Introduction to Robotics: Mechanics and Control

by John J. Craig

Book Overview

Now in its third edition, Introduction to Robotics by John J. Craig provides readers with real-world practicality with underlying theory presented. With one half of the material from traditional mechanical engineering material, one fourth control theoretical material, and one fourth computer science, the book covers rigid-body transformations, forward and inverse positional kinematics, velocities and Jacobians of linkages, dynamics, linear control,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0201103265
• ISBN13: 9780201103267
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great first book

This was my favorite because it was easy to follow and understand basic robotics. Though some of the material is outdated, it still gives you a lot of insight into basic manipulator mathematics. But set your expectations right-you should not expect this book to teach you basic mathematics of rotational matrices.

Robotics Instructor - Oklahoma

I teach a introductory course in robotics that is targeted for the senior/graduate level student in Electrical/Mechanical Engineering /Computer Science. The goal is to understand the kinematics, dynamics and ultimately the control of robotic manipulators. Unequivocally, this is one of the best books in introductory robotics! This book is not for the robotic tinkerer or the amateur, but for the engineer who is desirous of obtaining a sound understanding of the principles involved. In the past four years that I have taught this subject, the student feedback has been consistent: The mechanical engineers think the controls part is too tough and the electrical engineers feel that the mechanics portion is too dense! This is the beauty of Mechatronics! One can only appreciate the material if he/she has a good understanding of both the mechanical aspects as well as the electrical aspects of the robot. In the class that I teach, the students work on a group based term project where they implement the concepts on an actual manipulator. The students very quickly realise that "hobby"-ist approach to robotics will not work and the concepts of kinematics and dynamics are vital to the proper control of robots. All in all, this book is an absolute "must read" for anyone serious about robotics, especially those desirous of pursuing graduate study in robotics or related areas.

Great for understanding the computational mechanics of robotics

Over all, I would say this is the best source for understanding mechanics and control theory as it relates to robotics motion. It really gets into the details that books on the subject of computational robots such as "Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots" and "Computational Principles of Mobile Robotics" simply do not have the room to accommodate. Chapters two and three go into great detail on the matrix transformations and geometry necessary to relate one frame of motion to another. Chapter four is the best chapter on the subject of inverse kinematics that I have found in print. This chapter tackles the difficult problem of answering the question: "Given starting point A and stopping point B, what forces must come to bear on a particular robotic arm to get from A to B?" Chapter five introduces the very important matrix entity entitled the Jacobian, which is necessary for the study of both velocities and static forces. Once again, the computational robotics books in print mention the Jacobian and use the Jacobian, but none I have encountered actually bother to explain it as this book does. Chapters six and seven round out the discussion of mechanics with tutorials on the subject of manipulator dynamics. Chapter eight is less mathematical, and it deals with the mechanical design of robot elements. A background in mechanics of materials would be helpful for understanding this chapter, but you can still get through it even without it. Finally, chapters nine through eleven deal with control theory and the modeling of robot manipulators. The math gets a bit sparse in these chapters, and I don't think that the level of explanation is as good here as it is in the first eight chapters dealing with mechanics. Chapters twelve and thirteen deal with robot programming systems and should be understandable by anyone with some computer programming experience. The book is full of worked numerical examples and exercises with the solutions to selected exercises given in the back of the book. The book also has many Matlab programming exercises, which is great since most mathematical robotics problems are too complex to solve without Matlab. The only part of the book that I found somewhat weak in the least bit would be the chapters on control theory. In summary, to really appreciate this book you should already have some background in engineering mechanics - say a course in both statics and dynamics, and also some understanding of control theory, with a desire to apply this knowledge specifically to computational issues in robotics. You cannot be a robotic hobbyist and tinkerer with no background in engineering or mathematics and gain much from this book. From reading the other reviews, I think this misunderstanding might be where some of the bad ratings are coming from.

Great introduction to robotics.

As the title says, it's an introduction. And a good one at that. The basics are covered with just the right amount of detail to be useful. The book also provides good references for more advanced work.

All the basics

It teaches you all you need to know to begin with Robotics. It's a bit old-fashioned though.