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This paper proposes an autopilot system that can be used to control the small scale rotorcraft during the flight test for linear-frequency-domain system identification. The input frequency swept is generated automatically as part of the autopilot control command. Therefore the bandwidth coverage and consistency of the frequency swept is guaranteed to produce high quality data for system identification. Beside that we can set the safety parameter during the flight test (maximum roll or pitch value, minimum altitude, etc) so the safety of the whole flight test is guaranteed. This autopilot for automated flight test will be tested using hardware in the loop simulator for hover flight condition. | Automated Flight Test and System Identification for Rotary Wing Small
Aerial Platform using Frequency Responses Analysis | 8,100 |
This paper presents one approach in designing a Fire Fighting Robot which has been contested annually in a robotic student competition in many countries following the rules initiated at the Trinity College. The approach makes use of computer simulation and animation in a virtual reality environment. In the simulation, the amount of time, starting from home until the flame is destroyed, can be confirmed. The efficacy of algorithms and parameter values employed can be easily evaluated. Rather than spending time building the real robot in a trial and error fashion, now students can explore more variation of algorithm, parameter and sensor-actuator configuration in the early stage of design. Besides providing additional excitement during learning process and enhancing students understanding to the engineering aspects of the design, this approach could become a useful tool to increase the chance of winning the contest. | Virtual Reality Simulation of Fire Fighting Robot Dynamic and Motion | 8,101 |
In recent years, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (UAV) research and development at Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia has achieved the testing stage in the field. This testing was still being classified as the early testing, since some of the preliminary tests were carried out in the scale of the laboratory. The paper would discuss the laboratory test and several tests that were done in the field. Discussions were stressed in the procedure and the aim that will be achieved, along with several early results. The testing was carried out in the lake with the area around 8300 Ha and the maximum depth of 50 meters. The location of the testing was chosen with consideration of minimizing the effect of the current and the wave, as well as the location that was not too far from the Laboratory. The type of testing that will be discussed in paper was Heading Lock Maneuver Testing. The vehicle was tested to move with a certain cruising speed, afterwards it was commanded by an arbitrarily selected heading direction. The response and the behavior of the vehicle were recorded as the data produced by the testing. | Heading Lock Maneuver Testing of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle | 8,102 |
This paper presents our experience in developing and implementing Internet telerobotics system. Internet telerobotics system refers to a robot system controlled and monitored remotely through the Internet. A robot manipulator with five degrees of freedom, called Mentor, is employed. Client-server architecture is chosen as a platform for our Internet telerobotics system. Three generations of telerobotics systems have evolved in this research. The first generation was based on CGI and two tiered architecture, where a client presents a Graphical User Interface to the user, and utilizes the user's data entry and actions to perform requests to robot server running on a different machine. The second generation was developed using Java. We also employ Java 3D for creating and manipulating 3D geometry of manipulator links and for constructing the structures used in rendering that geometry, resulting in 3D robot movement simulation presented to the users(clients) through their web browser. Recent development in our Internet telerobotics includes object recognition through image captured by a camera, which poses challenging problem, given the undeterministic latency of the Internet. The third generation is centered around the use of CORBA for development platform of distributed internet telerobotics system, aimed at distributing task of telerobotics system. | Development of Architectures for Internet Telerobotics Systems | 8,103 |
This research will proposed a new kind of relatively low cost autonomous UAV that will enable farmers to make just in time mosaics of aerial photo of their crop. These mosaics of aerial photo should be able to be produced with relatively low cost and within the 24 hours of acquisition constraint. The autonomous UAV will be equipped with payload management system specifically developed for rapid aerial mapping. As mentioned before turn around time is the key factor, so accuracy is not the main focus (not orthorectified aerial mapping). This system will also be equipped with special software to post process the aerial photos to produce the mosaic aerial photo map | Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Instrumentation for Rapid Aerial Photo System | 8,104 |
