Product Description
This up-to-date text and reference is designed to present the fundamental principles of robotics with a strong emphasis on engineering applications and industrial solutions based on robotic technology. It can be used by practicing engineers and scientists -- or as a text in standard university courses in robotics. The book has extensive coverage of the major robotic classifications, including Wheeled Mobile Robots, Legged Robots, and the Robotic Manipulator. A central theme is the importance of kinematics to robotic principles. The book is accompanied by a CD-ROM with MATLAB simulations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Totally out of date
This book was published in 2007 and the back cover says it is "up-to-date" but the material is very old. For example, the very first chapter talks about the M2 robot at the MIT Leglab "currently being developed" but the M2 web site has not been updated since 2001.

Chapter 3 discusses basic electronics but uses the 8051 as an example of a microcontroller. This chip must be at least 10 years old and is nowhere near state of the art. The chapter runs to almost 90 pages out of 340, more than a quarter of the book, and is more than the three chapters on kinematics combined (4, 5 and 7).

The figures do not have captions in most cases and are not referenced in the text. All the figures are supposed to be on the CD, but most of them are missing and many of the ones that are there do not appear in the book.

There are no citations at all, so it is very difficult to tell how current some of the references are.

The CD-ROM does not contain all of the items mentioned in the book, such as the Turtle program. An entire appendix is devoted to a listing of this program, which is dated 2004 in the text, and is written in Turbo C for DOS! In fact, there are several locations in the book where there is a CD-ROM icon, but no corresponding code on the CD.

The Matlab code on the CD ranges in age from 2003 to 2007. Other programs on the CD to demonstrate kinematics are DOS programs from 1996!

I cannot believe that anyone could publish such a poorly edited collection of outdated material. I bought this book based on two 5-star ratings. In my opinion it is only worth 1 star, and that is for the coverage of basic mechanics and kinematics which never go out of date.

The technical depth of the survey makes it a highly recommended pick for any college-level holding with courses on the topic.
ROBOTICS is a top pick for college-level collections strong in engineering applications and industrial engineering based on robotic technology, and will appeal to both students and practicing engineering techs working in the field. The major robot classifications are surveyed, with chapters covering basic concepts, mechanics and electronics alike, and kinematics. The technical depth of the survey makes it a highly recommended pick for any college-level holding with courses on the topic.

Excellent Learning Material
This book is very thorough with the content. It is very easy to understand and very informative ... Read more

Product Description
Over the last twenty years, automation and robotics have playedan increasingly important role in a variety of application domainsincluding manufacturing, hazardous environments, defense, and serviceindustries. Space is a unique environment where power, communications,atmospheric, gravitational, and sensing conditions impose harshconstraints on the ability of both man and machines to functionproductively.
In this environment, intelligent automation and robotics are essentialcomplements to the capabilities of humans. In the development of theUnited States Space Program, robotic manipulation systems haveincreased in importance as the complexity of space missions has grown.Future missions will require the construction, maintenance, and repairof large structures, such as the space station. This volume presentsthe effords of several groups that are working on robotic solutions tothis problem.
Much of the work in this book is related to assembly in space, andespecially in-orbit assembly of large truss structures. Many of theseso-called truss structures will be assembled in orbit. It is expectedthat robot manipulators will be used exclusively, or at least providepartial assistance to humans.
Intelligent Robotic Systems for Space Exploration providesdetailed algorithms and analysis for assembly of truss structure inspace. It reports on actual implementations to date done at NASA'sLangley Research Center. The Johnson Space Center, and the JetPropulsion Laboratory. Other implementations and research done atRensselaer are also reported. Analysis of robot control problems thatare unique to a zero-gravity environment are presented.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Broader coverage of the issues would have made it a better book
The title of this book is misleading. One would think that this would be a collection of essays on the latest generation of remote scientific space probes currently being developed. However, the bulk of the book is dedicated to the description of current research in the design of robots to assemble prefabricated objects in space. The goal of this research is, of course, the proposed space station Freedom. While that work is interesting in its own right, the scope of the book should have been expanded.
The problems of space assembly are of course formidable.Lacking the anchoring effect of gravity, the simple movement of tightening a bolt imparts a torque to the robot that must be compensated for. Without the scattering effect of an atmosphere, there is essentially no middle ground between glare and shadow. Developing a vision system that will differentiate between the proper and improper alignment of the parts in this environment is very difficult. This book does a good, but not complete job in presenting the problems. That is not meant to be a criticism per se, as that is to be expected, given the nature of the articles. The papers are by people reporting on their research, and are understandably somewhat biased on the positive side. However, as has been clear throughout the space programs of both the U. S. and the former Soviet Union, one must experience the problems created by free-fall before you can truly appreciate the complexities.
What is missing from the book is any sense of the intense and sometimes bitter debate being carried out within the space exploration community. The essence of that debate can be distilled down to two focal points that, in the current climate of budget restraints, are rapidly losing what common ground there was:

