by a solutions manual containing the MATLAB code for computer problems; this is available from the publisher free of charge to those adopting this work as a textbook for courses.
Lorenzo Sciavicco is currently Professor of Robotics in the Department of Computer Engineering and Automation of the Third University of Rome. His research interests include automatic control theory and applications, manipulator inverse kinematics techniques, redundant manipulator control, force/motion control of manipulators, and cooperative robot manipulation. He has published more than 80 journal and conference papers, and 1 book. He has been one of the pioneers of robot control research in Italy, and has been awarded numerous research grants for his robotics group. He has served as a referee for industrial and academic research projects on robotics and automation in Italy.
Bruno Siciliano is currently Associate Professor of Robotics in the Department of Computer and Systems Engineering and Director of the PRISMA Lab at the University of Naples. His research interests include manipulator inverse kinematics techniques, redundant manipulator control, modeling and control of flexible arms, force/motion control of manipulators, and cooperative robot manipulation. He has published more than 150 journal and conference papers, and 7 books and is the Seires Editor of Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics. He has delivered more than 60 invited seminars and presentations at international institutions. He has served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation from 1991 to 1994, and as an Associate Technical Editor of the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control since 1994. He is also on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Robotica and the Journal of Robotic Systems. Since 1996 he has been an Administrative Committee Member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (re-elected in 1999 and again in 2005) and served as either Vice president for Publications or for Technical Activities between 1999 and 2004, and Chair of the Technical Committee on Manufacturing and Automation Robotic Control of the IEEE Control Systems Society. In February 1999 he has been appointed Vice-President for Publications of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. He has been on the program committees of several international robotics conferences, he has been Program Chair of the IEEE International Workshop on Control Problems in Robotics and Automation: Future Directions (1997), Program Vice-Chair of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (1998,1999), General Co-Chair of the IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (1999).