The establishment of global helicopter linear model is very precious and useful for the design of the linear control laws, since it is never afforded in the published literatures. In the first principle approach, the mathematical model was developed using basic helicopter theory accounting for particular characteristic of the miniature helicopter. No formal system identification procedures are required for the proposed model structure. The relevant published literatures however did not present the linear models required for the design of linear control laws. The paper presents a step by step development of linear model for small scale helicopter based on first-principle approach. Beyond the previous work in literatures, the calculation of the stability derivatives is presented in detail. A computer program is used to solve the equilibrium conditions and then calculate the change in aerodynamics forces and moments due to the change in each degree of freedom and control input. The detail derivation allows the comprehensive analysis of relative dominance of vehicle states and input variables to force and moment components. Hence it facilitates the development of minimum complexity small scale helicopter dynamics model. | First Principle Approach to Modeling of Small Scale Helicopter | 8,105 |
A model helicopter is more difficult to control than its full scale counterparts. This is due to its greater sensitivity to control inputs and disturbances as well as higher bandwidth of dynamics. This works is focused on designing practical tracking controller for a small scale helicopter following predefined trajectories. A tracking controller based on optimal control theory is synthesized as part of the development of an autonomous helicopter. Some issues in regards to control constraints are addressed. The weighting between state tracking performance and control power expenditure is analyzed. Overall performance of the control design is evaluated based on its time domain histories of trajectories as well as control inputs. | Optimal Tracking Controller Design for a Small Scale Helicopter | 8,106 |
This paper presents the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of a peristaltic micropump. The micropump is composed of two layers fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material. The first layer has a rectangular channel and two valve seals. Three rectangular mini lightweight piezo-composite actuators are integrated in the second layer, and used as actuation parts. Two layers are bonded, and covered by two polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plates, which help increase the stiffness of the micropump. A maximum flow rate of 900 mokroliter per min and a maximum backpressure of 1.8 kPa are recorded when water is used as pump liquid. We measured the power consumption of the micropump. The micropump is found to be a promising candidate for bio-medical application due to its bio-compatibility, portability, bidirectionality, and simple effective design. | Development of a peristaltic micropump for bio-medical applications
based on mini LIPCA | 8,107 |
asteroids or comets have received remarkable attention in the world. In small body explorations, especially, detailed in-situ surface exploration by tiny rover is one of effective and fruitful means and is expected to make strong contributions towards scientific studies. JAXA ISAS is promoting MUSES C mission, which is the worlds first sample and return attempt to or from the near earth asteroid. Hayabusa spacecraft in MUSES C mission took the tiny rover, which was expected to perform the in-situ surface exploration by hopping. This paper describes the system design, mobility and intelligence of the developed unmanned explorer. This paper also presents the ground experimental results and the flight results. | Intelligent Unmanned Explorer for Deep Space Exploration | 8,108 |
For the tracking stage path planning, we design a two-axis cross-coupling control system which uses the PI controller to compensate the contour error between axes. In this paper, the stage adoptive is designed by our laboratory (Precision Machine Center of National Formosa University). The cross-coupling controller calculates the actuating signal of each axis by combining multi-axes position error. Hence, the cross-coupling controller improves the stage tracking ability and decreases the contour error. The experiments show excellent stage motion. This finding confirms that the proposed method is a powerful and efficient tool for improving stage tracking ability. Also found were the stages tracking to minimize contour error of two types circular to approximately 25nm. | Study of improving nano-contouring performance by employing
cross-coupling controller | 8,109 |
In this paper, a model of a pair of Dubins vehicles is considered. The vehicles move from an initial position and orientation to final position and orientation. A long the motion, the two vehicles are not allowed to collide however the two vehicles cant to far each other. The optimal control of the vehicle is found using the Pontryagins Maximum Principle (PMP). This PMP leads to a Hamiltonian system consisting of a system of differential equation and its adjoint. The originally differential equation has initial and final condition but the adjoint system doesn't have one. The classical difficulty is solved numerically by the greatest gradient descent method. Some simulation results are presented in this paper. | The Numerical Control Design for a Pair of Dubins Vehicles | 8,110 |
