Robotics: Fundamental Concepts and Analysis

The book introduces the science and engineering of robotics and provides in-depth coverage of mechanical manipulation. Robotics: Fundamental Concepts and Analysis is designed to fully meet the requirements of undergraduate students of mechanical engineering for a course in robotics. With the inclusion of some key advanced topics, the book also serves as an introductory text for postgraduate students specializing in robotics. The book introduces the science and engineering of robotics and provides in-depth coverage of mechanical manipulation. It emphasizes the fundamental mathematical concepts and analytical tools required for a topic, develops the relevant theory and algorithms, and then illustrates the theory with the help of worked-out examples. The book presents all key areas of kinematics, dynamics, and control of manipulators in a single text and treats the kinematics and dynamics of serial and parallel manipulators in a unified way. Newer robotic architectures such as parallel manipulators, flexible manipulators, and mobile robots have also been discussed at length. The book also uses computational software such as MATLAB and MAPLE for problem solving. Written in a comprehensive and concise manner, the text is student friendly and includes several examples and exercise problems.