This book is devoted to the design, planning and control problems of intelligent robotic cells and their subsystems. These problems are treated using techniques, technologies and tools drawn from discrete systems, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, and neural network theories. The book starts with an introductory chapter and a general description of intelligent robotic systems with focus on the intelligent robotic cell. Then parts I and II are presented. Part I involves the following chapters: (i) Virtual Robotic Cells, (ii) Planning of Robotic Cell Actions, (iii) Off-line Planning of Robot Motion, and (iv) CAP/CAM Systems for Robotic Cell Design. The methods and algorithms developed in this part are suitable for off-line synthesis of the intelligent robotic cell, particularly for getting executable plans of robot motions and tasks using only general descriptions of each task or the final state of the assembly process. This part includes software systems appropriate for the robotic cell design. Part II contains the following chapters: (i) The Execution Level of Robotic Agent Action, (ii) The Coordination Level of a Multiagent Robotic System, (iii) The Organization Level of a Robotic System, (iv) Real-Time Monitoring, and (v) Object Oriented Discrete-Event Simulator of Intelligent-Robotic-Cells. These chapters treat the problems of real-time, event-driven multilevel coordination and control via discrete-event, neural and fuzzy-logic controllers. Several coordination techniques are proposed according to the available knowledge about the systems surrounding environment, along with potential solutions that guarantee the required intelligent behavior of the system. The book is carefully written with an easy to follow structure and fluent material keeping the mathematics at the absolutely required level. Throughout the book several worked-out examples are included which illustrate and support the theoretical and methodological developments. The book is suitable for the senior postgraduate student and the researcher and practitioner in the field of intelligent robotic systems.
Reviewer: S.G.Tzafestas (Athens)