Simulation results on dynamic yaw stability derivatives of a gull bird by means of computational fluid dynamics are presented. Two different kinds of motions are used for determining the dynamic yaw stability derivatives CNr and CNbeta . Concerning the first one, simple lateral translation and yaw rotary motions in yaw are considered. The second one consists of combined motions. To determine dynamic yaw stability derivatives of the bird, the simulation of an unsteady flow with a bird model showing a harmonic motion is performed. The unsteady flow solution for each time step is obtained by solving unsteady Euler equations based on a finite volume approach for a smaller reduced frequency. Then, an evaluation of unsteady forces and moments for one cycle is conducted using harmonic Fourier analysis. The results on the dynamic yaw stability derivatives for both simulations of the model motion show a good agreement. | Simulation of Dynamic Yaw Stability Derivatives of a Bird Using CFD | 8,111 |
In this paper, a wavelet-based iterative learning control (WILC) scheme with Fuzzy PD feedback is presented for a pneumatic control system with nonsmooth nonlinearities and uncertain parameters. The wavelet transform is employed to extract the learnable dynamics from measured output signal before it can be used to update the control profile. The wavelet transform is adopted to decompose the original signal into many low-resolution signals that contain the learnable and unlearnable parts. The desired control profile is then compared with the learnable part of the transformed signal. Thus, the effects from unlearnable dynamics on the controlled system can be attenuated by a Fuzzy PD feedback controller. As for the rules of Fuzzy PD controller in the feedback loop, a genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to search for the inference rules of optimization. A proportional-valve controlled pneumatic cylinder actuator system is used as the control target for simulation. Simulation results have shown a much-improved positiontracking performance. | Wavelet Based Iterative Learning Control with Fuzzy PD Feedback for
Position Tracking of A Pneumatic Servo System | 8,112 |
This paper presents the positive real analysis and synthesis for Networked Control Systems (NCS) in discrete time. Based on the definition of passivity, the sufficient condition of NCS is given by stochastic Lyapunov functional. The controller via state feedback is designed to guarantee the stability of NCS and closed-loop positive realness. It is shown that a mode-dependent positive real controller exists if a set of coupled linear matrix inequalities has solutions. The controller can be then constructed in terms of the solutions. | Positive Real Synthesis of Networked Control System An LMI Approach | 8,113 |
This paper presents how to use feedback controller with helicopter dynamics state space model. A simplified analysis is presented for controller design using LQR of small scale helicopters for axial and forward flights. Our approach is simple and gives the basic understanding about how to develop controller for solving the stability of linear helicopter flight dynamics. | Analysis of Stability, Response and LQR Controller Design of a Small
Scale Helicopter Dynamics | 8,114 |
We present here a novel, cost-effective method for increasing and controlling the ortho para H2 (o p H2) conversion yield. First, we invoke two processes derived from fundamental, surface science insights, based on the effect of molecular orientation on the hydrogen solid surface reaction, i.e., dynamical quantum filtering and steering, and apply them to enhance the o p H2 conversion yield. Second, we find an important factor that can significantly influence the yield i.e., inhomogeneity of spin density distribution. This factor gives us a promising possibility to increase the yield and to find the best catalyst e.g., design of materials that can function as catalysts for the o p H2 conversion. | Design and control of dynamical quantum processes in ortho para H2
conversion on surfaces | 8,115 |
In general, most of communication satellites were designed to be operated in geostationary orbit. And many of them were designed in prolate dual-spin configuration. As a prolate dual-spin vehicle, they have to be stabilized against their internal energy dissipation effect. Several countries that located in southern hemisphere, has shown interest to use communication satellite. Because of those countries southern latitude, an idea emerged to incline the communication satellite (due to its prolate dualspin configuration) in elliptical orbit. This work is focused on designing Attitude Stability System for prolate dual-spin satellite in the effect of perturbed field of gravity due to the inclination of its elliptical orbit. DANDE (De-spin Active Nutation Damping Electronics) provides primary stabilization method for the satellite in its orbit. Classical Control Approach is used for the iteration of DANDE parameters. The control performance is evaluated based on time response analysis. | Design of Attitude Stability System for Prolate Dual-spin Satellite in
Its Inclined Elliptical Orbit | 8,116 |
