Preface; Contributors; Outline of the Book; Terminology; Chapter 1: Teaching Control and Robotics Using the Web, by Spyros G. Tzafestas; Introduction; Review of the Web-Based Control and Robotics Educational Platforms; Web Telerobotics and Internet Delay; General Characteristics of Web-based Virtual Laboratories; General Characteristics of Web-Based Remote Laboratories; Some Examples; Concluding Remarks; Appendix: Software Environments for Developing Web-based Educational Platforms; References; Chapter 2: Control System Design and Analysis Education via the Web, by Harry H. Cheng, Bo Chen and David Ko; Introduction; Ch Control Systems Toolkit; Web Based Control Design and Analysis; Customized Design and Implementation of Web-Based Control Systems Conclusion; References; 65Chapter 3: Web Based Control Teaching, by Suzana Uran and Riko Safaric; Introduction; Motivation for Web Based Control Teaching; Virtual Control Design Laboratory; A DSP-based Remote Control Laboratory; Conclusion; References; Chapter 4: Web-based Control Education in Matlab, by Katarína Záková; Introduction; Standard Solutions; Alternative Solutions; Client Applications; Conclusions; References; Chapter 5: Object-Oriented Modelling of Virtual-Laboratories for Control Educationby Carla Martin-Villalba, Alfonso Urquia and Sebastian Dormido; Introduction; Implementation of Virtual-labs with Batch Interactivity; Implementation of Virtual-labs with Runtime Interactivity; Case study I: Control of a Double-pipe Heat Exchanger; Case study II: Control of an Industrial Boiler; Case study III: Solar House; Conclusions; References; Chapter 6: A Matlab-Based Remote Lab for Control and Robotics Education, by Marco Casini, Domenico Prattichizzo and Antonio Vicino; Introduction; Automatic Control Telelab; ACT Experiments Description; The ACT Architecture; The Robotics and Automatic Control Telelab; Conclusions; References; Chapter 7: Implementation of a Remote Laboratory Accessible through theWeb, by Giuseppe Carnevali and Giorgio Buttazzo; Introduction; Examples of Existing Virtual Labs; Interface; Software Architecture; Hardware Architecture; Experiments; Conclusions; References; Chapter 8: Teaching of Robot Control with Remote Experiments, by Andreja Rojko and Darko Hercog; Introduction; Educational Strategy; The DSP-based Remote Control Laboratory; Control of a Mechanism with Spring; Control of the SCARA Robot; Students' Feedback; Conclusions; References; Chapter 9: Web-Based Laboratory on Robotics: Remote vs. Virtual Training in Programming Manipulators, by Costas S. Tzafestas; Introduction; Remote Labs: Literature Survey; Research Motivation and Objectives; Design of a Virtual and Remote Robot Laboratory Platform; Pilot Study: Research Methodology and Conclusion - Future Research Directions; References; Chapter 10: Design and Educational Issues within the UJI Robotics Telelaboratory: A User Interface Approach, by R. Wirz, R. Marín and P. J. Sanz; Introduction; System Description: The Architecture; System Description: The User Interface; A New Network Protocol: SNRP; Teaching Experiences with the Tele-laboratory Conclusions and Work in Progress; References; Chapter 11: Web-Based Industrial Robot Teleoperation: An Application, by Gianni Ferretti, Gianantonio Magnani and Paolo Rocco; Introduction; System Architecture; Teleprogramming and Supervisory Control Functions; Software Architecture; Teleoperation User Interface; Conclusions; References; Chapter 12: Teleworkbench: A Teleoperated Platform for Experiments in Multi-Robotics, by Andry Tanoto, Ulrich Rückert and Ulf Witkowski; Introduction; The Teleworkbench System; Robot Platform; Application Scenarios in Research and Education; Challenges for a Teleoperated Robotic Laboratory in Research and Education; Summary and Future Work; References; Chapter 13: Web-Based Control of Mobile Manipulation Platforms via Sensor Fusion, by Ayssam Elkady and Tarek Sobh; Introduction; Prior Work; Design
About the Author:

Spyros G. Tzafestas received his B.Sc. in Physics (1963) and Graduate Diploma in Electronics (1965) from Athens University, Diploma of Electrical Engineering, from Imperial College (1967), M.Sc. (Eng.) in Control from London University (1967) and Ph.D. in Systems and Control from Southampton University, England (1969). From 1969 to 1973 he was Research Leader at the Computer Science Division of the Nuclear Research Center "Demokritos", Athens. From 1973 to 1984 he was Professor of Automatic Control at the University of Patras, and from 1985 to 2006 he was Professor of Control and Robotics at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece. Temporary visiting teaching and / or research positions include: University of Calabria, Italy (1985, 1987), University of Delft, The Netherlands (1991) and MIT, USA (1992). He is currently Director of the Institute of Communication and Control Systems, and as a Professor Emeritus he is leading the Intelligent Automation Systems Research Group engaged with research carried out in ICCS-NTUA mainly in the framework of national and European projects.

Dr Tzafestas is the Recipient of D.Sc. of Southampton University (1978), and Honorary Doctorates of the Technical University of Munich (Dr.-Ing. E.h., 1997) and the Ecole Centrale de Lille (Dr. Ing.-Honoris Causa, 2003). He has published 30 edited research books, 60 book chapters and over 700 Journal and Conference technical papers in the field of control, robotics and Intelligent Systems. He has been the coordinator of national and EU projects in the fields of IT, Intelligent systems, robotics, control and CIM. He is an associate editor of 15 Journals, and he was the Editor - in - Chief of the Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems (1988-2006) and of the Book Series "Micro processor - Based and Intelligent Systems Engineering, Kluwer (1993-2006). Presently, he is the Editor of the Springer book series on Intelligent Control and Automation Systems.

He is a Fellow of IEE, now IET (London), a Life Fellow of IEEE (New York) and a Member of ASME, NYAS and the Hellenic Technical Chamber (TEE). He received the Greek Society of Writers' Award and the Ktesibios Award from the IEEE Mediterranean Control Association (2001). Dr Tzafestas has over the years organized and / or chaired several international conferences (IEEE, IMACS, SIRES, IASTED, EUCA).