Overview
Presents advances in mechatronics and machine vision which have culminated in practical applications or which promise implementation in the near future. Major topics include mobile robots - legged, wheeled and underwater, with aspects of their guidance, navigation and intelligent control, and sensors - tactile, acoustic, vision and GPS, with applications in manufacturing quality control and navigation. New magnetic and hydraulic actuators are proposed for applications in mechatronics. Additional applications include a variety of aids for the handicapped and instrumentation and simulators for surgical procedures. Education and new courses in mechatronics are featured, including telerobotics, other web-based technologies and robot competitions. Contributions are from authors throughout the world, plus summaries of each topic written by relevant experts in the field.
Mechatronics is the blending of mechanics, electronics and computer control into an integrated design. It is the basis of an expanding list of products and techniques of great technical and commercial value. Ideas that were merely visions in the laboratory have emerged to find real applications in areas of vehicle guidance, robot aided inspection and agriculture. Low cost cameras developed for multimedia applications offer a whole new field of low-cost vision-based control through their ease of interfacing.
This book presents the edited proceedings from the 7th Annual Conference of Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice, presenting the latest research results and addressing the crucial issue of the design of courses and experiments that will best equip engineers for the mechatronic challenges of the future.