1) The overwhelming majority of space science, in space, should be done by machine intelligence.
2) Human intelligence in space should be a permanent condition.

Proponents of the first point consider the building of space station Freedom to be an exercise in political and scientific foolishness, with this research being only peripherally useful. This group is focused on the development of intelligent machines that can move around and sample their environment with little or no human input. The track record of these people is impressive, although some failures have occurred. However, even some of these have been compensated for by the brilliance of earthbound personnel.A case in point is the failure of the high-gain antenna on the Galileo craft to unfurl. Even though this prevents the high-speed transmission of data, changes in the collection and coding of the data should lead to the recovery of nearly all of the information.
Those who favor the second point consider a permanent human presence in space essential. Three primary arguments are put forward in support of this position:

(a) Only human space flight can capture the public imagination and guarantee the level of support necessary for adequate funding of the space program.
(b) No one can anticipate all possible problems and code for them, so only human intelligence is flexible enough to respond. This is generally an argument that questions the robustness of machines intelligence, and indirectly that of the programmers.
(c) All other space explorations, including the establishment of colonies, require a space station as a base.

This would have been a much better book if some of the points of this debate had been included.
Furthermore, remote scientific probes will require a higher level of intelligence than robots designed to construct objects in Earth orbit. The travel time in the cycle

machine encounters problems and requests instructions - >
request received and processed by humans, response transmitted - > instructions received by machine

is on the order of hours, while that in Earth orbit is nearly instantaneous. While harsh, the environment in Earth orbit is extremely consistent. A surface rover on a planet will have to dodge boulders, differentiate the interesting from the routine, carry out experiments and perhaps hibernate through a sandstorm. The level of intelligence required to do this dwarfs that of construction robots in space, and that should appear in this book. Also, the automated construction of space stations should not be considered space exploration.
In conclusion, if your primary interest is in how robots will construct objects in space, this book is for you. Otherwise, you need to do a little more exploring of the universe before you find what you want.

Published in "Journal of Automated Reasoning" reprinted with permission from Springer
... Read more

Product Description
Aerial robots can be considered as an evolution of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This book provides a quite complete overview of issues related to aerial robotics, addressing problems ranging from flight control to terrain perception and mission planning and execution. The major challenges and potentials of heterogeneous UAVs are comprehensively explored. It builds on the results of the European project COMETS, and highlights a number of key research topics in the area of UAV development, including communication, perception, teleoperation and decision making. The monograph emphasizes the current state of technology, the existing problems and potentialities of systems consisting of multiple UAVs which are heterogeneous in view of the different characteristics of the aerial vehicles, the different on-board payloads, and the different on-board information processing capabilities. The book also examines potential applications of UAVs and details a relevant application case: forest fire detection and monitoring. ... Read more

