Highlighting the control of networked robotic systems this book synthesizes a unified
passivity-based approach to an emerging cross-disciplinary subject. Thanks to this unified
approach readers can access various state-of-the-art research fields by studying only the
background foundations associated with passivity. In addition to the theoretical results and
techniques the authors provide experimental case studies on testbeds of robotic systems
including networked haptic devices visual robotic systems robotic network systems and visual
sensor network systems. The text begins with an introduction to passivity and passivity-based
control together with the other foundations needed in this book. The main body of the book
consists of three parts. The first examines how passivity can be utilized for bilateral
teleoperation and demonstrates the inherent robustness of the passivity-based controller
against communication delays. The second part emphasizes passivity¿s usefulness for visual
feedback control and estimation. Convergence is rigorously proved even when other passive
components are interconnected. The passivity approach is also differentiated from other
methodologies. The third part presents the unified passivity-based control-design methodology
for multi-agent systems. This scheme is shown to be either immediately applicable or easily
extendable to the solution of various motion coordination problems including 3-D attitude pose
synchronization flocking control and cooperative motion estimation. Academic researchers and
practitioners working in systems and control and or robotics will appreciate the potential of
the elegant and novel approach to the control of networked robots presented here. The limited
background required and the case-study work described also make the text appropriate for and
it is hoped inspiring to students.