In response to the interest to re-use Palapa B2R satellite nearing its End of Life (EOL) time, an idea to incline the satellite orbit in order to cover a new region has emerged in the recent years. As a prolate dual-spin vehicle, Palapa B2R has to be stabilized against its internal energy dissipation effect. This work is focused on analyzing the dynamics of the reusable satellite in its inclined orbit. The study discusses in particular the stability of the prolate dual-spin satellite under the effect of perturbed field of gravitation due to the inclination of its elliptical orbit. Palapa B2R physical data was substituted into the dual-spin's equation of motion. The coefficient of zonal harmonics J2 was induced into the gravity-gradient moment term that affects the satellite attitude. The satellite's motion and attitude were then simulated in the perturbed gravitational field by J2, with the variation of orbit's eccentricity and inclination. The analysis of the satellite dynamics and its stability was conducted for designing a control system for the vehicle in its new inclined orbit. | Modeling And Simulation Of Prolate Dual-Spin Satellite Dynamics In An
Inclined Elliptical Orbit: Case Study Of Palapa B2R Satellite | 8,117 |
A mini scale helicopter exhibits not only increased sensitivity to control inputs and disturbances, but also higher bandwidth of its dynamics. These properties make model helicopters, as a flying robot, more difficult to control. The dynamics model accuracy will determine the performance of the designed controller. It is attractive in this regards to have a controller that can accommodate the unmodeled dynamics or parameter changes and perform well in such situations. Coefficient Diagram Method (CDM) is chosen as the candidate to synthesize such a controller due to its simplicity and convenience in demonstrating integrated performance measures including equivalent time constant, stability indices and robustness. In this study, CDM is implemented for a design of multivariable controller for a small scale helicopter during hover and cruise flight. In the synthesis of MIMO CDM, good design common sense based on hands-on experience is necessary. The low level controller algorithm is designed as part of hybrid supervisory control architecture to be implemented on an onboard computer system. Its feasibility and performance are evaluated based on its robustness, desired time domain system responses and compliance to hard-real time requirements. | Onboard Multivariable Controller Design for a Small Scale Helicopter
Using Coefficient Diagram Method | 8,118 |
The last decade has witnessed increasing worldwide interest in the research of underwater robotics with particular focus on the area of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The underwater robotics technology has enabled human to access the depth of the ocean to conduct environmental surveys, resources mapping as well as scientific and military missions. This capability is especially valuable for countries with major water or oceanic resources. As an archipelagic nation with more than 13,000 islands, Indonesia has one of the most abundant living and non-organic oceanic resources. The needs for the mapping, exploration, and environmental preservation of the vast marine resources are therefore imperative. The challenge of the deep water exploration has been the complex issues associated with hazardous and unstructured undersea and sea-bed environments. The paper reports the design, development and testing efforts of underwater vehicle that have been conducted at Institut Teknologi Bandung. Key technology areas have been identified and step-by-step development is presented in conjunction with the need to meet the challenge of underwater vehicle operation. A number of future research directions are also highlighted. | Design, Development and Testing of Underwater Vehicles: ITB Experience | 8,119 |
A rotorcraft-based unmanned aerial vehicle exhibits more complex properties compared to its full-size counterparts due to its increased sensitivity to control inputs and disturbances and higher bandwidth of its dynamics. As an aerial vehicle with vertical take-off and landing capability, the helicopter specifically poses a difficult problem of transition between forward flight and unstable hover and vice versa. The LPV control technique explicitly takes into account the change in performance due to the real-time parameter variations. The technique therefore theoretically guarantees the performance and robustness over the entire operating envelope. In this study, we investigate a new approach implementing model identification for use in the LPV control framework. The identification scheme employs recursive least square technique implemented on the LPV system represented by dynamics of helicopter during a transition. The airspeed as the scheduling of parameter trajectory is not assumed to vary slowly. The exclusion of slow parameter change requirement allows for the application of the algorithm for aggressive maneuvering capability without the need of expensive computation. The technique is tested numerically and will be validated in the autonomous flight of a small scale helicopter. | Linear Parameter Varying Model Identification for Control of
Rotorcraft-based UAV | 8,120 |
