Flexible robotic manipulators pose various challenges in research as compared to rigid robotic manipulators, ranging from system design, structural optimization, and construction to modeling, sensing, and control. Although significant progress has been made in many aspects over the last one-and-a-half decades, many issues are not resolved yet, and simple, effective, and reliable controls of flexible manipulators still remain an open quest. Clearly, further efforts and results in this area will contribute significantly to robotics (particularly automation) as well as its application and education in general control engineering. To accelerate this process, the leading experts in this important area present in this book the state of the art in advanced studies of the design, modeling, control and applications of flexible manipulators.

Contents:

• Flexible-Link Manipulators: Modeling, Nonlinear Control and Observer (M A Arteaga & B Siciliano)
• Energy-Based Control of Flexible Link Robots (S S Ge)
• Trajectory Planning and Compliant Control for Two Manipulators to Deform Flexible Materials (O Al-Jarrah et al.)
• Force Control of Flexible Manipulators (F Matsuno)
• Experimental Study on the Control of Flexible Link Robots (D Wang)
• Sensor Output Feedback Control of Flexible Robot Arms (Z-H Luo)
• On GA Based Robust Control of Flexible Manipulators (Z-Q Xiao & L-L Cui)
• Analysis of Poles and Zeros for Tapered Link Designs (D L Girvin & W J Book)
• Optimum Shape Design of Flexible Manipulators with Tip Loads (J L Russell & Y-Q Gao)
• Mechatronic Design of Flexible Manipulators (P-X Zhou & Z-Q Xiao)
• A Comprehensive Study of Dynamic Behaviors of Flexible Robotic Links: Modeling and Analysis (Y-Q Gao & F-Y Wang)