Product Description
Robot Modeling and Kinematics teaches the fundamental topics of robotics, using cutting-edge visualization software and computer tools to illustrate topics andprovide a comprehensive process of teaching and learning.The book provides an introduction to robotics with an emphasis on the study of robotic arms, their mathematical description, and the equations describing their motion. It teaches how to model robotic arms efficiently and analyze their kinematics. The kinematics of robot manipulators is also presented beginning with the use of simple robot mechanisms and progressing to the most complex robot manipulator structures. While mathematically rigorous, the book's focus is on ease of understanding of the concepts with interactive animated computer graphics illustrations and modeling software that allow clear understanding of the material covered in the book. All necessary computations are concisely explained and software is provided that greatly eases the computational burden normally associated with robotics. Written for use in a robotics course or as a professional reference, Robot Modeling and Kinematics is an essential resource that provides a thorough understanding of the topics of modeling and kinematics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Arguably worst book on robotics
The most generous thing I can say about this book is that I do not know if it is just poorly edited/proofread, or simply badly written by someone who undoubtedly knows some robotics but has no idea how to explain it. In any event, not only is the writing weak, the explanations confusing, many of the equations are simply wrong as printed!Look at all the mistakes on pp. 56-57 or pp. 60-61, for example. You want specifics?How about Equation (2.58) on p. 57?It is so obviously incorrect that it is just embarrassing.I feel sorry for the students at University of West Florida who are trying to learn robotics from the author of this book, a professor at that institution. If only I could return this book to Amazon for a refund!

Having now dabbled in robotics for about a year, the best books I have found are:

1. Introduction to Robotics - Mechanics and Control by John J. Craig
2. Robot Modeling and Controlby Spong, Hutchinson and Vidyasager

Hope this helps, or at least spares you from wasting your money.

Text Based on Visualization Techniques and Software
This book is intended to provide an introduction to robotics with a special emphasis on mathematically modelling the movements of robot manipulators. It is suitable for a senior level undergratuate or a beginning year graduate level course in robotics. This book is primarily aimed at how robots move things around in an industrial automation environment rather than the more popularized 'build your own robot' type of book.

It is mathematically rigorous and the student should have some understanding of matrix manipulation, vectors, and knowledge of the trigonometric functions. It would be suitable for courses in industrial engineering, computer automation, and other areas where robot motion is used.

The book includes a CD with interactive visualization software using VRML (a VRML bho is included on the disk), and specialized computational software for robotics. This text is one of the first to use these computer based visualization routines for describing robotic motion. ... Read more

Product Description

Assuming only neighbor-neighbor interaction among vehicles, this monograph develops distributed consensus strategies that ensure that the information states of all vehicles in a network converge to a common value. Readers learn to deal with groups of autonomous vehicles in aerial, terrestrial, and submarine environments. Plus, they get the tools needed to overcome impaired communication by using constantly updated neighbor-neighbor interchange.

Product Description
This unique monograph focuses on the systematic type synthesis of parallel mechanisms (PMs), which is a key issue in the creative design of a wide variety of innovative devices based on PMs such as parallel manipulators, parallel kinematic machines (machine tools), motion simulators, haptic devices, micro-manipulators, and nano-manipulators. Type synthesis of PMs refers to finding all the types of PMs realizing a specified motion requirement. This book covers the classification of PMs and an efficient method for the type synthesis of PMs and also provides a large number of PMs ready to be used in practical applications. The synthesis approach is based on the concept of virtual chain and the elementary notions of screw theory. Using the proposed approach, families of PMs are constructed from a set of compositional units. The approach is conceptually simple and easy to use. A general procedure for the mobility analysis of PMs is also presented in order to facilitate the understanding of any architecture of PMs. The prerequisite for this book is basic knowledge on linear algebra and kinematics. This book is appropriate for researchers, developers, engineers and graduate students with interests in robotics, creative mechanism design and screw theory. ... Read more

Product Description
Easy-to-read guide provides directions on integrating personal digital assistants and robots into a single, remote-controlled powerhouse. Discusses innovative concepts and designs, showing how to allow any PDA to communicate with and control a robot; establish a wireless link between a PDA and a robot; and acquire low cost, standard, and easily obtainable components. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Makes ALOT of sense - great help
I was interested in electronics and robotics so I purchased this book. The flow of the book is a little choppy but I must say that the information helped me win high school science fairs and I am now studying electrical engineering at university! The support site is great and the author was very helpful. The well writen software projects I downloaded from the support site helped my dive into the project and allowed me to get a solid understanding of PalmOS, windows CE development, circuit fabrication and PIC programming. The project does required that you purchase a PIC programmer but if you are to pursue a career in robotics it is well worth it! Thank You!