The control of small-scale helicopter is a MIMO problem. To use of classical control approach to formally solve a MIMO problem, one needs to come up with multidimensional Root Locus diagram to tune the control parameters. The problem with the required dimension of the RL diagram for MIMO design has forced the design procedure of classical approach to be conducted in cascaded multi-loop SISO system starting from the innermost loop outward. To implement this control approach for a helicopter, a pitch and roll attitude control system is often subordinated to a, respectively, longitudinal and lateral velocity control system in a nested architecture. The requirement for this technique to work is that the inner attitude control loop must have a higher bandwidth than the outer velocity control loop which is not the case for high performance mini helicopter. To address the above problems, an algebraic design approach is proposed in this work. The designed control using s-CDM approach is demonstrated for hovering control of small-scale helicopter simultaneously subjected to plant parameter uncertainties and wind disturbances. | An Algebraic Approach for the MIMO Control of Small Scale Helicopter | 8,121 |
In this paper, our focus is on certain applications for mobile robotic networks, where reconfiguration is driven by factors intrinsic to the network rather than changes in the external environment. In particular, we study a version of the coverage problem useful for surveillance applications, where the objective is to position the robots in order to minimize the average distance from a random point in a given environment to the closest robot. This problem has been well-studied for omni-directional robots and it is shown that optimal configuration for the network is a centroidal Voronoi configuration and that the coverage cost belongs to $\Theta(m^{-1/2})$, where $m$ is the number of robots in the network. In this paper, we study this problem for more realistic models of robots, namely the double integrator (DI) model and the differential drive (DD) model. We observe that the introduction of these motion constraints in the algorithm design problem gives rise to an interesting behavior. For a \emph{sparser} network, the optimal algorithm for these models of robots mimics that for omni-directional robots. We propose novel algorithms whose performances are within a constant factor of the optimal asymptotically (i.e., as $m \to +\infty$). In particular, we prove that the coverage cost for the DI and DD models of robots is of order $m^{-1/3}$. Additionally, we show that, as the network grows, these novel algorithms outperform the conventional algorithm; hence necessitating a reconfiguration in the network in order to maintain optimal quality of service. | On Endogenous Reconfiguration in Mobile Robotic Networks | 8,122 |
This article presents the design of the autonomous humanoid robot called NAO that is built by the French company Aldebaran-Robotics. With its height of 0.57 m and its weight about 4.5 kg, this innovative robot is lightweight and compact. It distinguishes itself from its existing Japanese, American, and other counterparts thanks to its pelvis kinematics design, its proprietary actuation system based on brush DC motors, its electronic, computer and distributed software architectures. This robot has been designed to be affordable without sacrificing quality and performance. It is an open and easy-to-handle platform where the user can change all the embedded system software or just add some applications to make the robot adopt specific behaviours. The robot's head and forearms are modular and can be changed to promote further evolution. The comprehensive and functional design is one of the reasons that helped select NAO to replace the AIBO quadrupeds in the 2008 RoboCup standard league. | The NAO humanoid: a combination of performance and affordability | 8,123 |
We present here the results of an analysis carried out by biologists and roboticists with the aim of modeling bird locomotion kinematics for robotics purposes. The aim was to develop a bio-inspired kinematic model of the bird leg from biological data. We first acquired and processed kinematic data for sagittal and top views obtained by X-ray radiography of quails walking. Data processing involved filtering and specific data reconstruction in three dimensions, as two-dimensional views cannot be synchronized. We then designed a robotic model of a bird-like leg based on a kinematic analysis of the biological data. Angular velocity vectors were calculated to define the number of degrees of freedom (DOF) at each joint and the orientation of the rotation axes. | Exploiting Bird Locomotion Kinematics Data for Robotics Modeling | 8,124 |
Avoider robot is mean robot who is designed to avoid the block in around. Except that, this robot is also added by an addition application to dim the fire. This robot is made with ultrasonic sensor PING. This sensor is set on the front, right and left from robot. This sensor is used robot to look for the right street, so that robot can walk on. After the robot can look for the right street, next accomplished the robot is looking for the fire in around. And the next, dim the fire with fan. This robot is made with basic stamp 2 micro-controller. And that micro-controller can be found in dt-basic mini system module. This robot is made with servo motor on the right and left side, which is used to movement. | Avoider robot design to dim the fire with dt basic mini system | 8,125 |
