Product Description
There's no easier, faster, or more practical way to learn the really tough subjects

McGraw-Hill's Demystified titles are the most efficient, interestingly written, brush-ups you can find. Organized as self-teaching guides, they come complete with key points, background information, questions at the end of each chapter, and even final exams.

This complete self-teaching guide takes an introductory approach to robotics, guiding readers through the essential electronics, mechanics, and programming skills necessary to build their own robot. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Poorly Organized; Little Practical Use
Thoroughly disappointed by this book, hard to believe McGraw-Hill's name is on it. What little practical information it contains is organized and prioritized poorly. The author wastes precious pages decribing atomic theory (doping, lattice, valence electrons) and obsolete mechanical control systems (cams). Then he glosses over integrated circuits in a single paragraph, saying they are to numerous to detail and how they could fill a book all by themselves.

Precisely. THAT'S the book I wanted, not this one.

It lives!!
When working with the FIRST Robotics crew, one of the hardest things to do is to explain why something isn't working and the robot is "dead" rather than demonstrating how it can be fixed or just fixing it. This means explaining it in a way that makes sense to the student on the crew. Robotics DeMystified explains different issues and troubleshooting in a way that is useful and easy to absorb and run with. This gives the kids a great resource to first try to analyze and correct it themselves, which gives them a really thorough grasp of all the design and software issues involved in the build.

And of course, it lives!! See you at the regionals!!!

What was the Author Thinking?
Mr. Cox writes a very good review and, while I of course enjoy the warm glow of 5-star reviews, his 3-stars make sense in his context.You might even say three stars are generous, if you wanted this book as a hands-on guide to making a full robot right now.

In his review he asks the rhetorical question "...including Cam Control and Card Control - who seriously uses this anymore?", and I have a practical answer.

Everybody!Cams can be found everywhere!

Okay, now a serious answer. I took the title seriously; I wanted to demystify robotics -- so I tried to find basic, fundamental illustrations to show the concepts involved in robotics.Cam control?To illustrate sequential control, a form of programming. Punch cards?As the camel's nose into the tent of information representation, or some such thing.

Was this the right approach or not?Only the individual reader can decide; as an author, I take a chance, I shoot my ideas out into the air, and sometimes I hit the target and sometimes I miss.

The main problem Mr. Cox seems to have with the text is the lack of complex circuits, examples, robot programming, or any actual complete robots! For these needs there are lots of excellent existing books on the shelves... in fact, any one robotic technology requires a full book to do it justice.

I didn't want to write yet another robot or electronics cookbook. Instead, I wrote this -- a book with a different goal and perspective than what I already saw on the market. A book that tries to demystify what it means to be a robot, and to provide a look at the technologies and ideas that go into the making of a robot, with a number of simple examples to illustrate them. A book not targeted so much at the experimenter or builder, but to the curious and to the person who may be getting their very first look at the topic.

As for the cover descriptions and marketing blurbs -- alas, an author doesn't have much to say about those, and they often miss the intent of the book.

Edwin!

doesn't actually show you how to build a robot
The folks at McGraw Hill graciously sent me a copy of Edwin Wise's new book, Robotics Demystified, for me to review. Unfortunately, I got it right around the time that I left for Hong Kong (study abroad) and I'm just now getting around to actually reviewing it.

The title calls it a "self-teaching guide" and the back cover reads; "Now anyone with an interest in robotics can gain a deeper understanding - without formal training, unlimited time, or genius IQ." So, I cracked open the book to find out if this is true or not.

Demystified is a relatively short 295 pages and contains 18 chapters. Example chapter names include, "Simple Machines", "Starting with Electronics", and "Intelligent Behavior." It is clear from the beginning that Wise is targeting this book to the complete novice. He says in the Preface, "There is no one 'robot technology,' so this book breaks the study of robots down into technology categories: the mechanics and framework of the robot, the electronics that make up its brain and nerves, and the control systems and programming that gives the robot life." Each chapter concludes with quiz questions to test your knowledge of each chapter.

The book starts off at a pretty low level (mechanical forces) and slowly (very slowly) builds on the knowledge. The forces chapter, and the following, "Simple Machines" discuss basic mechanical systems. All the mechanical systems described in the book deal only with LEGO pieces, so the reader never actually sees any other type of building materials. The mechanical systems are also presented as individual units and aren't ever assembled into a comprehensive "overall" system (aka, an actual robot).

After an introduction to mechanical systems (which is where Wise really shines) the book turns towards electronics and spends an entire chapter discussing the building blocks of electronics (electrons, electric fields, magnetic fields, etc.) in what seems a bit too low level for most robot hobbyist's needs. Another disappointment was the chapter on circuits, which was sadly lacking in basic tools for analyzing circuits and their behavior (it only contained a brief description of Ohm's law).

Another chapter dealt entirely with sequencing and programming, including Cam Control and Card Control - who seriously uses this anymore? The discussion on binary systems was also brief. The chapter on control systems didn't even mention block diagrams and discussed closed-loop feedback systems without any good examples in robotics (a good one would be a motor driver).

Another chapter was devoted to semiconductors, with discussion of BJT's and FET's, but this was sadly disconnected from real-world applications and circuits. Which, is the biggest problem I have with this book - there isn't any real world applications in robotics. The book lacked any discussion of sensors or microcontrollers, and only mentioned programming in a high-level way. There were no pictures of actual robots anywhere in the book.

I would say this book is definitely not for true beginners. It will only leave them more frustrated and confused. It builds a very nice foundation, but stops there, leaving the beginner to find yet another resource to link all the pieces together. Robotics Demystified only succeeds in clouding the really difficult part - putting everything together into a working robot.