Makes no sense.
I had high expectations for this book, assuming that it would start out slow, with basic information, then pick up from there. This is far from the truth. The book slams you from the sixth page (literally) with seemingly irrelevant information about computer architecture, accompanied with confusing diagrams. As all of the other reviewers mentioned, the book is littered with a copied mismatch of pictures and diagrams. The book does not follow a logical thought process, nor is any of the information practical. Unless you have a BSCmpE, don't buy this book.

Recipe for a Robot
Following discussions with the author, I have amended this review.

As a University Lecturer, I was disappointed with this book
because it contains large sections of material copied from
datasheets and web sites without proper references. We try to
teach our students to be ethical, and not to simply cut and
paste from the Internet without references. The author assures
me that permission was obtained from Microsoft, Intel,
Microchip, Sharp, etc. to re-publish their material.

It is not a text for a beginner if you want to learn about
robotics or how to design your own circuits and program
embedded systems. For instance, it assumes that you can already
program in C.

However, it does contain detailed instructions for building a
robot that can be controlled using the Infra Red port on a PDA.
If you don't mind making your own circuit board, then this
might be the book for you, but you really need some basic
background in electronics and computers if you intend to build
this robot. If you treat it as a recipe, and try to learn from
the exercise, then you might find it useful.

Good concept - poorly executed
I really had high expectations for this book.I was looking for something that would provide an alternative to the PPRK-based "Ultimate Palm Robot" book.And this book does provide what appears to be a workable, if not very robust robot design that you can wirelessly link your Palm or WinCE PDA to.Unfortunately, the vast majority of the book is cut-and-paste data sheets - including some of the marketeering hype.This makes for a very disjointed read since the style of the book changes with each new data sheet and many concepts and terms are not explained well.As a result, this would probably be a difficult book for someone new to robotics.I'm still not sure that the schematic for the robot in this book was worth $20 - $30.I would suggest "Programming and Customizing the OOPIC Controller" by Dennis Clark as an alternative to this book.The OOPIC is easy to work with and the chapter describing interfacing the OOPIC to a Palm device is very well written.

good intro, but many typos and unreferenced technical specs
Like janek243, I was disappointed that so much of the book
was copied (seemingly verbatim) from technical specs on-line,
though the sources didn't seem to be referenced.It's fairly
obvious where these sections start and end, because they lack
the typos and grammatical problems of much of the rest of
the book.

Despite its flaws, I recommend it to anyone who, like me,
is interested in interfacing their iPaq (or Palm) with hardware.
The book has given me several pointers to other material and
manufacturer websites.I'm glad I bought it; I just wish it
had a higher signal-to-noise ratio. ... Read more

Product Description
foreword by Lashon Booker

"[This] book gives a clear and comprehensive exposition of [the authors]extensive experience in integrating reinforcement learning andautonomous robotics. Their continuing contribution is to the developmentof a distinct engineering discipline (`Behavior engineering') throughwhich such robots can be created. I am excited because their effortscombine some of the best theoretical ideas with a strong eye for thepractical - for what will actually work." -- Stewart W. Wilson, TheRowland Institute for Science

To program an autonomous robot to act reliably in a dynamic environmentis a complex task. The dynamics of the environment are unpredictable,and the robots' sensors provide noisy input. A learning autonomousrobot, one that can acquire knowledge through interaction with itsenvironment and then adapt its behavior, greatly simplifies thedesigner's work. A learning robot need not be given all of the detailsof its environment, and its sensors and actuators need not be finelytuned.

