Intelligent Materials and Structures provides exceptional insights into designing intelligent materials and structures for special applications in engineering. The author introduces the fundamental materials science involved in research endeavors and simultaneously reviews the current state-of-the-art of intelligent materials and structures. Separate chapters are devoted to the thorough examination of theory and application of laminated composite materials, Piezoelectricity, Shape Memory Alloys, Electro- and Magnetorheological fluids as well as Magneto- and Electrostrictive materials. Each chapter contains numerous equations and figures describing theories, models and behavior of the intelligent material discussed. Special attention is paid to applications of intelligent materials to various structures in the aerospace and medical sector, piezoelectric motors as well as piezoelectric and electromagnetic energy harvesting. Contents: Introduction to Intelligent Materials and Structures Laminated Composite Materials Piezoelectricity Shape Memory Alloys Electrorheological and Magnetorheological Fluids Magnetostrictive and Electrostrictive Materials Applications of Intelligent Materials in Structures Energy Harvesting using Intelligent Materials Index

This book presents the proceedings of SympoSIMM 2020, the 3rd edition of the Symposium on Intelligent Manufacturing and Mechatronics. Focusing on “Strengthening Innovations Towards Industry 4.0”, the book presents studies on the details of Industry 4.0’s current trends. Divided into five parts covering various areas of manufacturing engineering and mechatronics stream, namely, artificial intelligence, instrumentation and controls, intelligent manufacturing, modelling and simulation, and robotics, the book will be a valuable resource for readers wishing to embrace the new era of Industry 4.0.

Mechatronics as a discipline has an ever growing impact on engineering and engineering education as a defining approach to the design, development, and operation of an increasingly wide range of engineering systems. The increasing scope and complexity of mechatronic systems means that their design and development now involve not only the technical aspects of its core disciplines, but also aspects of organization, training, and management. Mechatronics and the Design of Intelligent Machines and Systems reflects the significant areas of development in mechatronics and focuses on the higher-level approaches needed to support the design and implementation of mechatronic systems. Throughout the book, the authors emphasize the importance of systems integration. Each chapter deals with a particular aspect of the design and development process, from the specification of the system to software design and from the human-machine interface to the requirements for safe operation and effective manufacture. Notable among this text's many features is the use of a running case study-the autonomous and robotic excavator LUCIE-to illustrate points made in various chapters. This, combined with the authors' clear prose, systematic organization, and generous use of examples and illustrations provides students with a firm understanding of mechatronics as a discipline, some of the problems encountered in its various areas, and the developing techniques used to solve those problems.

Collection of selected, peer reviewed papers from the 2013 International Conference on Intelligent Materials and Mechatronics, (IMM 2013), November 1-2, 2013, Hong Kong, China. The 81 papers are grouped as follows: Chapter 1: Materials Science and Engineering Chemistry; Chapter 2: Research and Design in Mechanical Engineering; Chapter 3: Environmental Engineering; Chapter 4: Mechatronics, Automation and Robotics; Chapter 5: Computational Methods and Algorithms, Applied Information Technologies; Chapter 6: Related Themes Temporary description, more details to follow.

This book provides in-depth coverage of smart materials, including electroactive polymers (EAPs), synthetic muscle, pneumatic artificial muscle, soft pneumatics, hydro-muscle, and other cutting-edge transformational smart material technologies. It looks at ways smart materials respond to stimuli, such as electricity, pressure, temperature, magnetism, or light. State-of-the-art developments in EAP based actuation and pneumatics are covered, including nanotechnology, soft robotics, EAP considerations for NASA applications and thermal control of satellites, control of mirrors using dielectric elastomeric actuators, and biomimetic design and function in robotics and prosthetics. A detailed analysis of the challenges of smart materials on Earth and in space is included, with an interview about considerations and training for Missions to Moon and Mars. This book is a must-read within the smart material and space communities, from tech savvy students to industry professionals.