If you're an "advanced beginner" this book might be for you, to enhance your knowledge, but if you're completely clueless, stay away.

an introductory text
A breezy little book that gives a general explanation of how to make your own robots. Very much a hobbyist's flavour, with a hands on approach emphasised. Wise tries to take a lot of the mystique out of the subject. He downplays any complexity in the design. This may ultimately limit what you can get out of the book. But if you have never had any prior exposure to robotics, it is stillnot a bad choice for a first text. ... Read more

Product Description
Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio (MRDS) offers an exciting new wayto program robots in the Windows environment. With key portions of the MRDS code available in source form, it is readily extensible and offers numerous opportunities for programmers and hobbyists. This comprehensive book illustrates creative ways to use the tools and libraries in MRDS so you can start building innovative new robotics applications.

The book begins with a brief overview of MRDS and then launches into MRDS concepts and takes a look at fundamental code patterns that can be used in MRDS programming. You'll work through examples—all in C#—of common tasks, including an examination of the physics features of the MRDS simulator. As the chapters progress, so does the level of difficulty and you'll gradually evolve from navigating a simple robot around a simulated course to controlling simulated and actual robotic arms, and finally, to an autonomous robot that runs with an embedded PC or PDA.  

What you will learn from this book

• How to program in the multi-threaded environment provided by the concurrency and coordination runtime
• Suggestions for starting and stopping services, configuring services, and packaging your services for deployment
• Techniques for building new services from scratch and then testing them
• How to build your own simulated environments and robots using the Visual Simulation Environment
• What robots are supported under MRDS and how to select one for purchase

This book is for programmers who are interested in becoming proficient in the rapidly growing field of robotics. All examples featured in the book are in C#, which is the preferred language for MRDS. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Excellent book for the determined
When I first got the book a few months ago, I had a hard time getting into it in large part because I could not readily build the sample codes associated with the earlier chapters.All the codes, as downloaded from the book's companion website, seemed to have reference and path issues.I was also using VC# Express along with MRDS Express at the time, so I could not avail myself of some of the helpful hints given in the book.Since then, I have switched over to Visual Studio Professional along with MRDS Professional, and having now figured out how to resolve those reference issues in the sample codes (easily done), I must say I have a new found appreciation for what the authors have accomplished with this tome.They obviously know their stuff, and for me, starting with Chapter 6 which details the creation of the Corobot robot in the simulation engine, the book truly becomes invaluable.Indeed, I now find myself referring back to the earlier chapters as well with great relish.Like a fine wine, this books apparently just needs to be given a bit of time to 'breathe' in one's mind in order to reach its full potency.So I want to amend my earlier two-star rating to five stars.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who isusing MRDS.

(Note: The two-star rating as shown is based on my earlier review filed in April 2009.For some reason, Amazon only allows me to edit the text of my earlier review, but not the star rating.)

If you want deep knowledge, this is the book.
This is not an intro book, but is the book you want if you want in depth knowledge.Very good book, but you'll likely use it as a reference rather than a tutorial as the topics are pretty targeted.

Thorough but not easy material to get through
I have not yet completed reading this book though I have read the first few chapters.

My first impression is that although this book is fairly thorough and comprehensive, it's not the easiest material to get through.

The authors start with the CCR (Concurrency and Coordination Run-Time) and discuss it in such a way that it has nothing to do with robotics.Obviously, it makes sense as to why you would have a specialized set of components to handle concurrency, etc., but it helps to know how it fits in the big picture of robotics programming.

Anyway, I don't regret having purchased this book, but I wish it was laid out more in the context of robotics rather than just the individual components of the Microsoft Robotics Studio.

Best book for the job
Of the two textbooks available, Professional MRDS is an excellent reference book for those who need guidance with MRDS. The textbook has a plethora of examples that are easy to grasp and has an excellent code library (available from the website at no cost). In addition, the hands-on attitude of the authors make MRDS a pleasurable experience.

Table of Contents
This is not an actual review of the book since I am still waiting for it to arrive. I wanted to post the Table of Contents here to help out others since I did not see one from Amazon...

Foreword.
Introduction.

Part I: Robotics Developer Studio Fundamentals.

Chapter 1: Exploring Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio.

Chapter 2: Concurrency and Coordination Runtime (CCR).

Chapter 3: Decentralized Software Services (DSS).

Chapter 4: Advanced Service Concepts.

Part II: Simulations.

Chapter 5: The MRDS Visual Simulation Environment.

Chapter 6: Extending the MRDS Visual Simulation Environment.

Chapter 7: Using Orchestration Services to Build a Simulation Scenario.

Chapter 8: Simulating Articulated Entities.

Chapter 9: Adventures in Simulation.

Part III: Visual Programming Language.

Chapter 10: Microsoft Visual Programming Language Basics.

Chapter 11: Visually Programming Robots.

Chapter 12: Visual Programming Examples.

Part IV: Robotics Hardware.

Chapter 13: Using MRDS with Robotics Hardware.

Chapter 14: Remotely Controlling a Mobile Robot.

Chapter 15: Using a Robotic Arm.

Chapter 16: Autonomous Robots.

Chapter 17: Writing New Hardware Services.

