Fundamentals of Mechanics of Robotic Manipulation

Book excerpt: The book explores the fundamental issues of robot mechanics for both the analysis and design of manipulations, manipulators and grippers, taking into account a central role of mechanics and mechanical structures in the development and use of robotic systems with mechatronic design. It examines manipulations that can be performed by robotic manipulators. The contents of the book are kept at a fairly practical level with the aim to teach how to model, simulate, and operate robotic mechanical systems. The chapters have been written and organized in a way that they can be red even separately, so that they can be used separately for different courses and purposes. The introduction illustrates motivations and historical developments of robotic mechanical systems. Chapter 2 describes the analysis and design of manipulations by automatic machinery and robots; chapter 3 deals with the mechanics of serial-chain manipulators with the aim to propose algorithms for analysis, simulation, and design purposes; chapter 4 introduces the mechanics of parallel manipulators; chapter 5 addresses the attention to mechanical grippers and related mechanics of grasping.