This book is devoted to the development of adequate spatial representations for robot motion planning. Drawing upon advanced heuristic techniques from AI and computational geometry, the authors introduce a general model for spatial representation of physical objects. This model is then applied to two key problems in intelligent robotics: collision detection and motion planning. In addition, the application to actual robot arms is kept always in mind, instead of dealing with simplified models. This monograph is built upon Angel del Pobil's PhD thesis which was selected as the winner of the 1992 Award of the Spanish Royal Academy of Doctors.

A modern and unified treatment of the mechanics, planning, and control of robots, suitable for a first course in robotics.

In this book, new results or developments from different research backgrounds and application fields are put together to provide a wide and useful viewpoint on these headed research problems mentioned above, focused on the motion planning problem of mobile ro-bots. These results cover a large range of the problems that are frequently encountered in the motion planning of mobile robots both in theoretical methods and practical applications including obstacle avoidance methods, navigation and localization techniques, environmental modelling or map building methods, and vision signal processing etc. Different methods such as potential fields, reactive behaviours, neural-fuzzy based methods, motion control methods and so on are studied. Through this book and its references, the reader will definitely be able to get a thorough overview on the current research results for this specific topic in robotics. The book is intended for the readers who are interested and active in the field of robotics and especially for those who want to study and develop their own methods in motion/path planning or control for an intelligent robotic system.

This volume deals with core problems in robotics, like motion planning, sensor-based planning, manipulation, and assembly planning. It also discusses the application of robotics algorithms in other domains, such as molecular modeling, computer graphics, and image analysis. Topics Include: - Planning - Sensor Based Motion Planning - Control and Moti

Planning algorithms are impacting technical disciplines and industries around the world, including robotics, computer-aided design, manufacturing, computer graphics, aerospace applications, drug design, and protein folding. Written for computer scientists and engineers with interests in artificial intelligence, robotics, or control theory, this is the only book on this topic that tightly integrates a vast body of literature from several fields into a coherent source for teaching and reference in a wide variety of applications. Difficult mathematical material is explained through hundreds of examples and illustrations.

Research on humanoid robots has been mostly with the aim of developing robots that can replace humans in the performance of certain tasks. Motion planning for these robots can be quite difficult, due to their complex kinematics, dynamics and environment. It is consequently one of the key research topics in humanoid robotics research and the last few years have witnessed considerable progress in the field. Motion Planning for Humanoid Robots surveys the remarkable recent advancement in both the theoretical and the practical aspects of humanoid motion planning. Various motion planning frameworks are presented in Motion Planning for Humanoid Robots, including one for skill coordination and learning, and one for manipulating and grasping tasks. The problem of planning sequences of contacts that support acyclic motion in a highly constrained environment is addressed and a motion planner that enables a humanoid robot to push an object to a desired location on a cluttered table is described. The main areas of interest include: • whole body motion planning, • task planning, • biped gait planning, and • sensor feedback for motion planning. Torque-level control of multi-contact behavior, autonomous manipulation of moving obstacles, and movement control and planning architecture are also covered. Motion Planning for Humanoid Robots will help readers to understand the current research on humanoid motion planning. It is written for industrial engineers, advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Qualitative reasoning about space and time - a reasoning at the human level - promises to become a fundamental aspect of future systems that will accompany us in daily activity. The aim of Spatial and Temporal Reasoning is to give a picture of current research in this area focusing on both representational and computational issues. The picture emphasizes some major lines of development in this multifaceted, constantly growing area. The material in the book also shows some common ground and a novel combination of spatial and temporal aspects of qualitative reasoning. Part I presents the overall scene. The chapter by Laure Vieu is on the state of the art in spatial representation and reasoning, and that by Alfonso Gerevini gives a similar survey on research in temporal reasoning. The specific contributions to these areas are then grouped in the two main parts. In Part II, Roberto Casati and Achille Varzi examine the ontological status of spatial entities; Anthony Cohn, Brandon Bennett, John Gooday, and Nicholas Gotts present a detailed theory of reasoning with qualitative relations about regions; Andrew Frank discusses the spatial needs of geographical information systems; and Annette Herskovits focuses on the linguistic expression of spatial relations. In Part III, James Allen and George Ferguson describe an interval temporal logic for the representation of actions and events; Drew McDermott presents an efficient way of predicting the outcome of plan execution; and Erik Sandewall introduces a semantics based on transitions for assessing theories of action and change. In Part IV, Antony Galton's chapter stands clearly between the two areas of space and time and outlines the main coordinates of an integrated approach.

Through interaction with other databases such as social media, geographic information systems have the ability to build and obtain not only statistics defined on the flows of people, things, and information but also on perceptions, impressions, and opinions about specific places, territories, and landscapes. It is thus necessary to systematize, integrate, and coordinate the various sources of data (especially open data) to allow more appropriate and complete analysis, descriptions, and elaborations. Spatial Planning in the Big Data Revolution is a critical scholarly resource that aims to bring together different methodologies that combine the potential of large data analysis with GIS applications in dedicated tools specifically for territorial, social, economic, environmental, transport, energy, real estate, and landscape evaluation. Additionally, the book addresses a number of fundamental objectives including the application of big data analysis in supporting territorial analysis, validating crowdsourcing and crowdmapping techniques, and disseminating information and community involvement. Urban planners, architects, researchers, academicians, professionals, and practitioners in such fields as computer science, data science, and business intelligence will benefit most from the research contained within this publication.

All life came from sea but all robots were born on land. The vast majority of both industrial and mobile robots operate on land, since the technology to allow them to operate in and under the ocean has only become available in recent years. A number of complex issues due to the unstructured, hazardous undersea environment, makes it difficult to travel in the ocean while today's technologies allow humans to land on the moon and robots to travel to Mars . . Clearly, the obstacles to allowing robots to operate in a saline, aqueous, and pressurized environment are formidable. Mobile robots operating on land work under nearly constant atmospheric pressure; their legs (or wheels or tracks) can operate on a firm footing; their bearings are not subjected to moisture and corrosion; they can use simple visual sensing and be observed by their creators working in simple environments. In contrast, consider the environment where undersea robots must operate. The pressure they are subjected to can be enormous, thus requiring extremely rugged designs. The deep oceans range between 19,000 to 36,000 ft. At a mere 33-foot depth, the pressure will be twice the normal one atmosphere pressure of 29. 4 psi. The chemical environment of the sea is highly corrosive, thus requiring the use of special materials. Lubrication of moving parts in water is also difficult, and may require special sealed, waterproof joints.