Index. ... Read more

Product Description

This volume provides the reader with an integrated overview of state-of-the-art research in philosophy and ethics of design in engineering and architecture. It contains twenty-five essays that focus on engineering designing in its traditional sense, on designing in novel engineering domains, including ICT, genetics, and nanotechnology, designing of socio-technical systems, and on architectural and environmental designing. These essays are preceded by an introductory text structuring the field of philosophy and ethics of design in engineering and architecture as one in which a series of similar philosophical, societal and ethical questions are asked. This volume enables the reader to overcome the traditional separation between engineering designing and architectural designing. The emerging discipline of designing socio-technical systems is shown to form an intermediate between engineering and architecture to which the philosophical and ethical analyses of both domains apply. This volume thus announces a challenging cross-fertilization between the philosophy and ethics of engineering and of architecture that will lay down the integrated ground works for the renewed interests in the importance of design in modern society.

Customer Reviews (1)

Good books on robotic motion don't go out of style
This book was published in 1985, and is still in print at the time I am writing this. However, used copies are selling in the dollar range. If you just ignor the parts of the book that talk about robotic applications and industrial trends that have expired long ago and focus on the very useful portions that teach how to perform the calculations for robot motion, this is a very good book. It has many clear examples and explains all of the formulas in a detailed fashion that you don't commonly find in the more expensive modern texts that attempt to explain robot motion along with other related subjects such as computer vision. The prerequisites for understanding this book are the same as for taking an engineering level course in robotics - matrix algebra, elementary calculus, statics, ordinary linear differential equations, and Laplace transforms. Knowledge of dynamics, computer programming, and control theory, while useful, is not really necessary.

Several problems are presented at the conclusion of each chapter, many of which refer to statements made in the textbook. In this way, the reader is encouraged to actively participate in the development of a particular mathematical equation or a specific numerical result. Five appendices are provided to ensure a common level of understanding of a particular subject before it is introduced in the main text. The following is the detailed table of contents:

1. AN OVERVIEW
1.1 A Chronological Perspective
1.2 Statistics
1.3 Classifications
1.4 Technical Disciplines
1.5 Robot Programming Languages

2. FORWARD KINEMATICS
2.1 Orientation Coordinate Transformations
2.2 Configuration Coordinate Transformations
2.3 Denavit-Hartenberg Coordinate Transformations
2.4 D-H Matrix Composition

3. INVERSE KINEMATICS
3.1 Some General Methods
3.2 The Planar Robot
3.3 The Microbot Robot
3.4 The PUMA 560
3.5 The Stanford Manipulator

4. MOTION KINEMATICS
4.1 The Planar Case
4.2 The Three-Dimensional Case
4.3 Some Spherical Wrist Consequences
4.4 The Stanford Manipulator

5. FORCE/TORQUE RELATIONS
5.1 Force/Moment Translations
5.2 A General Force/Torque Relation
5.3 Some Spherical Wrist Consequences

6. TRAJECTORY PLANNING
6.1 Polynomial Paths and Cubic Segments
6.2 Linear Segments with Parabolic Blends
6.3 Coordinated Motion

7. DYNAMICS (KINETICS)
7.1 Lagrange's Equations
7.2 The Microbot Robot
7.3 Inverse Dynamics

8. POSITIONAL CONTROL
8.1 Unity Feedback Systems
8.2 General Performance Measures
8.3 PID Control
8.4 Inverse Dynamic Feedforward Control
8.5 Nonlinear and Two-Part Conrol

Appendix A - Robotic Terms and Definitions
Appendix B - Matrix/Vector Algebra
Appendix C - Trigonometric Abbreviations and Identities
Appendix D - The Laplace Transform
Appendix E - Moments of Inertia of Common Geometric Shapes ... Read more

Product Description
Text provides 123 experiments to bring out the genius in every basement hobbyist. Introduces readers to robotics, electronics, and programming; so you don't need to be a science whiz to get started. Shows how you can create simple robots and models using inexpensive materials and tools found around the house and workroom. Includes a printed circuit board. Softcover. DLC: Robotics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Cool Stuff
This is an excellant intro to basic robotics circuits. This will not turn you into a robotic engineer, but will certainly peek your interest. Rather than aproach the subject as boring chapters, each section is broken-up into singular experiments that culminate into one grand capstone project.

too many mistakes
I agree with some of the other reviews. There is some helpful information in
this book but it's nothing which can't be found elsewhere.
It might be worth reading but I suggest skipping the
examples since they contain too many errors, and aren't
spaced or documented well enough for easy understanding and debugging.

Not too helpful, kind of boring.
I was really excited when I read the table of contents of this book, as I thought it was going to talk about everything I wanted to know.It turned out that it was really boring.I gave it a good try, and forced myself to push through chapter after chapter.I read, but skipped many of the experiments, because they were set up to fail, to show you how something Couldn't be done. For example, one "experiment" on the construction of a robot's frame, was glueing pipe cleaners as joints between 2 tubes of cardboard.It went on to build a whole cardboard tube man, just to show it wouldn't stand up.Needless to say, I'm glad I didn't spend my day constructing that, as I would not have learned much about robotics.I couldn't tell if this was for kids, because it got somewhat complicated.I did buy it in a University bookstore though.

The hardest part of the whole thing, was buying all the parts.Some of them are listed in a way that nobody else lists them, and decoding them took a while.It also, unfortunately, like many robotics books, asks you to spend quite a bit of money on parts.This book pretty much just got so boring, that I began to question if it would actually explain the things that it claimed it would.I ended up giving up on it, and it set me back a bit on my robot experiments, just because I was so bored by it.It also set me back a bit of money for parts.

If you are looking for something to explain things in a fun, understandable, and productive way, look elsewhere.

Didn't get a PCB Board
It's hard to give an objective review, as I didn't get the PCB Board with this book. I emailed McGraw-Hill, going to see why it didn't have one.If I can't get any help there, I'm going to contact Amazon about this....

