Mechatronics and the Design of Intelligent Machines and Systems

by David Allan Bradley, Derek Seward, David Dawson, Stuart Burge

2000 · CRC Press

Mechatronics as a discipline has an ever growing impact on engineering and engineering education as a defining approach to the design, development, and operation of an increasingly wide range of engineering systems. The increasing scope and complexity of mechatronic systems means that their design and development now involve not only the technical aspects of its core disciplines, but also aspects of organization, training, and management. Mechatronics and the Design of Intelligent Machines and Systems reflects the significant areas of development in mechatronics and focuses on the higher-level approaches needed to support the design and implementation of mechatronic systems. Throughout the book, the authors emphasize the importance of systems integration. Each chapter deals with a particular aspect of the design and development process, from the specification of the system to software design and from the human-machine interface to the requirements for safe operation and effective manufacture. Notable among this text's many features is the use of a running case study-the autonomous and robotic excavator LUCIE-to illustrate points made in various chapters. This, combined with the authors' clear prose, systematic organization, and generous use of examples and illustrations provides students with a firm understanding of mechatronics as a discipline, some of the problems encountered in its various areas, and the developing techniques used to solve those problems.

Crowned masterpieces of eloquence

by David J. Brewer

1913 · Рипол Классик

Crowned masterpieces of eloquence, representing the advance of civilization, as collected in The world's best orations, from the earliest period to the present time.

England's Islands in a Sea of Troubles

by David Cressy

2020 · Oxford University Press

England's Islands in a Sea of Troubles examines the jurisdictional disputes and cultural complexities in England's relationship with its island fringe from Tudor times to the eighteenth century, and traces island privileges and anomalies to the present. It tells a dramatic story of sieges and battles, pirates and shipwrecks, prisoners and prophets, as kings and commoners negotiated the political, military, religious, and administrative demands of the early modern state. The Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man, Lundy, Holy Island and others emerge as important offshore outposts that long remained strange, separate, and perversely independent. England's islands were difficult to govern, and were prone to neglect, yet their strategic value far outweighed their size. Though vulnerable to foreign threats, their harbours and castles served as forward bases of English power. In civil war they were divided and contested, fought over and occupied. Jersey and the Isles of Scilly served as refuges for royalists on the run. Charles I was held on the Isle of Wight. External authority was sometimes light of touch, as English governments used the islands as fortresses, commercial assets, and political prisons. London was often puzzled by the linguistic differences, tangled histories, and special claims of island communities. Though increasingly integrated within the realm, the islands maintained challenging peculiarities and distinctive characteristics. Drawing on a wide range of sources, and the insights of maritime, military, and legal scholarship, this is an original contribution to social, cultural, and constitutional history.

The Widening Gate

by David Harris Sacks

1991 · Univ of California Press

From the Preface:Bristol is the city that John Cabot sailed from and Thomas Chatterton dreamed, that Hugh Latimer preached to and Oliver Cromwell seized, that entertained Parliaments in the Middle Ages and rioted for Reform in the nineteenth century. Since the Norman Conquest, it has always had an important place in English history, experiencing events and contributing to developments that stirred the nation. What follows is an account of its connection with one small piece of that history, the rise of the Atlantic economy in the early modern period and the accompanying transformation of English economic ideas and practices. But this book is not about economics alone. It is grounded on the belief that we can no more abstract the economy from politics, culture, and society than we can separate intentional human action from thought and judgment. It also rejects the notion that the life of a city like Bristol could ever be treated as a self-contained whole. Instead it views such cities as social organisms living in close relationship with their surroundings. What gives them their structure is the set of internal codes they carry. And what enables them to survive is their ability to adapt to or transform their environment, which itself is always changing.