Introduction

Abstract

The motivation for the research presented in this book is to continue the development of the field of non-linear control theory for mechanical systems. The development of robots having an autonomous and complex behavior such as the adaptation to environment changes and uncertainties, planification and execution strategies without human intervention and the learning ability to improve performances is one of the ultimate goals in research of robotics. The achievement of such machines could have a major impact in many fields such as production, stocking and supervision of dangerous waste, construction and the robotic hollow, inspection, teleoperation, maintenance of satellites, autonomous vehicles, etc. It clearly appears that most of the problems to be solved to reach such goals imply control problems. The development of control techniques is a vital objective for the realization and the creation of intelligent robots.