Update:I got a response back from McGraw-Hill, these are no longer going to come packed with a PCB board.They said something about a CDRom, but I didn't get one with my book. This is really uncool, as most of the experiments are predicated on having that PCB.So, I would urge anyone who was really considering this to perform the experiments to pass it up.I would not recommend this book to anyone!

A mixed bag
The book doesn't as much explain how to build a robot as it explains robots by their building blocks; electronics, microcontrollers, sensors, motors etc.

This is both the book's greatest strength and its greatest weakness; if you take the time and effort to go through each example, you will gain a solid understanding of electronics; understanding you need to have in order to design and build (as opposed to assemble one from a kit) a robot.

The drawback is that it is time-consuming to go through all the experiments, and it is not always obvious why a given experiment is relevant to robotics.Also, unless you already have drawers full of electronics components and tools, it's going to be quite expensive to buy everything you need -- about $150.

Unfortunately, the author didn't provide a good parts list for the book, so unless you buy a kit with all the components (see link that another reviewer provided), you'll probably need to order parts from several sources.

It is not clear what audience the author is writing for; one chapter may be very basic and simple, while the next is very advanced.

Finally, the book would have benefited from a more thorough proof-reading before going to press; there are some annoying typos and errors in circuit schematics. ... Read more

Product Description

This book reports on the concepts and ideas discussed at the well attended ICRA2005 Workshop on "Principles and Practice of Software Development in Robotics", held in Barcelona, Spain, April 18 2005. It collects contributions that describe the state of the art in software development for the Robotics domain. It also reports a number of practical applications to real systems and discuss possible future developments.

Product Description

Product Description
Modern robotics dates from the late 1960s, when progress in the development of microprocessors made possible the computer control of a multiaxial manipulator. Since then, robotics has evolved to connect with many branches of science and engineering, and to encompass such diverse fields as computer vision, artificial intelligence, and speech recognition. This book deals with robots-such as remote manipulators, multifingered hands, walking machines, flight simulators, and machine tools-that rely on mechanical systems to perform their tasks. It aims to establish the foundations on which the design, control and implementation of the underlying mechanical systems are based. The treatment assumes familiarity with some calculus, linear algebra, and elementary mechanics; however, the elements of rigid-body mechanics and of linear transformations are reviewed in the first chapters, making the presentation self-contained. An extensive set of exercises is included. Topics covered include: kinematics and dynamics of serial manipulators with decoupled architectures; trajectory planning; determination of the angular velocity and angular acceleration of a rigid body from point data; inverse and direct kinematics manipulators; dynamics of general parallel manipulators of the platform type; and the kinematics and dynamics of rolling robots. Since the publication of the previous edition there have been numerous advances in both the applications of robotics (including in laprascopy, haptics, manufacturing, and most notably space exploration) as well as in the theoretical aspects (for example, the proof that Husty's 40th-degree polynomial is indeed minimal - mentioned as an open question in the previous edition). This new edition has been revised and updated throughout to include these new ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Perfect Introduction to Robotics
You couldn't get a better introductory work that is a complete, thorough, and easy to understand as this book.I highly recommend that all students -- whether graduate, undergraduate, or high school -- use this book as a stepping stone into the wide world of robotics. ... Read more

Product Description
A hands-on introduction to the field of robotics, this book will guide the hobbyist through the issues and challenges of building a working robot.Each chapter builds upon the previous one, extending a core robot project throughout the book.Examples of chapters include:Mechanical Platforms, Power Supplies, Adding Sense, Microcontrollers, Insect Robots, Pneumatics, More Behavior and Intelligence, Programming Projects, Robot Behaviors, and much more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Finally, an ATMEL based book!!
Good to know that there is a book out there that offers treatment of a more modern microcontroller (as opposed to PIC or 8051 controllers).

This book is full of great examples and psuedocode, from very basic circuits (get your feet wet!!) to the more complex fuzzy logic circuits.

I would have liked to have seen more time devoted to the fuzzy logic algorithms and explanations and less to blinking LEDs, but oh well.The author presents his own language "Fuzbol" which may or may not be useful to hobbyists...it has an interesting syntax that's vaguely C-like.

Overall, this is a well thought out book and far more useful than some of the other "classics" out there.A recommended purchase for hobbyists or students (more advanced might find this too simple).

Very good introduction to robotics
I used this book in conjunction with Gordon McComb's Robot Builder's Bonanza. The book provides step by step instructions for building a mobile robot and in doing so eliminates most of the apprehensions of a beginning robot builder. The book is somewhat specific and is not very detailed. The author however, is extermely helpful and responsive to questions and problems encountered. I e-mailed him numerous times and received immediate responses- the deciding factor in making this a five star book.