Robot Shaping is about designing and building learning autonomousrobots. The term "shaping" comes from experimental psychology, where itdescribes the incremental training of animals. The authors propose a newengineering discipline, "behavior engineering," to provide themethodologies and tools for creating autonomous robots. Their techniquesare based on classifier systems, a reinforcement learning architectureoriginated by John Holland, to which they have added several new ideas,such as "mutespec," classifier system "energy," and dynamic populationsize. In the book they present Behavior Analysis and Training (BAT) asan example of a behavior engineering methodology. ... Read more

Product Description

The DARPA Grand Challenge was a landmark in the field of robotics: a race by autonomous vehicles through 132 miles of rough Nevada terrain. It showcased exciting and unprecedented capabilities in robotic perception, navigation, and control. The event took place in October 2005 and drew teams of competitors from academia and industry, as well as many garage hobbyists. This book presents fifteen technical papers that describe each team's driverless vehicle, race strategy, and insights. As a whole, they present the state of the art in autonomous vehicle technology and offer a glimpse of future technology for tomorrow’s driverless cars.

Product Description
With the proliferation of many types of robots in recent years, there is a real need to assist engineers, automation manufacturers, and robot aficionados in the proper selection, care, and feeding of a robot to achieve the maximum in productivity. This book does just that, along with classifying robots in accordance to their complexity and function provided. The book is perfect for large corporations as well as smaller "Mom and Pop" shops who may be considering using robots to help their industrial applications. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Vision, umembical , welding, painting, assembly, tracking
Vision: "If a general-purpose vision system is used, there is no easy way to determine if the problem is with the robot, the vision system or some combination of robot and vision. In addition, if the vision was purchased from a robot supplier, it is likely the supplier has experience with similar applications." "Are the broader range of options available in the general-purpose system worth the extra time and cost require to make use of them for a robotic vision applications?"

Tracking Systems: Tast, this method uses the welding arc as a sensor to measure variations in the welding current that are caused by changes in arc length. Laser, the laser must be place in front of the welding torch to allow the laser to scan across the weld joint. A camera inside the sensor monitors the laser light to determine the location of the weld joint and passes this information to the robot. Touch sensing, the robot finds a seam by using the welding electrode or a separate pointer to make electrical contact with the part. The robot performs a search pattern so that it can touch the part to find out how far the seam has shifted and rotated it up to three dimensions. An offset can then be applied to every weld that is on this seam.

Well Dressed, the integrated dress pack carries all the power, data, pneumatic and hydraulic hoses bundled inside a highly flexible, polyurethane jacket. "With proper installation, umbilicals can increase cable and hose life tenfold"

Laser cutting, with a minimum of six degrees of freedom, a robot can reach in and around tooling to cut required features into a part. Small work cells can have one ore more robots in the same cell increasing production. Often two robots are able to share the same laser. The robot can utilize flexible programming allowing it to be redeployed to cut a new part. "A robotic laser cutting system is not competitive in high-volume flat sheet cutting that can be performed by a dedicated 2D laser-cutting machine. Part volumes should be 50,000 to 100,000.

Small shops, "as companies strive to enhance their time to market, the role of robots becomes particularly critical for smaller shops, where ergonomic issues and absenteeism impact the bottom line." First time robot users should not expect to automate all parts at once, but start with one family part and develop a good understanding of the automation and gradually automate additional part families. ROI, "vision provides higher flexibility and reduces the cost of part location. More than one part type can run the same cell without the need to invest in dedicated fixtures. Part can be delivered in a tray or a multiplayer tray system."

