Handbook of Industrial Robotics: Principles, Power, Sensing, and Control

Industrial robots are more than mechanical arms. They are complete engineering systems built from motion, power, sensing, control, tooling, networks, safety, and maintenance. Handbook of Industrial Robotics: Principles, Power, Sensing, and Control gives readers a practical, system-level understanding of how those elements work together on a real production floor. Starting with the definition, history, configurations, anatomy, and performance of industrial robots, the book builds step by step into the technologies that make modern automation possible. Readers learn how hydraulic, pneumatic, and electric drive systems generate motion; how gears, transmissions, kinematics, trajectories, and singularities affect performance; and how encoders, proximity sensors, force sensing, machine vision, and LiDAR give a robot information about itself and its environment. The handbook also covers end-of-arm tooling, coordinate frames, programming methods, offline simulation, digital twins, industrial networks, IIoT, Industry 4.0, safeguarding, risk assessment, preventive maintenance, condition monitoring, and systematic troubleshooting. Designed for students, technicians, engineers, integrators, and automation professionals, this book emphasizes practical judgment as much as theory. Worked examples, technical explanations, application-focused discussions, and safety-conscious guidance help readers understand not only what industrial robots do, but why they behave the way they do and how to work with them responsibly. Build a stronger foundation in modern robotics and gain the confidence to analyze, specify, program, integrate, safeguard, and maintain industrial robot systems.