A Useful Supplementary Resource
Those familiar with Gordon McComb's 'Robot Builder's Bonanza' know that he interacts with and leverages off of developments in the hobby robotics community, soliciting ideas from readers and referring them to a plethora of resources outside of himself.Edwin Wise's 'Applied Robotics' is more of a one-man show.Whereas 'Bonanza' provides individual chapters devoted to describing three different MCUs, and allows the reader to use his / her own judgment in selecting one, Wise relies exclusively on the Atmel AT8515.Though very good, Atmel is not the most common choice among amateur roboticists, and this will limit the reader's ability to find kindred spirits in clubs or cyberspace when the inevitable questions arise.Nor is the AT8515 a beginner's MCU.All of the book's code samples are written in a single, proprietary programming language developed by the author himself, called Fuzbol.This language incorporates fuzzy logic capabilities as its primary feature, and for those interested in fuzzy logic, Wise provides a more complete introduction than I have seen elsewhere.However, "[m]ath in Fuzbol is very slow," Wise says on p. 165."[D]ivision is the worst, then multiplication.The slowest of all is real-valued math and it is best to avoid it unless necessary." In the preface, Wise refers to Applied Robotics as a beginner's guide, and as a book that may provide new ideas and techniques for the advanced builder.I would actually call this an intermediate-level hobbyist's guide.The advanced builder is familiar with almost all of the concepts addressed, while the bona fide beginner is likely to have difficulty with much of what lies beyond Chapter 6.Wise assumes his readers are familiar with computers and electronic circuits.If you do not know what 'edge-triggered' means, what a quad NOR gate is, or what a pullup is, you will need to do some remedial work with outside materials before you will understand this book. Wise's readers really should have ready access to a PC; Mac users are discouraged on p. 118.The program listings at the end of the book are designed to generate robotic behaviors such as 'aggression' (charging a light source), 'fear' (avoiding a light source), 'love', 'insecurity' and others.I really enjoyed Chapter 13, which treats pneumatics.Unlike other authors, Wise describes pneumatics in terms of circuits, providing interesting schematic conventions for air instead of electrons that I have not seen in other books.I also enjoyed Chapter 11, which deals mainly with sensors.Overall, I am pleased that I read the book.I would not personally rely upon it as a primary source, as I rely on 'Bonanza'.I am wary of its reliance on a single MCU, of its reliance on a proprietary language, and of the fact that readers who follow the book's guidelines ultimately produce only a system more or less identical to Wise's rather than one of their own design, but I value Applied Robotics as an addition to my library and as a reference source.

A great book for any hobbyist
This book is wonderful for the small time robot enthusiast. It starts from scratch, with the basics so anyone can follow along, and moves into more advanced and interesting robot behaviors. I built a small mobile robot andbought his kit, and now have a fully programmed robot that I can tinkerwith. It also includes a great programming language fuzBol that uses fuzzylogic, and some great ideas for future experiments.

Applied Robotics
A great book!Sure to warm the hearts of hardwarehackers everywhere. If you want to get into robotics and you would prefer to build a small robot of your own design rather than buying an off-the-shelf robot or kit then this book is for you. Well organized, engaging and clearly written thisbook will give you the information you need to engineer your own robot. Thebook includes a CD that contains a fuzzy logicprogramming language aswell as other software developement tools for the reccomended Atmel MCU.This seems like a real bargain in a meaty book that costs under 25 dollars.Edwin Wise also sells inexpensive kits containing electronic and mechanicalparts from his company website.If you love the smell of a hot solderingiron, buy this book! ... Read more

Product Description

Robotics is undergoing a major transformation in scope and dimension. Starting from a predominantly industrial focus, robotics has been rapidly expanding into the challenges of unstructured environments. The "Springer Handbook of Robotics" incorporates these new developments and therefore basically differs from other handbooks of robotics focusing on industrial applications. It presents a widespread and well-structured coverage from the foundations of robotics, through the consolidated methodologies and technologies, up to the new emerging application areas of robotics. The handbook is an ideal resource for robotics experts but also for people new to this expanding field such as engineers, medical doctors, computer scientists, designers; edited by two internationally renowned experts.

Bruno Siciliano is Professor of Control and Robotics at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, President of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, and a Fellow of both IEEE and ASME.

Oussama Khatib is Professor at the prestigious Stanford University in the USA, President of the International Foundation of Robotics Research, and a recipient of the Japan Robot Association Award in Research and Development.

Customer Reviews (1)

massive and comprehensive
Siciliano and Khatib have assembled a massive and comprehensive tome on robotics, circa 2008. Sections of the book can be read by a diverse audience of undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and even the general public. Spanning any field associated with the subject.

There is considerable maths in the modelling of robots. Often to understand and control an arm. The multiple degrees of freedom of joints are wonderful for dexterity. But these often give an excursion into advanced linear algebra and control systems theory. Several chapters go into the necessary maths. You probably need at least 2 years of undergraduate engineering maths as preparation.

The myriad applications in which robots have been deployed is amply surveyed in Part F, Field and Service Robotics. In the household, there is of course the floor cleaning Roomba. A cute little gizmo, but it is not a toy; a genuine robot in its own right. The chapter mentioning it also describes an entire genre of competitors; mostly lesser known to the public.

Another chapter on agriculture and forestry talks about using robots for tasks like harvesting. Usually more successful when the terrain is flat and well defined; ie. having only one crop present. While the general case of a robot in hilly, wooded terrain with multiple obstacles and different species of trees is much harder to program.

I also ran into something in this chapter from my past, and it impressed me as to the book's comprehensiveness. At the University of Western Australia, there was a long running program to devise a robot sheep shearer. It started in the 70s and I met several of its researchers. I lost track of it after 1983, but I'd wondered whatever became of it. The book takes up the thread, explaining that the program took on the name Shear Magic, and was ultimately discontinued because it was never fast enough. But even in failure, this robotic application had a side effect. The demonstration of the technology was used by farmers to browbeat human shearers into moderating their wage claims, by playing off longstanding fears of workers about being replaced by machines. Of course, whether or not this was desirable may be a function of your political leanings.

To me, the most interesting section of the entire book concerned mirror neurons. This was a fundamental recent discovery in biology. The relevance to robotics is still perhaps speculative. Several robotics researchers have attempted to use it as inspiration for teaching a robot via its visual input and processing system. This contrasts greatly with the traditional teaching use of rule based formal logic, often involving the predicate calculus. The results described in the text are early but promising.