Outstanding robotics reference
Now that robots have become more affordable, they are "trickling" down into smaller businesses and being used for more unexpected and varied tasks in larger enterprises.This book will have you thinking about new ways to employ robotic systems and machine vision in your operations.There are numerous descriptions of successful robotic implementations, an excellent section on productivity of robotic systems, and clear descriptions of methods of calculating payback.Very helpful as well when working with management to get approval of a new robotic system.Recommended!!! ... Read more

Product Description
"Manipulation" refers to a variety of physical changes made to the world around us. Mechanics of Robotic Manipulation addresses one form of robotic manipulation, moving objects, and the various processes involved--grasping, carrying, pushing, dropping, throwing, and so on. Unlike most books on the subject, it focuses on manipulation rather than manipulators. This attention to processes rather than devices allows a more fundamental approach, leading to results that apply to a broad range of devices, not just robotic arms.The book draws both on classical mechanics and on classical planning, which introduces the element of imperfect information. The book does not propose a specific solution to the problem of manipulation, but rather outlines a path of inquiry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fundamentals of the study of robotic manipulation

This is a beautiful introduction to the field of robotic manipulation, and should be required reading for all graduate students in robotics.Each topic is treated carefully and rigorously.It is only fair to admit that the author was my Ph.D. advisor.

There is a strong emphasis on providing a mental toolkit for reasoning about physical systems.A particular highlight is the selection of graphical methods for thinking about rigid body systems with friction and contact.The careful reader, after working through this book, will be able to reason about mechanical systems with pencil and paper, rather than blind implementations of computer simulations.

The book is dense and requires significant work from the reader.Though there are no prerequisites for the book other than basic calculus, many of the proofs and techniques require some mathematical sophistication and a strong attention to detail to follow.

The book is also specialized, and does not attempt to cover all the details of manipulator design, modeling, or control -- instead, the focus is on the motion of the system being manipulated, which might be much more interesting than the manipulator itself.

For the above reasons, this book is not for everyone, but as a robotics researcher, I have come back to this book over and over again while reviewing papers or thinking about how to quickly model and understand a new system.

Nice for overview, bad for understanding
Mason covers quite a collection of techniques in his book; so as an partial overview of work done on techniques addressing problems of mechanical nature in robotics, this book is reasonable. One can use it as a starting point to find more information on these topics.

However, in my opinion the book is not suitable to gain an understanding of the subject. Mason tries to cover many methods but often fails to clearly describe the essence of techniques. I often find myself reading the same section a number of times to piece together the essence of how a technique works. ... Read more

Product Description

More descriptive, less mathematical, and easier to read than other books on the subject of robotics. Provides an introduction to robotics—definition, history, description, applications, maintenance, human safety, artificial intelligence, rationale, the future. Investigates the intelligence of the robot and reviews robot sensors. Focuses on software, but devotes considerable attention to the electronics (computer hardware) of the robot. Designed to meet the needs of those with or without extensive technical background.

Customer Reviews (1)

The book was in good shape
I bought the book for my son.He was happy with it. It was in good condition. ... Read more

Product Description

Lyapunov-Based Control of Robotic Systems describes nonlinear control design solutions for problems that arise from robots required to interact with and manipulate their environments. Since most practical scenarios require the design of nonlinear controllers to work around uncertainty and measurement-related issues, the authors use Lyapunov’s direct method as an effective tool to design and analyze controllers for robotic systems.

After describing the evolution of real-time control design systems and the associated operating environments and hardware platforms, the book presents a host of standard control design tools for robotic systems using a common Lyapunov-based framework. It then discusses several problems in visual servoing control, including the design of homography-based visual servo control methods and the classic structure from motion problem. The book also deals with the issues of path planning and control for manipulator arms and wheeled mobile robots. With a focus on the emerging research area of human machine interaction, the final chapter illustrates the design of control schemes based on passivity such that the machine is a net energy sink.

Including much of the authors’ own research work in controls and robotics, this book facilitates an understanding of the application of Lyapunov-based control design techniques to up-and-coming problems in robotics.

Product Description
Text provides step-by-step, illustrated directions for designing, constructing, and testing a fully functional computer numerical control (CNC) robot. Includes time-saving tips, tricks, and pictoral help along the way. Softcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

I should have payed attention to the reviews.
I bought this book even after reading all of the negative reviews,

I should have paid attention to the other reviews. I did not get a lot out of the book.