This paper studies the kinematic geometry of general 3-RPR planar parallel robots with actuated base joints. These robots, while largely overlooked, have simple direct kinematics and large singularity-free workspace. Furthermore, their kinematic geometry is the same as that of a newly developed parallel robot with SCARA-type motions. Starting from the direct and inverse kinematic model, the expressions for the singularity loci of 3-RPR planar parallel robots are determined. Then, the global behaviour at all singularities is geometrically described by studying the degeneracy of the direct kinematic model. Special cases of self-motions are then examined and the degree of freedom gained in such special configurations is kinematically interpreted. Finally, a practical example is discussed and experimental validations performed on an actual robot prototype are presented. | Self-Motions of General 3-RPR Planar Parallel Robots | 8,126 |
This paper deals with a new planar parallel mechanism with variable actuation and its kinetostatic performance. A drawback of parallel mechanisms is the non homogeneity of kinetostatic performance within their workspace. The common approach to solve this problem is the introduction of actuation redundancy, that involves force control algorithms. Another approach, highlighted in this paper, is to select the actuated joint in each limb with regard to the pose of the end-effector. First, the architecture of the mechanism and two kinetostatic performance indices are described. Then, the actuating modes of the mechanism are compared. | Kinetostatic Performance of a Planar Parallel Mechanism with Variable
Actuation | 8,127 |
This paper deals with the kinematic and dynamic analyses of the Orthoglide 5-axis, a five-degree-of-freedom manipulator. It is derived from two manipulators: i) the Orthoglide 3-axis; a three dof translational manipulator and ii) the Agile eye; a parallel spherical wrist. First, the kinematic and dynamic models of the Orthoglide 5-axis are developed. The geometric and inertial parameters of the manipulator are determined by means of a CAD software. Then, the required motors performances are evaluated for some test trajectories. Finally, the motors are selected in the catalogue from the previous results. | Kinematic and Dynamic Analyses of the Orthoglide 5-axis | 8,128 |
This paper characterizes geometrically the singularities of limited DOF parallel manipulators. The geometric conditions associated with the dependency of six Pl\"ucker vector of lines (finite and infinite) constituting the rows of the inverse Jacobian matrix are formulated using Grassmann-Cayley algebra. Manipulators under consideration do not need to have a passive spherical joint somewhere in each leg. This study is illustrated with three example robots | Singularity Analysis of Limited-dof Parallel Manipulators using
Grassmann-Cayley Algebra | 8,129 |
Muscle fatigue is defined as the point at which the muscle is no longer able to sustain the required force or work output level. The overexertion of muscle force and muscle fatigue can induce acute pain and chronic pain in human body. When muscle fatigue is accumulated, the functional disability can be resulted as musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). There are several posture exposure analysis methods useful for rating the MSD risks, but they are mainly based on static postures. Even in some fatigue evaluation methods, muscle fatigue evaluation is only available for static postures, but not suitable for dynamic working process. Meanwhile, some existing muscle fatigue models based on physiological models cannot be easily used in industrial ergonomic evaluations. The external dynamic load is definitely the most important factor resulting muscle fatigue, thus we propose a new fatigue model under a framework for evaluating fatigue in dynamic working processes. Under this framework, virtual reality system is taken to generate virtual working environment, which can be interacted with the work with haptic interfaces and optical motion capture system. The motion information and load information are collected and further processed to evaluate the overall work load of the worker based on dynamic muscle fatigue models and other work evaluation criterions and to give new information to characterize the penibility of the task in design process. | Framework for Dynamic Evaluation of Muscle Fatigue in Manual Handling
Work | 8,130 |
This paper presents SinguLab, a graphical user interface for the singularity analysis of parallel robots. The algorithm is based on Grassmann-Cayley algebra. The proposed tool is interactive and introduces the designer to the singularity analysis performed by this method, showing all the stages along the procedure and eventually showing the solution algebraically and graphically, allowing as well the singularity verification of different robot poses. | SINGULAB - A Graphical user Interface for the Singularity Analysis of
Parallel Robots based on Grassmann-Cayley Algebra | 8,131 |
This paper demonstrates that any general 3-DOF three-legged planar parallel robot with extensible legs can change assembly modes without passing through parallel singularities (configurations where the mobile platform loses its stiffness). While the results are purely theoretical, this paper questions the very definition of parallel singularities. | Changing Assembly Modes without Passing Parallel Singularities in
Non-Cuspidal 3-R\underline{P}R Planar Parallel Robots | 8,132 |