One slight curiosity is the relative deprecating of military applications. These are numerous and scattered throughout various chapters. Covering uses like landmine detectors, or the aerial Predator and its relatives that have seen much recent use in Iraq and Afghanistan for surveillance and attack. But at the top level of the Contents, there is no section on the military. And if you go to the Index, "military" is absent, while, for example, "mind reading" gets 2 entries. The downplaying of the military is especially puzzling given the historically prominent role of the US military in funding advanced robotics research. ... Read more

Product Description

Rescue Robotics presents the most significant findings of the DDT Project on robots and systems for urban search and rescue. This project was launched by the Japanese government in 2002 with the aim of applying a wide variety of robotics technologies to find a solution to the problem of disaster response, especially urban search and rescue in large-scale earthquakes.

From 2002 to 2007 more than 100 researchers took part in the DDT Project, coming from a wide spectrum of research and development to make up four research groups: Aerial Robot Systems MU (Mission Unit), Information Infrastructure System MU, In-Rubble Robot System MU, and On-Rubble Robot System MU. This book discusses their development and testing of various robotic systems and technologies such as serpentine robots, traced vehicles, intelligent human interface and data processing, as well as analysing and verifying the results of these experiments.

Rescue Robotics will be of interest to researchers and students, but will also prove useful for emergency response personnel. It offers an insight into the state of the art of rescue robotics and its readers will benefit from a knowledge of the advanced technologies involved in this field.

Product Description
Here's everything the robotics hobbyist needs to harness the power of the PICMicro MCU!

In this heavily-illustrated resource, author John Iovine provides plans and complete parts listsfor 11 easy-to-build robots each with a PICMicro"brain.The expertly written coverage of the PIC Basic Computer makes programming a snap -- and lots of fun. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Exelent seller
when I saw the book it said that it was used, i thought that it was in bad conditions, but was quite the opposite this was as if it had never been opened. Also the shipping was faster that i tought. The truth is that i am very satisfied with the purchase. I recommend this seller.

Another work from Iovine that's worth skipping...
Like many of John Iovine's works with McGraw Hill- this one's definitely a no-go. I don't know when I'll finally learn my lesson buying his books-but I'll say it now-never again.Incomplete schematics, errors, and general garden variety stuff which we've al seen before, and not even that much of it.But that's only my humble opinion...-Paul

Excellent through & through
Highly recommended for those somewhat new to PIC, Basic, and robotics.Keep it center-shelf eye-level.

Garbage!!!
I picked this book up and started reading the CMU camera chapter.The chapter lack depth and completeness.The author says nothing about how the image could be transmitted wirelessly to the PC or how the CMU camera communicates with the PIC.It seems that he is more concerned with selling the camera from his company Images SI than he is with writing a good book.The only useful thing that he mentioned is that you need to activate a software flourescent filter in a room that uses such lighting.But the price definately reflects the quality in this case!

An excellent way to get started in PIC robotics.
I've been programming PIC Microcontrollers (with PIC Basic Pro) for a while now.They're really an invaluable tool for the modern electronics hobbyist, and the PIC Basic language couldn't be easier to write with.That being said, this book does assume you have at least some minimal knowledge of Basic, but really you could get by without it (the very point of Basic is that it's supposed to read like plain English -- which it does!), as the function of nearly every line of code is explained.The first few chapters are even dedicated to showing a complete beginner how to compile and program everything and build a basic test circuit.Very helpful if you've never worked with PICs before.

But on to the real substance of the book -- the projects!There's six complete robotics projects here; ranging from primitive light-seeking robots (that recreate some of the first robots ever to be built, back when AI was a new idea) to a bipedal walker (meaning, it actually has legs and a gait like that of a human -- it doesn't just tilt and waddle to simulate "walking" as virtually every other one of these purported "bipedal" robots do), robotic arms (made from ordinary servomotors), a six-legged walker, speech recognition and a full-color vision system.Impressive!

Another nice thing is that every one of them can be built with basic, inexpensive tools (though pre-made circuit boards and kits are available, to make it even easier).The diagrams and illustrations are clear and concise; every detail of every step is shown -- you can't go wrong.

As I mentioned, the real walking action of the bipedal walker is quite impressive, but I'd like to say more about the vision system, or the CMU Camera.This is a small camera which outputs data serially, to either your PC or a PIC Micro.In this instance, the camera is mounted on top of a three-wheel robot which can, utilizing edge detection in the PIC, actually follow a given target!This may sound complex (and, I suppose, it is), but it's explained in a very easy-to-follow manner.And it's more than just "put this part here" -- the theory is explained in terms that make it easy to understand, too.This gives you the know-how to put these concepts to use in your own projects.

Finally, to address the criticisms of other reviewers -- no, the book doesn't teach you assembly (it says right on the cover "No Assembly Language Programming Required"); but that's just it -- you don't need it!PIC Basic does the same thing, faster and easier.Do you really want to write out hundreds of lines of cryptic assembly code for what you could accomplish with just a few lines of Basic?The nominal cost is well worth it when you consider the *very* significant time savings.

If you're interested in building your own robots, this book is an excellent way to get started. ... Read more

Product Description

This book covers the fundamental properties, modeling, and demonstration of Electroactive polymers in robotic applications. It particularly details artificial muscles and sensors. In addition, the book discusses the properties and uses in robotics applications of ionic polymer–metal composite actuators and dielectric elastomers.

