This is the proceedings of the Third Conference on Interdisciplinary Applications of Kinematics (IAK 2018) held in Lima, Peru, March 5–7, 2018. The conference brought together scientists from several research fields, such as computational kinematics, multibody systems, industrial machines, robotics, biomechanics, mechatronics, computational chemistry, and vibration analysis, and embraced all key aspects of kinematics, namely, theoretical methods, modeling, optimization, experimental validation, industrial applications, and design. Kinematics is an exciting area of computational mechanics and plays a central role in a great variety of fields and industrial applications nowadays. Apart from research in pure kinematics, the field deals with problems of practical relevance that need to be solved in an interdisciplinary manner in order for new technologies to develop. The results presented in this book should be of interest for practicing and research engineers as well as Ph.D. students from the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science, and computer graphics.

Kinematics is an exciting area of computational mechanics which plays a central role in a great variety of fields and industrial applications. Apart from research in pure kinematics, the field offers challenging problems of practical relevance that need to be solved in an interdisciplinary manner in order for new technologies to develop. The present book collects a number of important contributions presented during the First Conference on Interdisciplinary Applications of Kinematics (IAK 2008) held in Lima, Peru. To share inspiration and non-standard solutions among the different applications, the conference brought together scientists from several research fields related to kinematics, such as for example, computational kinematics, multibody systems, industrial machines, robotics, biomechanics, mechatronics and chemistry. The conference focused on all aspects of kinematics, namely modeling, optimization, experimental validation, industrial applications, theoretical kinematical methods, and design. The results should be of interest for practicing and research engineers as well as Ph.D. students from the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science, and computer graphics.

The Applications of Computer Algebra (ACA) conference covers a wide range of topics from Coding Theory to Differential Algebra to Quantam Computing, focusing on the interactions of these and other areas with the discipline of Computer Algebra. This volume provides the latest developments in the field as well as its applications in various domains, including communications, modelling, and theoretical physics. The book will appeal to researchers and professors of computer algebra, applied mathematics, and computer science, as well as to engineers and computer scientists engaged in research and development.

This handbook brings together technical expertise, conceptual background, applications, and societal aspects of Industry 4.0: the evolution of automation and data exchange in fabrication technologies, materials processing, and device manufacturing at both experimental and theoretical model scales. The book assembles all the aspects of Industry 4.0, starting from the emergence of the concept to the consequences of its progression. Drawing on expert contributors from around the world, the volume details the technologies that sparked the fourth revolution and illustrates their characteristics, potential, and methods of use in the industrial and societal domains. In addition, important topics such as ethics, privacy and security are considered in a reality where all data is shared and saved remotely. The collection of contribution serve a very broad audience working in the fields of science and engineering, chemical engineering, materials science, nanotechnology, energy, environment, green chemistry, sustainability, electrical and electronic engineering, solid-state physics, surface science, aerosol technology, chemistry, colloid science, device engineering, and computer technology. This handbook ideal reference libraries in universities and industrial institutions, government and independent institutes, individual research groups and scientists.

This volume presents the latest research and industrial applications in the areas of mechanism science, robotics and dynamics. The respective contributions cover such topics as computational kinematics, control issues in mechanical systems, mechanisms for medical rehabilitation, mechanisms for minimally invasive techniques, cable robots, design issues for mechanisms and robots, and the teaching and history of mechanisms. Written by leading researchers and engineers, and selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, the papers highlight numerous exciting ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaborations. They reflect the outcomes of the 8th European Conference on Mechanism Science (EuCoMeS) in 2020.

This book gathers the latest advances, innovations and applications in the field of robotics and mechatronics, as presented by leading international researchers and engineers at the 6th IFToMM International Symposium on Robotics and Mechatronics (ISRM), held in Taipei, Taiwan, on October 28–30, 2019. It covers highly diverse topics, including mechanism synthesis, analysis, and design, kinematics and dynamics of multibody systems, modelling and simulation, sensors and actuators, novel robotic systems, industrial- and service-related robotics and mechatronics, medical robotics, and historical developments in robotics and mechatronics. The contributions, which were selected through a rigorous international peer-review process, share exciting ideas that spur novel research directions and foster new, multidisciplinary collaborations.

The Handbook of Geometric Constraint Systems Principles is an entry point to the currently used principal mathematical and computational tools and techniques of the geometric constraint system (GCS). It functions as a single source containing the core principles and results, accessible to both beginners and experts. The handbook provides a guide for students learning basic concepts, as well as experts looking to pinpoint specific results or approaches in the broad landscape. As such, the editors created this handbook to serve as a useful tool for navigating the varied concepts, approaches and results found in GCS research. Key Features: A comprehensive reference handbook authored by top researchers Includes fundamentals and techniques from multiple perspectives that span several research communities Provides recent results and a graded program of open problems and conjectures Can be used for senior undergraduate or graduate topics course introduction to the area Detailed list of figures and tables About the Editors: Meera Sitharam is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Florida’s Department of Computer & Information Science and Engineering. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Audrey St. John is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Mount Holyoke College, who received her Ph. D. from UMass Amherst. Jessica Sidman is a Professor of Mathematics on the John S. Kennedy Foundation at Mount Holyoke College. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Cable-driven parallel robots are a new kind of lightweight manipulators with excellent scalability in terms of size, payload, and dynamics capacities. For the first time, a comprehensive compendium is presented of the field of cable-driven parallel robots. A thorough theory of cable robots is setup leading the reader from first principles to the latest results in research. The main topics covered in the book are classification, terminology, and fields of application for cable-driven parallel robots. The geometric foundation of the standard cable model is introduced followed by statics, force distribution, and stiffness. Inverse and forward kinematics are addressed by elaborating efficient algorithms. Furthermore, the workspace is introduced and different algorithms are detailed. The book contains the dynamic equations as well as simulation models with applicable parameters. Advanced cable models are described taking into account pulleys, elastic cables, and sagging cables. For practitioner, a descriptive design method is stated including methodology, parameter synthesis, construction design, component selection, and calibration. Rich examples are presented by means of simulation results from sample robots as well as experimental validation on reference demonstrators. The book contains a representative overview of reference demonstrator system. Tables with physical parameters for geometry, cable properties, and robot parameterizations support case studies and are valuable references for building custom cable robots. For scientist, the book provides the starting point to address new scientific challenges as open problems are named and a commented review of the literature on cable robot with more than 500 references are given.

This book focuses on the synthesis of lower-mobility parallel manipulators, presenting a group-theory-based method that has the advantage of being geometrically intrinsic. Rotations and translations of a rigid body as well as a combination of the two can be expressed and handled elegantly using the group algebraic structure of the set of rigid-body displacements. The book gathers the authors’ research results, which were previously scattered in various journals and conference proceedings, presenting them in a unified form. Using the presented method, it reveals numerous novel architectures of lower-mobility parallel manipulators, which are of interest to those in the robotics community. More importantly, readers can use the method and tool to develop new types of lower-mobility parallel manipulators independently.

Parallel manipulators are characterized as having closed-loop kinematic chains. Compared to serial manipulators, which have open-ended structure, parallel manipulators have many advantages in terms of accuracy, rigidity and ability to manipulate heavy loads. Therefore, they have been getting many attentions in astronomy to flight simulators and especially in machine-tool industries.The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the state-of-art, to present new ideas, original results and practical experiences in parallel manipulators. This book mainly introduces advanced kinematic and dynamic analysis methods and cutting edge control technologies for parallel manipulators. Even though this book only contains several samples of research activities on parallel manipulators, I believe this book can give an idea to the reader about what has been done in the field recently, and what kind of open problems are in this area.