I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

Principles of Neural Science

INTRODUCTION: Brief History. Multifingered Hands and Dextrous Manipulation. Outline of the Book. Bibliography. RIGID BODY MOTION: Rigid Body Transformations. Rotational Motion in R3. Rigid Motion in R3. Velocity of a Rigid Body. Wrenches and Reciprocal Screws. MANIPULATOR KINEMATICS: Introduction. Forward Kinematics. Inverse Kinematics. The Manipulator Jacobian. Redundant and Parallel Manipulators. ROBOT DYNAMICS AND CONTROL: Introduction. Lagrange's Equations. Dynamics of Open-Chain Manipulators. Lyapunov Stability Theory. Position Control and Trajectory Tracking. Control of Constrained Manipulators. MULTIFINGERED HAND KINEMATICS: Introduction to Grasping. Grasp Statics. Force-Closure. Grasp Planning. Grasp Constraints. Rolling Contact Kinematics. HAND DYNAMICS AND CONTROL: Lagrange's Equations with Constraints. Robot Hand Dynamics. Redundant and Nonmanipulable Robot Systems. Kinematics and Statics of Tendon Actuation. Control of Robot Hands. NONHOLONOMIC BEHAVIOR IN ROBOTIC SYSTEMS: Introduction. Controllability and Frobenius' Theorem. Examples of Nonholonomic Systems. Structure of Nonholonomic Systems. NONHOLONOMIC MOTION PLANNING: Introduction. Steering Model Control Systems Using Sinusoids. General Methods for Steering. Dynamic Finger Repositioning. FUTURE PROSPECTS: Robots in Hazardous Environments. Medical Applications for Multifingered Hands. Robots on a Small Scale: Microrobotics. APPENDICES: Lie Groups and Robot Kinematics. A Mathematica Package for Screw Calculus. Bibliography. Index Each chapter also includes a Summary, Bibliography, and Exercises

http://www.cds.caltech.edu/%7Emurray/books/MLS/pdf/mls94-complete.pdf

A Mathematical Introduction to Robotic Manipulation

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. This coherent and comprehensive book unifies material from several sources, including robotics, control theory, artificial intelligence, and algorithms. The treatment is centered on robot motion planning but integrates material on planning in discrete spaces. A major part of the book is devoted to planning under uncertainty, including decision theory, Markov decision processes, and information spaces, which are the “configuration spaces” of all sensor-based planning problems. The last part of the book delves into planning under differential constraints that arise when automating the motions of virtually any mechanical system. Developed from courses taught by the author, the book is intended for students, engineers, and researchers in robotics, artificial intelligence, and control theory as well as computer graphics, algorithms, and computational biology.

Planning Algorithms: Introductory Material

In this paper, we present a theoretical framework for design and analysis of distributed flocking algorithms. Two cases of flocking in free-space and presence of multiple obstacles are considered. We present three flocking algorithms: two for free-flocking and one for constrained flocking. A comprehensive analysis of the first two algorithms is provided. We demonstrate the first algorithm embodies all three rules of Reynolds. This is a formal approach to extraction of interaction rules that lead to the emergence of collective behavior. We show that the first algorithm generically leads to regular fragmentation, whereas the second and third algorithms both lead to flocking. A systematic method is provided for construction of cost functions (or collective potentials) for flocking. These collective potentials penalize deviation from a class of lattice-shape objects called /spl alpha/-lattices. We use a multi-species framework for construction of collective potentials that consist of flock-members, or /spl alpha/-agents, and virtual agents associated with /spl alpha/-agents called /spl beta/- and /spl gamma/-agents. We show that migration of flocks can be performed using a peer-to-peer network of agents, i.e., "flocks need no leaders." A "universal" definition of flocking for particle systems with similarities to Lyapunov stability is given. Several simulation results are provided that demonstrate performing 2-D and 3-D flocking, split/rejoin maneuver, and squeezing maneuver for hundreds of agents using the proposed algorithms.

/pdf/flocking-for-multi-agent-dynamic-systems-algorithms-and-5efqu9aidp.pdf

Flocking for multi-agent dynamic systems: algorithms and theory

Conventionally, engineers have employed rigid materials to fabricate precise, predictable robotic systems, which are easily modelled as rigid members connected at discrete joints. Natural systems, however, often match or exceed the performance of robotic systems with deformable bodies. Cephalopods, for example, achieve amazing feats of manipulation and locomotion without a skeleton; even vertebrates such as humans achieve dynamic gaits by storing elastic energy in their compliant bones and soft tissues. Inspired by nature, engineers have begun to explore the design and control of soft-bodied robots composed of compliant materials. This Review discusses recent developments in the emerging field of soft robotics.

