Robotic

This book illustrates the main characteristics, challenges and optimisation requirements of robotic disassembly. It provides a comprehensive insight on two crucial optimisation problems in the areas of robotic disassembly through a group of unified mathematical models. The online and offline optimisation of the operational sequence to dismantle a product, for example, is represented with a list of conflicting objectives and constraints. It allows the decision maker and the robots to match the situation automatically and efficiently.

In this book Part I presents first an overview of the ECHORD++ project, with its mission and vision together with a detailed structure of its functionalities and instruments: Experiments, Robotic Innovation Facilities and Public end-user Driven Technology Innovation PDTI.

Intense global competition in manufacturing has compelled manufacturers to incorporate repetitive processing and automation for improving productivity. Modern manufacturing systems use robotic cells — a particular type of computer-controlled system in cellular manufacturing. THROUGHPUT OPTIMIZATION IN ROBOTIC CELLS provides practitioners, researchers, and students with up-to-date algorithmic results on sequencing of robot moves and scheduling of parts in robotic cells.

The increasing adoption of terrain mobility – planetary rovers – for the investigation of planetary surfaces emphasises their central importance in space exploration. This imposes a completely new set of technologies and methodologies to the design of such spacecraft – and planetary rovers are indeed, first and foremost, spacecraft. This introduces vehicle engineering, mechatronics, robotics, artificial intelligence and associated technologies to the spacecraft engineer’s repertoire of skills. Planetary Rovers is the only book that comprehensively covers these aspects of planetary rover engineering and more.

Non-destructive testing and evaluation are commonly referred to as the vast group of analysis techniques used in civil, medical, and industrial sectors to evaluate the properties of materials, tissues, components, or structures, without causing any damage. Automation offers many benefits for non-destructive testing to cope with increasing demands, including improved reliability and higher inspection speeds. Additionally, robots enable inspections in locations that are not easily accessible to human operators and allow for humans to be removed from potentially dangerous environments. However, the perceived complexity and high costs have limited the adoption of automation.

This book focuses on pneumatic servo systems analysis, control and application in robotic systems. The pneumatic servo systems are composed by pneumatic artificial muscles or cylinders, which are two important pneumatic actuators in industrial application. The active disturbance rejection control technique is used effectively to solve strong nonlinearity and uncertain factors for the pneumatic servo systems.