Algorithmic and Geometric Aspects of Robotics (Routledge Revivals)

Firstpublishedin1987,thesevenchaptersthatcomprisethisbookreviewcontemporaryworkonthegeometricsideofrobotics.Thefirstchapterdefinesthefundamentalgoalofroboticsinverybroadtermsandoutlinesaresearchagendaeachofwhoseitemsconstitutesasubstantialareaforfurtherresearch.Thesecondchapterpresentsrecentlydevelopedtechniquesthathavebeguntoaddressthegeometricsideofthisresearchagendaandthethirdreviewsseveralappliedgeometricideascentraltocontemporaryworkontheproblemofmotionplanning.TheuseofVoronoidiagrams,athemeopenedinthesechapters,isexploredfurtherlaterinthebook.Thefourthchapterdevelopsathemeincomputationalgeometryhavingobvioussignificanceforthesimplificationofpracticalroboticsproblems―theapproximationordecompositionofcomplexgeometricobjectsintosimpleones.Thefinalchapterstreattwoexamplesofaclassofgeometric‘reconstruction’problemthathaveimmediateapplicationtocomputer-aidedgeometricdesignsystems.