Product Description
This proceedings is a collection of 72 papers covering a vision of humankind’s future in space and robotic applications in space and in challenging situations and environments on Earth. Subjects include developing technologies of space exploration; space elevators and tethers; lunar and Martian exploration and construction; space power systems; near-Earth object (NEO) threat; high-altitude balloons; structures, materials, and controls; robotics technology; robotics in space exploration; business in space; space law and policy; and robotic applications in space, terrestrial inspection and maintenance, construction, underwater operations, the nuclear industry, environmental remediation, industry, and medicine. These papers were presented at Space 2002: The Eighth International Conference and Exposition on Engineering, Construction, Operations, and Business in Space and Robotics 2002: The Fifth International Conference and Exposition/Demonstration on Robotics for Challenging Situations and Environments, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from March 17 to 21, 2002. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a revision and extension of the author's 1995Sourcebook of Control Systems Engineering. Because of theextensions and other modifications, it has been re-titled Handbookof Control Systems Engineering, which it is intended to befor its prime audience: advanced undergraduate students, beginninggraduate students, and practicing engineers needing an understandablereview of the field or recent developments which may proveuseful.New in This Edition. * Two new chapters on aspectsof nonlinear systems have been incorporated. In the first of these,selected material for nonlinear systems is concentrated on fouraspects: showing the value of certain linear controllers, arguing thesuitability of algebraic linearization, reviewing the semi-classicalmethods of harmonic balance, and introducing the nonlinear change ofvariable technique known as feedback linearization. In the second newchapter, the topic of variable structure control, often with slidingmode, is introduced.* A third chapter introduces discrete eventsystems, including several approaches to their analysis.* Thechapters on robust control and intelligent control have beenextensively revised.* Modest revisions and extensions have alsobeen made to other chapters, often to incorporate extensions tononlinear systems.* Many references have been updated to morerecent books, although old standards are still cited. Also, some ofthe advances in computer and communications technology are reflected. * The index has been revised and expanded. The structure of the book is as in the first edition. Briefly, the aimis to present the topics in a fairly modular manner with certain maingroupings. * The first several chapters areconcerned with the hardware and software of the control task as wellas systems engineering associated with the selection of appropriatecomponents.* The next chapters look at the sources andrepresentations of the mathematical models used in the theory.* Anumber of chapters then are concerned with standard classical ortransform domain material as is usually presented in a first leveluniversity course, including stability theory, root locus diagrams,and Bode plots.* The next group of chapters concerns the standardmodern or state space material usually met in a second level course.Included here are observers, pole placement, and optimal control. * Overlapping into usual graduate level courses are the nextseveral chapters on more advanced optimal control, Kalman filtering,system identification, and standard adaptive control.* The finalchapters introduce more advanced, research level subjects. Here areselected topics in nonlinear control, intelligent control, robustcontrol, and discrete event systems. The topics covered are intended to represent the mainstream of controlsystems teaching. Examples are presented to illustrate thecomputability of the theory presented.Handbook of Controls Systems Engineering, Second Edition issuitable as a secondary text for upper level undergraduate students,beginning graduate students, and as a reference for researchers andpractitioners in industry. ... Read more

Product Description
Now in its third edition, Introduction to Robotics by John J. Craig provides readers with real-world practicality with underlying theory presented. With one half of the material from traditional mechanical engineering material, one fourth control theoretical material, and one fourth computer science, the book covers rigid-body transformations, forward and inverse positional kinematics, velocities and Jacobians of linkages, dynamics, linear control, non-linear control, force control methodologies, mechanical design aspects and programming of robots. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Book Fell Apart!
Opened the book for the first time when it arrived and it cracked, then sections of pages began to break apart and fall out.Had to three hole punch the whole book in order to keep it together.

Modified DH convention and poor explainations ruin it
I had nothing but problems with this book. First off, Craig uses modified DH conventiom, not the standard convention. Anyone that has used any non Craig book needs to know that ahead of time as Craig mentions "other methods" in passing but makes it sound like his the official version, which it's not. At least not outside industrial robotics for sure. His explainations are inadequate at best. He uses methods for dynamics that are more computer code oriented, and don't really give you a feel for what is happening as a whole. It's definitely not how you would want to do these problems on paper. And if all you had to learn dynamics from was this book, the method is probably the least of your concerns. And some examples would be nice. I gave it two stars because if you treat the book as an industrial robotics primer and not a primary source of robotics equations, it might not be so bad. It does have some interesting to read sections and it did introduce me to a matlab toolbox which I found useful, although it does not always play nice with the modified DH, it does have a modified option for some of its features.

Good introduction but poor on kinematics
The first 3 chapters begin very well giving the reader decent examples with how to derive frame assignments and forward kinematic matrices. Starting with chapter 4, the book begins to descend into a nightmare of ambiguity and frustration. Typos begin cropping up every where. The author then begins to take short cuts with deriving particular formulas with no clear explanation how those formulas are derived. One example is when the author begins to explain how to solve for an inverse kinematics problem and says to use the law of cosines, but then writes a formula that is not the law of cosines with no clarification how he came to that point. Homework problems are also given, but do not reflect the few examples given within the chapter leaving the reader in a very difficult position and in most cases unable to solve the problem. I would highly recommend getting a book other than this one. If it is required for a class, make sure the teacher has sufficient supplemental material that will augment the many failings this text has.

Robotics Instructor - Oklahoma
I teach a introductory course in robotics that is targeted for the senior/graduate level student in Electrical/Mechanical Engineering /Computer Science. The goal is to understand the kinematics, dynamics and ultimately the control of robotic manipulators. Unequivocally, this is one of the best books in introductory robotics! This book is not for the robotic tinkerer or the amateur, but for the engineer who is desirous of obtaining a sound understanding of the principles involved.