In order to optimise the costs and time of design of the new products while improving their quality, concurrent engineering is based on the digital model of these products. However, in order to be able to avoid definitively physical model without loss of information, new tools must be available. Especially, a tool making it possible to check simply and quickly the maintainability of complex mechanical sets using the numerical model is necessary. Since one decade, the MCM team of IRCCyN works on the creation of tools for the generation and the analysis of trajectories of virtual mannequins. The simulation of human tasks can be carried out either by robot-like simulation or by simulation by motion capture. This paper presents some results on the both two methods. The first method is based on a multi-agent system and on a digital mock-up technology, to assess an efficient path planner for a manikin or a robot for access and visibility task taking into account ergonomic constraints or joint limits. The human operator is integrated in the process optimisation to contribute to a global perception of the environment. This operator cooperates, in real-time, with several automatic local elementary agents. In the second method, we worked with the CEA and EADS/CCR to solve the constraints related to the evolution of human virtual in its environment on the basis of data resulting from motion capture system. An approach using of the virtual guides was developed to allow to the user the realization of precise trajectory in absence of force feedback. | Path Planner for Objects, Robots and Mannequins by Multi-Agents Systems
or Motion Captures | 8,133 |
In this paper, a novel approach for parallel kinematic machine control relying on a fast exteroceptive measure is implemented and validated on the Orthoglide robot. This approach begins with rewriting the robot models as a function of the only end-effector pose. It is shown that such an operation reduces the model complexity. Then, this approach uses a classical Cartesian space computed torque control with a fast exteroceptive measure, reducing the control schemes complexity. Simulation results are given to show the expected performance improvements and experiments prove the practical feasibility of the approach. | A Vision-based Computed Torque Control for Parallel Kinematic Machines | 8,134 |
The paper presents a new stiffness modelling method for overconstrained parallel manipulators, which is applied to 3-d.o.f. translational mechanisms. It is based on a multidimensional lumped-parameter model that replaces the link flexibility by localized 6-d.o.f. virtual springs. In contrast to other works, the method includes a FEA-based link stiffness evaluation and employs a new solution strategy of the kinetostatic equations, which allows computing the stiffness matrix for the overconstrained architectures and for the singular manipulator postures. The advantages of the developed technique are confirmed by application examples, which deal with comparative stiffness analysis of two translational parallel manipulators. | Analyse de la rigidité des machines outils 3 axes d'architecture
parallèle hyperstatique | 8,135 |
The paper derives the inverse and the forward kinematic equations of a serial - parallel 5-axis machine tool: the VERNE machine. This machine is composed of a three-degree-of-freedom (DOF) parallel module and a two-DOF serial tilting table. The parallel module consists of a moving platform that is connected to a fixed base by three non-identical legs. These legs are connected in a way that the combined effects of the three legs lead to an over-constrained mechanism with complex motion. This motion is defined as a simultaneous combination of rotation and translation. In this paper we propose symbolical methods that able to calculate all kinematic solutions and identify the acceptable one by adding analytical constraint on the disposition of legs of the parallel module. | Kinematic Analysis of a Serial - Parallel Machine Tool: the VERNE
machine | 8,136 |
An integrated software-based solution for a modular and self-independent networked robot is introduced. The wirelessly operatable robot has been developed mainly for autonomous monitoring works with full control over web. The integrated software solution covers three components : a) the digital signal processing unit for data retrieval and monitoring system; b) the externally executable codes for control system; and c) the web programming for interfacing the end-users with the robot. It is argued that this integrated software-based approach is crucial to realize a flexible, modular and low development cost mobile monitoring apparatus. | An Integrated Software-based Solution for Modular and Self-independent
Networked Robot | 8,137 |
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery in urology has gained immense popularity with the daVinci system, but a lot of research teams are working on new robots. The purpose of this study is to review current urologic robots and present future development directions. RECENT FINDINGS: Future systems are expected to advance in two directions: improvements of remote manipulation robots and developments of image-guided robots. SUMMARY: The final goal of robots is to allow safer and more homogeneous outcomes with less variability of surgeon performance, as well as new tools to perform tasks on the basis of medical transcutaneous imaging, in a less invasive way, at lower costs. It is expected that improvements for a remote system could be augmented in reality, with haptic feedback, size reduction, and development of new tools for natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery. The paradigm of image-guided robots is close to clinical availability and the most advanced robots are presented with end-user technical assessments. It is also notable that the potential of robots lies much further ahead than the accomplishments of the daVinci system. The integration of imaging with robotics holds a substantial promise, because this can accomplish tasks otherwise impossible. Image-guided robots have the potential to offer a paradigm shift. | Urologic robots and future directions | 8,138 |
