Mechatronics and Machine Vision: (No. 3 Robotics & Mechatronics S.)

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 mechatronics and machine vision research from experts throughout the world; features approaches to mechatronic teaching, and concentrates on real rather than conjectural systems - "in practice" with emphasis on mobile robots, sensors and new magnetic and hydraulic actuators.

Table of Contents:
Programmable gate arrays for hard real-time control; development of a positioning unit for surveillance cameras; the performance characteristics of a novel distributive method for tactile sensing; the BrowsMouse - computer access with Eyebrows; smart material actuators for fluid power valves with different pressure medium; in process control of surface finish in grinding process; Simple Intelligent Mouse (SiMouse); the application of Neural Network techniques for camera calibration; defects detection in printing tissues using computer vision; a hands-on simulator for needle penetration in the epidural procedure; listening for Cane Loss; sensor rich teleoperation of an all-terrain amphibious robotic vehicle in mixed water/land environments; CyberScout - distributed agents for autonomous reconnaissance and surveillance; high precision metrology via simulative correction of atomic force microscope data; automated carbon dioxide measurement via miniaturised chemical reaction chambers under mechatronic control; an intelligent mechatronics solution for automated tool guidance in the epidural surgical procedure; biped walk on undulating ground based on inclination estimation using stereo vision; robotics multimedia software for conceptual understandings; control of multiple mobile robot positioning using plan vision; configuration in the mechatronic design process - represented by fast acting magnetic actuators; controlling multiple robot in formation; control of sensory perception in a robotic cane; predictive correction of dead reckoning errors in a robotic cane; avoiding unnecessary human motion in robot programming by demonstration; low-cost GPS for the autonomous robot farmhand; a roller-skating robot; a six-legged hydraulic walking vehicle with four-wheel-drive capability; vision system design for Online quality control of highly specular coated surfaces; design of a tactile sensor for floor texture detection; learning algorithms for FuNe I adaptive feedback controller; development of low cost optical time-of-flight range sensor. (Part contents).