Advances in Robot Kinematics and Computational Geometry

Computational Advances in Robot Kinematics.- 1. Workspace and Trajectory Analysis.- Characterizing the Workspace of the Spherical Image of Cooperating Robots.- On the Kinematics of Nonsingular and Singular Posture Changing Manipulators.- Determination of the Workspace Boundary of a General n-Revolute Manipulator.- Local Pictures for General Two-Parameter Planar Motions.- Limited Existence of Three-Dimensional Conformal Mapping in Robots.- 2. Computational Geometry in Kinematics.- Geometric Analysis of Spatial Rigid-Body Dynamics with Multiple Friction Contacts.- An Inverse Design Algorithm for a G2 Interpolating Spline Motion.- Geometry of Parallel-Jaw Gripper Grasps in the Plane.- Computational Geometry in the Synthesis of Skew Gear Teeth.- 3. Kinematic Errors and Calibration.- A CAD Tool for Remote Calibration of Space Station Robotic Test Bed.- Kinematic Calibration and the Product of Exponentials Formula.- A Systematic Approach to Model Arbitrary Non Geometric Kinematic Errors.- 4. Kinematics of Mobile Robots.- The Wheeled Actively Articulated Vehicle (WAAV): An Advanced Off-Road Mobility Concept.- Limitations of Kinematic Models for Wheeled Mobile Robots.- A Spatial Leg Mechanism With Anthropomorphic Properties for Ambulatory Robots.- An Investigation of the Kinematic Control of a Six-Legged Walking Robot.- 5. Kinematic Performance.- Kinematic Isotropy in 3R Positioning Manipulators.- An Object Shape Dependent Kinematic Manipulability Measure for Path Planning and Shape Optimization.- Application of Dexterity Indices to Spatial Articulated Hands.- Characterization of Kinematic and Static Performances of Robotic Geared Wrists.- 6. Kinematics in Control.- A Dynamically Consistent Strategy for Manipulator Control at Singularities.- Third-Order Control of a Planar System Tracking Constant Curvature Paths.- Control of Manipulators With Flexible Joints and Links by Non Linear Inversion, Modal Damping and Joints Stiffening.- Inverse Kinematic Solution and Mixed Control Law for Redundant Robot in the Cartesian Space.- 7. Force and Elasticity Analysis.- An Inverse Force Analysis of a Spatial Three-Spring System.- A Two-Arm Robot Can Be Stronger Than Two Arms — Experiments on Optimal Force Distribution in Two-Arm Robot.- Minimum Joint Torque Configurations of Planar Multiple-Link Manipulator.- 8. Inverse Kinematics.- Positional Inverse Kinematic Problems in Tn × Rm Solved in T2(n+m).- Explicit Modelling of General Task Spaces for Inverse Kinematics.- On the General Solution of the Inverse Kinematics of Six-Degrees-of-Freedom Manipulators.- Coping with Joint Velocity Limits in First-Order Inverse Kinematics Algorithms.- Hybrid Position-Orientation Decoupling in Robot Manipulators.- Dual Basis of Screw-Vectors for Inverse Kinestatic Problems in Robotics.- 9. Kinematic Design.- A Comparison of Two Minimally-Singular Articulated Arm-Subassemblies.- Design and Multi Objective Optimization of a Linkage for a Haptic Interface.- Design of a Three-dof Tendon-driven Manipulator with the Characteristics of Equal Maximum Tensions.- Spherical 3 d. o. f Geared Wrist with no Aligned Singularity.- 10. Kinematic Analysis.- Is There a Most General Kinematic Chain?.- Zero-Magnitude Screws in a 3-System of Finite Displacement Screws.- True Straight-line Linkages Having a Rectilinear Translating Bar.- On the Reduction of Parameters in Kinematic Equations.- 11. Parallel Manipulators.- Symbolic-Form Forward Kinematics of a 5-4 Fully-Parallel Manipulator.- Evaluation of the Errors When Solving the Direct Kinematics of Parallel Manipulators With Extra Sensors.-A Special Type of Singular Stewart-Gough Platform.- A Smart Kinestatic Interactive Platform.- 12. Task and Motion Planning.- Strategic Collision Avoidance of Two Robot Arms in the Same Work Cell.- A Collision-Detection Scheme Based on Convex-Hulls Concept for Generating Kinematically Feasible Robot Trajectories.- Collision-Avoidance Robot Path Planning Using Fully Cartesian Coordinates.- Planning Grasp Points and Base Locations of Single Robots and Cooperating Robot Systems.- Vision-Based Robot Path Planning.- Author Index.