Not what I was looking for
Thankfully, I checked this book out from the library rather than parting with any of my hard-earned cash.This is definitely a testament to the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover."To be honest, I haven't read the whole book.I just scanned through everything, and all of the above comments seem to fit perfectly.Much of the information seems to be either too technical or too vague.I really want to learn some CNC basics and some fundamentals of how to construct a DIY CNC machine, not how to print my own circuit boards or how the author was able to cobble together his machine from some junk parts of some rare camera.Don't get me wrong, there is some good information in here.I guess I just need a little more hand-holding at this point.

Definitely NOT CNC Robotics!
At best, it is just "build a machine that response to CNC program (G-Code)to kill your time - if you have too much."

Ask yourself the follow question before buy this book: Can you accept a CNC with unknown accuracy (my guess is 1mm error at best)? If you can accept it, this book is for you.

I didn't and will not follow the author's path, followings are the reason:

1)He use scrap material, he dismantle his camera for "liner rail", he find "square" beam from scrap shops...etc.His measurement of "square" is based on combination square.His measurement of level is based on "trial & error" with height gauge, not even dial indicator.

2)He use stepper motor based on "available" and didn't mention how you can estimate the required torque to drive the ...... ACME lead screw.ACME is good for its lower cost compare with Ball screw, but you've a price to pay, backlash.Some CNC software can handle it, but the author just didn't care.I doubt when it mill a square, will / can it closes the path?

3)It is just a CNC table that clamps a pen or a router on its Z-Axis.So, it is just a wood-working CNC router, not a CNC machine, definitely not `robotics' standard.God, the book's name is too sexy for me.

4)Don't expect any calculation / estimation that can help to design you own CNC, there is no such thing in this book, and everything is done by wild guess.

5)Don't expect to gain any insight from watching / learning the author's approach to build a CNC.He use lengthy text description on how he drill a hole, put the steel beam in level (concrete floor) and use "measuring tape" to locate the centers for drilling.It is terrible, if you're a (hobby) machinist or dealing with metalworking.Can you imagine to 'arc weld' your machine's frame?What accuracy will leave for your measurement after such a destructive task is done?

Why I buy this book?It's because the author write a very sexy preface and introduction, a very logical table of content, and most important, Kindle let me preview only up to the first chapter.My verdict: save your money.

If you can settle with the low accuracy & repeatability, why need a CNC?If you just want to repeat routing a 2.5D pattern, just make yourself a fixture / jig / template will be more than enough.

CNC Robotics: Build Your Own Workshop Bot
Good resorce. Useful practical information, which has helped my decision making for a similar project.

Good book
Seeing the not so great reviews of this book I almost did not buy the book.
You will definitely need to find your own way through this project but this book is really informative. The author surely knows what he is talking about and its a fun read. ... Read more

Product Description

The book shows, step by step, the design, implementation, and testing of the antenna/telescope control system, from the design stage (analytical model) to fine tuning of the RF beam pointing (monopulse and conscan). The purpose of this book is to present the implementation of the new theoretical developments in structural dynamics and control theory in the antenna and telescope industry. Also to present the significant improvement in pointing accuracy of the antenna and telescope when the presented techniques are implemented.

This book fills the need in the antenna/telescope control techniques. For long time, since 1990 when the last book was published, there was no publication on the antenna/telescope/radar modeling and control.

Customer Reviews (1)

Very good coverage of antenna and altazimuth telescope control
This book fills an interesting niche in the field. Large antennas and large telescope structures are very similar, and the fundamental approaches used to understand their performance are the same. The author does a commendable job of presenting the necessary information in a clear and understandable way; let down slightly by a few typos and some slightly weak error checking and editing (this book is not cheap - this sort of thing should be picked up in the proofing) - but despite this it is well worth the money.

