This book treats with analysis and design of manipulations, manipulators and grippers by discussing basic concepts and fundamental formulation. This is a novel book dealing with manipulations that can be performed by robotic manipulators. The content of the book has been kept at a fairly practical level with the aim to teach how to model, simulate, and operate robotic mechanical systems. The chapters have been written and organized in a way that they can be red even separately, so that they can be used separately for different courses and readers. An Introductory Chapter 1 illustrates motivations and historical developments of robotic mechanical systems. Chapter 2 describes the analysis and design of manipulations by automatic machinery and robots. Chapter 3 deals with the Mechanics of manipulators with the aim to propose algorithms for analysis, simulation and design purposes. Chapter 4 addresses the attention to mechanical two-finger grippers and related Mechanics of Grasping.