In the last two decades, a great effort has been directed towards the development of new smart materials actuators and their corresponding application devices and systems. Currently, some smart materials actuators are commercially applied for several technologies including automotive technology, but some of the smart materials actuators are still far from meeting strict practical requirements such as reliability, cost-effectiveness and robustness against unexpected environment conditions. Therefore, it is timely and appropriate to present recent research on smart materials actuators in terms of material characterization and advanced application systems in a single book. This book describes smart materials actuator technology from materials characterizations to device or system applications. The smart materials introduced in this book include magnetorehological fluid (MRF), magnetorheological elastomer (MRE), electrorheological fluid (ERF), piezoelectric material (PM), shape memory ally (SMA), dielectric elastomer (DE) and ionic polymer (IP). Both physical and chemical characterizations of each smart material are described in details in terms of actuating aspect. In addition, several application devices utilizing each smart material are introduced to provide practical controllability as a potential candidate for new actuators. The application devices introduced in this book include MRF damper for automotive suspension, PM unimorph pump for micro-hydraulic system, MRE flexible structure for vibration control, IP biomimetic micro-robot and SMA civil structure and damper system for vibration attenuation.

This book gathers the Proceedings of the International Conference on Mechatronics and Intelligent Robotics (ICMIR2017), held in Kunming, China, on May 20–21, 2017. The book covers a total of 172 papers, which have been divided into seven different sections: Intelligent Systems, Intelligent Sensors & Actuators, Robotics, Mechatronics, Modeling & Simulation, Automation & Control, and Robot Vision. ICMIR2017 provided a vital forum for discussing the latest and most innovative ideas from both the industrial and academic worlds, and for sharing best practices in the fields of mechanical engineering, mechatronics, automatic control, electrical engineering, finite element analysis and computational engineering. The main focus of the conference was on promoting interaction between academia and industry, allowing the free exchange of ideas and challenges faced by these two key stakeholders and encouraging future collaboration between the members of these groups. The proceedings cover new findings in the following areas of research and will offer readers valuable insights: Mechatronics Intelligent mechatronics, robotics and biomimetics; Novel and unconventional mechatronic systems; Modeling and control of mechatronics systems; Elements, structures and mechanisms of micro and nano systems; Sensors, wireless sensor networks and multi-sensor data fusion; Biomedical and rehabilitation engineering, prosthetics and artificial organs; Artificial Intelligence (AI), neural networks and fuzzy logic in mechatronics and robotics; Industrial automation, process control and networked control systems; Telerobotics, Human–Computer Interaction; and Human–Robot Interaction. Robotics Artificial Intelligence; Bio-inspired robotics; Control algorithms and control systems; Design theories and principles; Evolutional robotics; Field robotics; Force sensors, accelerometers, and other measuring devices; Healthcare robotics; Human–Robot Interaction; Kinematics and dynamics analysis; Manufacturing robotics; Mathematical and computational methodologies in robotics; Medical robotics; Parallel robots and manipulators; Robotic cognition and emotion; Robotic perception and decisions; Sensor integration, fusion, and perception; and Social robotics.

Featuring selected contributions from the 2nd International Conference on Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering, held in Nice, France, February 18–19, 2016, this book introduces recent advances and state-of-the-art technologies in the field of advanced intelligent manufacturing. This systematic and carefully detailed collection provides a valuable reference source for mechanical engineering researchers who want to learn about the latest developments in advanced manufacturing and automation, readers from industry seeking potential solutions for their own applications, and those involved in the robotics and mechatronics industry.

Leading experts in the fields of chemistry, physics and engineering have contributed to this book highlighting the importance of smart material science in the 21st century

Smart materials are of significant interest and this is the first textbook to provide a comprehensive graduate level view of topics that relate to this field. Fundamentals of Smart Materials consists of a workbook and solutions manual covering the basics of different functional material systems aimed at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. Topics include piezoelectric materials, magnetostrictive materials, shape memory alloys, mechanochromic materials, thermochromic materials, chemomechanical polymers and self-healing materials. Each chapter provides an introduction to the material, its applications and uses with example problems, fabrication and manufacturing techniques, conclusions, homework problems and a bibliography. Edited by a leading researcher in smart materials, the textbook can be adopted by teachers in materials science and engineering, chemistry, physics and chemical engineering.