Mechanism and robot design: Compliance synthesis and optimal fault tolerant manipulator design

Abstract

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii This dissertation is dedicated to my parents and my lovely wife. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to acknowledge my gratitude to my dissertation advisor, Dr. Rodney G. Roberts, for his valuable discussions and encouragement throughout this research and his constant support throughout my graduate career. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Carl D. Crane III, Dr. Young-Bin Park, Dr. Anke Meyer-Baese, and Dr. Simon Y. Foo for their gracious service on my graduate committee, broadening my sight and deepening my knowledge. Also, I would like to thank the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Collaborative Technology Alliances (CTA) Program and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for supporting me with financial assistance. Most of all, I really want to thank my family for their support and belief, without which this work would never have been possible. I would also like to humbly thank God for always