I work for a large telescope project and this book is worth purchasing simply to get the perspective of an experienced practitioner in the field, and to see common questions ('Is a velocity loop really necessary?') comprehensively yet compactly addressed. Overall, an interesting and worthwhile book - would that more engineers in the field could - and would - produce something similar. The discipline would be the richer for it. ... Read more

Product Description

This monograph presents a novel concept of a mobile robot, which is a single-wheel, gyroscopically stabilized robot. The robot is balanced by a spinning wheel attached through a two-link manipulator at the wheel bearing, and actuated by a drive motor. This configuration conveys significant advantages including insensitivity to attitude disturbances, high maneuverability, low rolling resistance, ability to recover from falls, and amphibious capability for potential applications on both land and water. This book focuses on the dynamics and control aspects, including modeling, model-based control, learning-based control, and shared control with human operators. This novel mobile robot concept opens up the science of dynamically stable systems with a single wheel configuration. The book also presents considerations in concept, design implementations, and kinematics modeling, as well as experimental results from various algorithms and cases. The system is a nonholonomic, underactuated, and highly nonlinear system, so this book is appropriate for scientists and engineers with interests in mobile robot, dynamics and control, as a research reference and postgraduate textbook.

Product Description
Tomorrow's robots, which includes the humanoid robot, canperform task like tutoring children, working as tour guides, drivinghumans to and from work, do the family shopping etc. Tomorrow's robotswill enhance lives in ways we never dreamed possible. No time toattend the decisive meeting on Asian strategy? Let your robot go foryou and make the decisions. Not feeling well enough to go to theclinic? Let Dr Robot come to you, make a diagnosis, and get you thenecessary medicine for treatment. No time to coach the soccer teamthis week? Let the robot do it for you.

Tomorrow's robots will be the most exciting and revolutionary things to happen to the world since the invention of the automobile. It will change the way we work, play, think, and live. Because of this, nowadays robotics is one of the most dynamic fields of scientific research. These days, robotics is offered in almost every university in the world. Most mechanical engineering departments offer a similar course at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. And increasingly, many computer and electrical engineering departments are also offering it.

This book will guide you, the curious beginner, from yesterday to tomorrow. The book will cover practical knowledge in understanding, developing, and using robots as versatile equipment to automate a variety of industrial processes or tasks. But, the book will also discuss the possibilities we can look forward to when we are capable of creating a vision-guided, learning machine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Pleasure to read
This is one of the books which keeps your fascination alive. The author likes details and is able to write in a quite pedagogic manner allowing the reader to follow all derivations and argumentations. It is quite complete and almost all facetes of itnroductory robotics are covered. If you search for a starter or think about taking robotics as lesson: get this one! ... Read more

Product Description
Here is a comprehensive presentation of methodology for thedesign and synthesis of an intelligent complex robotic system,connectingformal tools from discrete system theory, artificialintelligence,neural network, and fuzzy logic. The necessary methodsfor solvingreal time action planning, coordination and controlproblems aredescribed. A notable chapter presents a new approach tointelligentrobotic agent control acting in a realworld environmentbased on alifelong learning approach combining cognitive andreactivecapabilities. Another key feature is the homogeneousdescription ofall solutions and methods based on system theoryformalism. ... Read more

Product Description
Robotic technology offers two potential benefits for futurespace exploration. One benefit is minimizing the risk that astronautsface. The other benefit is increasing their productivity.
Realizing the benefits of robotic technology in space will requiresolving several problems which are unique and now becoming activeresearch topics. One of the most important research areas is dynamics,control, motion and planning for space robots by considering thedynamic interaction between the robot and the base (space station,space shuttle, or satellite). Any inefficiency in the planning andcontrol can considerably risk by success of the space mission.
Space Robotics: Dynamics and Control presents a collection ofpapers concerning fundamental problems in dynamics and control ofspace robots, focussing on issues relevant to dynamic base/robotinteraction.
The authors are all pioneers in theoretical analysis and experimentalsystems development of space robot technology. The chapters areorganized within three problem areas: dynamics problems, nonholonomicnature problems, and control problems. This collection provides asolid reference for researchers in robotics, mechanics, control, andastronautical science.
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