Kinematics and Dynamics of Multi-Body Systems

The quest for more reliable, more environment-friendly, more fuel-efficient, and more affordable products in an extremely competitive market appear as the driving forces behind the need for an integrated approach to mechanical design, analysis, and control. In this context, aircraft is being designed currently with novel electromechanical systems for the steering of its control surfaces - ailerons, rudders, and the like - while terrestrial vehicles are nowadays designed with active suspensions, to name but a few of the plethora of mechanical systems whereby an integration of disciplines is unavoidable. This book is intended to fill the gap among kinematics, dynamics, and control, as pertaining to complex mechanical systems, with the aim to ease the task of the design and control engineers as well as to assist the researchers in related disciplines in the analysis and synthesis of novel mechanical systems.