In the past four years that I have taught this subject, the student feedback has been consistent: The mechanical engineers think the controls part is too tough and the electrical engineers feel that the mechanics portion is too dense! This is the beauty of Mechatronics! One can only appreciate the material if he/she has a good understanding of both the mechanical aspects as well as the electrical aspects of the robot.
In the class that I teach, the students work on a group based term project where they implement the concepts on an actual manipulator. The students very quickly realise that "hobby"-ist approach to robotics will not work and the concepts of kinematics and dynamics are vital to the proper control of robots.

All in all, this book is an absolute "must read" for anyone serious about robotics, especially those desirous of pursuing graduate study in robotics or related areas.

The worst textbook I've ever had.
I had this book for an Intro to Robotics class I took. And I must say, this is by far the worst textbook I've ever read. It is dense, confusing, and hard to read. There are typos everywhere. When it is laying out problems and equations, it likes to skip a few steps and assume you can follow along. To sum it up, this book is useless.

Seriously, if you are going to take a course and this book is required, don't take the course. If the prof was any good they wouldn't pick this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This text describes the design and implementation of high-performance feedback controllers for engineering systems. It emphasizes the frequency-domain design and methods based on Bode integrals, loop shaping and nonlinear dynamic compensation. The book also supplies numerous problems with practcal applications, illustrations and plots, together with MATLAB simulation and design examples. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good review, interesting presentation, but strange organization...
This book's presentation of key control systems concepts is novel and easy to understand. Integration of matlab in the text is very natural, and complements the instructional material nicely. The authors emphasize undestanding of concepts rather than antiquated techniques, which IMO, are now better done via computer.

There is very good practical information contained in the book that a less-experienced contols engineer will find useful. Furthermore, this is an engineering text, and is a bit light on the math. I found the latter aspect to be helpful though, since all you need is a decent understanding of algebra and some experience with matlab (yes, knowledge of laplace and z transforms are helpful as well).

However, the book is organized somewhat haphazardly, and it reads a bit like a bunch of power point presentations strung from end to end. Coverage of a number of concepts is very cursory, and the book is very broad in scope.

In summary - a worthwhile book, especially if you need a brush-up or like lore-type books.

comments
this book presents a theory of control systems clearly and lucidly and presents the matlab simulation of control systems in a way which is most needed for brush-up in the eleventh hour. the author has taken keen interest in presenting the subject right from the grassroot level and a gradual development of the concepts is presented in the easy-to-use tool like way.i firmly believe that this should be in the bag of all engineers working on simulation of control systems. ... Read more

Product Description
BUILD A CAR ROBOT,SAVE THOU$AND$
(and master some of the most sophisticated concepts in robotics)

This thoughtful guide gives you complete, illustrated plans and instructions for building a 1:10-scale car robot that would cost thousands of dollars if bought off the shelf. But beyond hours of entertainment and satisfaction spent creating and operating an impressive and fun project, Mobile Robotic Car Design provides serious insight into the science and art of robotics. Written by robotics experts, this book gives you a solid background in electrical and mechanical theory, and the design savvy to conceptualize, enlarge, and build robotics projects of your own.

A WORKING CAR ROBOT—AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT MAKES IT WORK In these pages, robot designers Pushkin Kachroo and Patricia Mellodge will help you --

*Build an impressive robot vehicle that can regulate its own speed and direction, for a cost of about $1000.
*Give your robot car the ability to sense and respond to the environment
*Experiment with automatic cruise control that alters speed to meet conditions
*Learn what it takes to build a security robot that can patrol actively or passively
*Grasp the theory and principles behind robot design and operation
*Learn what makes servos, sensors, motors, and controls work
*Examine the source code for the PIC microcontroller and the DSP (digital signal processor)
*Find free code for the car's printed circuit board at the companion website
*Get a complete parts list and list of parts suppliers ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Best analisys I've seen on a robotics book.
Hello.

This book is one of the best I've seen and read so far.

I have several books on robot building (Gordon, Miles, Cook, Williams, Jones, Groover, Clark, Iovine, etc) and this book has captured every aspect that I was looking for.

The author explains the matter step by step througly thus giving the reader the sense that HE KNOWS what he's talking about (very important).

The other book similar to this one is "INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS: TECHNOLOGY, PROGRAMMING, AND APPLICATIONS", though, a bit old (1986), has mathematical analisys and good examples overall.

But this book (Mobile Robotic Car Design) excels on the analisys part. And best of all, it introduces the reader to mathematical information that one CAN understand, using MATLAB.

The book is divided in two parts:

Part 1
Hardware Implementation.- This is dedicated on how to make the robotic car, the hardware,programming (PIC and DSP) and several techinques that one would see on other robo building books.

Part 2
Theory of mobile robots.- This is where the interesting part begins. The math and how it can be used in our favor.

The book is worth the money IF you're into every detail of design. It has good information if you're only triying to make a robot but it would definitely be TOO MUCH for many (the robot DNA series would do).

This book is recommended for engineers and hobbyist as stated on a review, but mostly for engineers.

On another note:
Jones book, "Robot programming", is a good book for people that already have a robotic car, it's a good companion for this book.

Mobile Robotic Car Design Great for Hobbyists and Engineers
While reading the book, I found it to be understandable and easy to follow.The diagrams and step-by-step process was very helpful in understanding the Mobile Robotic Car Design.I would highly recommend this book to people like hobbyists and engineers who would like a well designed platform to test their vehicle control experiments, obstacle avoidance, or anything else your imagination can come up with. ... Read more