This book presents the most recent research advances in the theory, design, control and application of robot systems, which are intended for a variety of purposes such as manipulation, manufacturing, automation, surgery, locomotion and biomechanics. The issues addressed are fundamentally kinematic in nature, including synthesis, calibration, redundancy, force control, dexterity, inverse and forward kinematics, kinematic singularities, as well as over-constrained systems. Methods used include line geometry, quaternion algebra, screw algebra and linear algebra. These methods are applied to both parallel and serial multi-degree-of-freedom systems.

The book includes 48 independently reviewed papers of researchers specialising in robot kinematics. The contributors are the most recognised scientists in this area. The papers have been subdivided into the following sections: Singularity analysis of parallel manipulators, Design of robots and mechanisms, Motion planning and mobility, Performance and properties of mechanisms, Measure and calibration, Kinematic analysis and workspace.

Indexed in Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science (CPCI-S)

Inhalt
Singularity Analysis of Parallel Manipulators.- A New Assessment of Singularities of Parallel Kinematic Chains.- Singularity Analysis through Static Analysis.- Constraint Singularities and the Structural Parameters of Parallel Robots.- Forward Kinematics and Singularity Analysis of a 3-RPR Planar Parallel Manipulator.- Geometric Algebra Approach to Singularity of Parallel Manipulators with Limited Mobility.- SinguLab A Graphical User Interface for the Singularity Analysis of Parallel Robots Based on GrassmannCayley Algebra.- Singularity Analysis of Limited-DOF Parallel Manipulators Using GrassmannCayley Algebra.- Design of Robots and Mechanisms.- On the Design of Fully Constrained Parallel Cable-Driven Robots.- Synthesis of Part Orienting Devices for Spatial Assembly Tasks.- Minimum Energy Manipulator Design.- Synthesis and Analysis of a Constrained Spherical Parallel Manipulator.- A Nonholonomic 3-DOF Parallel Robot.- 4-DOF Parallel Architecture for Laparoscopic Surgery.- Flapping-Wing Mechanism for a Bird-Sized UAVs: Design, Modeling and Control.- Methods in Kinematics.- Extended Jacobian Inverse Kinematics and Approximation of Distributions.- A Screw Syzygy with Applications to Robot Singularity Computation.- Singularity Robust Jacobian Inverse Kinematics for Mobile Manipulators.- Robots Based on Assur Group A (3.5).- Kinematics of Free-Floating Systems through Optimal Control Theory.- Genericity Conditions for Serial Manipulators.- Alternative Forms for Displacement Screws and Their Pitches.- Motion Planning and Mobility.- Time-Invariant Strategies in Coordination of Human Reaching.- Mobility and Higher Order Local Analysis of the Configuration Space of Single-Loop Mechanisms.- Optimization of a Test Trajectory for SCARA Systems.- Singularity Free PathPlanning for Parallel Robots.- A Comparison between Two Motion Planning Strategies for Kinematically Redundant Parallel Manipulators.- Trajectory Planning of Parallel Manipulators for Global Performance Optimization.- Human Motion Reconstruction by Direct Control of Marker Trajectories.- Performance and Properties of Mechanisms.- New Self-Motions of Parallel Manipulators.- Exact Envelope Computation for Moving Surfaces with Quadratic Support Functions.- A Compound-Structure Frame for Improving the Performance of a Dielectric Elastomer Actuator.- Transitions between Multiple Solutions of the Direct Kinematic Problem.- Kinetostatic Performance of a Planar Parallel Mechanism with Variable Actuation.- Results on Planar Parallel Manipulators with Cylindrical Singularity Surface.- Stiffness Matrix of Compliant Parallel Mechanisms.- Measure and Calibration.- A Pair of Measures of Rotational Error for Axisymmetric Robot End-Effectors.- Angular-Velocity Estimation from the Centripetal Component of the Rigid-Body Acceleration Field.- A Novel Point of View to Define the Distance between Two Rigid-Body Poses.- Parallel Robot Calibration by Working Mode Change.- Augmented Model of the 3-PRS Manipulator for Kinematic Calibration.- The Calibration of a Parallel Manipulator with Binary Actuation.- Stability Measure of Postural Dynamic Equilibrium Based on Residual Radius.- Kinematic Analysis and Workspace.- A Geometrical Characterization of Workspace Singularities in 3R Manipulators.- Kinematic Analysis of a Planar Tensegrity Mechanism with Pre-Stressed Springs.- Inverse Kinematics of Robot Manipulators with Multiple Moving Control Points.- On the Delassus Parallelogram.- Forward Kinematics and Workspace Determination of a Wire Robot for Industrial Applications.- Kinematic Modeling and Workspace Generation for a New Parallel Robot Used in Minimally Invasive Surgery.