/pdf/design-fabrication-and-control-of-soft-robots-51z07seyl1.pdf

Design, fabrication and control of soft robots

Presents a performance measure, the actuation efficiency, which describes isotropy in acceleration capability for non-redundant manipulators. It measures the imbalance between the end-effector accelerations achievable in different directions. Prior to this, no measure of this characteristic was adequate for a six degree-of-freedom manipulator because its end-effector motions are referenced to a mix of linear and angular coordinates. The proposed measure addresses both linear and angular accelerations. It also indicates oversized actuators, since this contributes to the imbalance in achievable accelerations. The development of this measure is based on the formulation of the motion isotropy hypersurface. The shape of this hypersurface is a weak indicator a acceleration isotropy.

https://cs.stanford.edu/group/manips/publications/pdfs/Bowling_2000_ICRA.pdf

Robot acceleration capability: the actuation efficiency measure

Mobile manipulation capabilities are key to many new applications of robotics in space, underwater, construction, and service environments. This article presents various control strategies developed for vehicle/arm coordination, compliant motion tasks, and cooperative manipulation between multiple platforms. These strategies have been implemented on two holonomic mobile platforms designed and built at Stanford in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratories and Nomadic Technologies.

Mobile Manipulators: Expanding the Frontiers of Robot Applications

The visual quality, complexity and fidelity of virtual environments displayable on modern computer systems continues to grow unabated. A barrier exists, however, between these worlds and our own, leaving them presently out of reach. This thesis examines two technologies, haptic rendering and dynamic simulation, that help to break the barriers between these worlds by allowing direct “hands-on” interaction with physically intuitive virtual environments. 
Haptic systems allow users to receive and transmit information by touch. Through a force-reflecting mechanical device, users experience the illusion of contact with a real body. A novel representative model is created to allow the robust display of an object given its geometry and surface characteristics. This model attempts to, whenever possible, take advantage of representations that are common in graphics display, including geometry, shading and texture. The algorithms which comprise this model enable realistic contact with arbitrarily complex virtual objects. 
The advantage of being able to touch virtual objects would be of limited value, however, if the objects did not react in a physically intuitive manner. Objects cannot be described solely in terms of their geometric properties; they must also mimic physical characteristics such as mass, inertia and non-penetration. In the second part of the thesis a framework to efficiently resolve collision and contact constraints between different complex multi-body articulated systems is developed. This framework simplifies the resulting equations by breaking the space of motions between components effected by the collision and those that do not. The models developed for this framework also highlight many of the attributes common to simulation, robotic control and dynamic modeling. 
This thesis presents results incorporating both haptics and dynamic simulation for tasks in a variety of disciplines. Whether for training; research, education or entertainment, the technologies described help add tangible value to the virtual experience.

Beyond the Looking Glass : The Haptic Exploration of Virtual Environments

Robotics is undergoing a major transformation in scope and dimension with accelerating impact on the economy, production, and culture of our global society. The generations of robots now being developed will increasingly touch people and their lives. They will explore, work, and interact with humans in their homes, workplaces, in new production systems, and in challenging field domains. The emerging robots will provide increased support in mining, underwater, hostile environments, as well as in domestic, health, industry, and service applications. Combining the experience and cognitive abilities of the human with the strength, dependability, reach, and endurance of robots will fuel a wide range of new robotic applications. The discussion focuses on design concepts, control architectures, task primitives and strategies that bring human modeling and skill understanding to the development of this new generation of collaborative robots.

/pdf/the-age-of-human-robot-collaboration-1glvzw6yn1.pdf

The Age of Human-Robot Collaboration

A new field of robotics is emerging Robots are today moving towards applications beyond the structured environment of a manufacturing plant They are making their way into the everyday world that people inhabit The paper focuses on models, strategies, and algorithms associated with the autonomous behaviors needed for robots to work, assist, and cooperate with humans In addition to the new capabilities they bring to the physical robot, these models and algorithms and more generally the body of developments in robotics is having a significant impact on the virtual world Haptic interaction with an accurate dynamic simulation provides unique insights into the real-world behaviors of physical systems The potential applications of this emerging technology include virtual prototyping, animation, surgery, robotics, cooperative design, and education among many others

/pdf/efficient-algorithms-for-robots-with-human-like-structures-5bt6dx7yiv.pdf

Oussama Khatib

Papers

Robot acceleration capability: the actuation efficiency measure

Mobile Manipulators: Expanding the Frontiers of Robot Applications

Beyond the Looking Glass : The Haptic Exploration of Virtual Environments

The Age of Human-Robot Collaboration

Efficient Algorithms for Robots with Human-Like Structures and Interactive Haptic Simulation