Mechanics of Robotic Manipulation (Intelligent Robotics and Autonomous Agents) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Manipulation is the process of using one's hands to rearrange one's environment..." (more)
Key Phrases: positive linear span, angular inertia matrix, quasistatic manipulation, Exercises Exercise, Proof Let (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Manipulation" refers to a variety of physical changes made to the world around us. Mechanics of Robotic Manipulation addresses one form of robotic manipulation, moving objects, and the various processes involved--grasping, carrying, pushing, dropping, throwing, and so on. Unlike most books on the subject, it focuses on manipulation rather than manipulators. This attention to processes rather than devices allows a more fundamental approach, leading to results that apply to a broad range of devices, not just robotic arms. The book draws both on classical mechanics and on classical planning, which introduces the element of imperfect information. The book does not propose a specific solution to the problem of manipulation, but rather outlines a path of inquiry.

About the Author

Matthew T. Mason is Professor of Computer Science and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; illustrated edition edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262133962
• ISBN-13: 978-0262133968
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,006,051 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fundamentals of the study of robotic manipulation, November 27, 2008

By	Devin J. Balkcom - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a beautiful introduction to the field of robotic manipulation, and should be required reading for all graduate students in robotics. Each topic is treated carefully and rigorously. It is only fair to admit that the author was my Ph.D. advisor.

There is a strong emphasis on providing a mental toolkit for reasoning about physical systems. A particular highlight is the selection of graphical methods for thinking about rigid body systems with friction and contact. The careful reader, after working through this book, will be able to reason about mechanical systems with pencil and paper, rather than blind implementations of computer simulations.

The book is dense and requires significant work from the reader. Though there are no prerequisites for the book other than basic calculus, many of the proofs and techniques require some mathematical sophistication and a strong attention to detail to follow.

The book is also specialized, and does not attempt to cover all the details of manipulator design, modeling, or control -- instead, the focus is on the motion of the system being manipulated, which might be much more interesting than the manipulator itself.

For the above reasons, this book is not for everyone, but as a robotics researcher, I have come back to this book over and over again while reviewing papers or thinking about how to quickly model and understand a new system.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice for overview, bad for understanding, March 25, 2004

By A Customer

Mason covers quite a collection of techniques in his book; so as an partial overview of work done on techniques addressing problems of mechanical nature in robotics, this book is reasonable. One can use it as a starting point to find more information on these topics.

However, in my opinion the book is not suitable to gain an understanding of the subject. Mason tries to cover many methods but often fails to clearly describe the essence of techniques. I often find myself reading the same section a number of times to piece together the essence of how a technique works.