Offers a survey of control systems for serial-link robot arms and acknowledges how robotic device performance hinges upon a well-developed control system. This book explicates theoretical and mathematical requisites for controls design and summarizes techniques in computer simulation and implementation of controllers.

The design of nonlinear controllers for mechanical systems has been an ex- tremely active area of research in the last two decades. From a theoretical point of view, this attention can be attributed to their interesting dynamic behavior, which makes them suitable benchmarks for nonlinear control the- oreticians. On the other hand, recent technological advances have produced many real-world engineering applications that require the automatic con- trol of mechanical systems. the mechanism for de- Often, Lyapunov-based techniques are utilized as veloping different nonlinear control structures...

This practical yet rigorous book provides a development of nonlinear, Lyapunov-based tools and their use in the solution of control-theoretic problems. Rich in motivating examples and new design techniques, the text balances theoretical foundations and real-world implementation.