This paper describes a simulator of ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies for cancer diagnosis. When performing biopsy series, the clinician has to move the ultrasound probe and to mentally integrate the real-time bi-dimensional images into a three-dimensional (3D) representation of the anatomical environment. Such a 3D representation is necessary to sample regularly the prostate in order to maximize the probability of detecting a cancer if any. To make the training of young physicians easier and faster we developed a simulator that combines images computed from three-dimensional ultrasound recorded data to haptic feedback. The paper presents the first version of this simulator. | BiopSym: a simulator for enhanced learning of ultrasound-guided prostate
biopsy | 8,139 |
Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is one of the major health problems in mechanical work especially in manual handling jobs. Muscle fatigue is believed to be the main reason for MSD. Posture analysis techniques have been used to expose MSD risks of the work, but most of the conventional methods are only suitable for static posture analysis. Meanwhile the subjective influences from the inspectors can result differences in the risk assessment. Another disadvantage is that the evaluation has to be taken place in the workshop, so it is impossible to avoid some design defects before data collection in the field environment and it is time consuming. In order to enhance the efficiency of ergonomic MSD risk evaluation and avoid subjective influences, we develop a new muscle fatigue model and a new fatigue index to evaluate the human muscle fatigue during manual handling jobs in this paper. Our new fatigue model is closely related to the muscle load during working procedure so that it can be used to evaluate the dynamic working process. This muscle fatigue model is mathematically validated and it is to be further experimental validated and integrated into a virtual working environment to evaluate the muscle fatigue and predict the MSD risks quickly and objectively. | Dynamic Muscle Fatigue Evaluation in Virtual Working Environment | 8,140 |
Although automatic techniques have been employed in manufacturing industries to increase productivity and efficiency, there are still lots of manual handling jobs, especially for assembly and maintenance jobs. In these jobs, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are one of the major health problems due to overload and cumulative physical fatigue. With combination of conventional posture analysis techniques, digital human modelling and simulation (DHM) techniques have been developed and commercialized to evaluate the potential physical exposures. However, those ergonomics analysis tools are mainly based on posture analysis techniques, and until now there is still no fatigue index available in the commercial software to evaluate the physical fatigue easily and quickly. In this paper, a new muscle fatigue and recovery model is proposed and extended to evaluate joint fatigue level in manual handling jobs. A special application case is described and analyzed by digital human simulation technique. | A new muscle fatigue and recovery model and its ergonomics application
in human simulation | 8,141 |
In this paper we study a dynamic vehicle routing problem in which there are multiple vehicles and multiple classes of demands. Demands of each class arrive in the environment randomly over time and require a random amount of on-site service that is characteristic of the class. To service a demand, one of the vehicles must travel to the demand location and remain there for the required on-site service time. The quality of service provided to each class is given by the expected delay between the arrival of a demand in the class, and that demand's service completion. The goal is to design a routing policy for the service vehicles which minimizes a convex combination of the delays for each class. First, we provide a lower bound on the achievable values of the convex combination of delays. Then, we propose a novel routing policy and analyze its performance under heavy load conditions (i.e., when the fraction of time the service vehicles spend performing on-site service approaches one). The policy performs within a constant factor of the lower bound (and thus the optimal), where the constant depends only on the number of classes, and is independent of the number of vehicles, the arrival rates of demands, the on-site service times, and the convex combination coefficients. | Dynamic Multi-Vehicle Routing with Multiple Classes of Demands | 8,142 |
In this paper we present distributed and adaptive algorithms for motion coordination of a group of m autonomous vehicles. The vehicles operate in a convex environment with bounded velocity and must service demands whose time of arrival, location and on-site service are stochastic; the objective is to minimize the expected system time (wait plus service) of the demands. The general problem is known as the m-vehicle Dynamic Traveling Repairman Problem (m-DTRP). The best previously known control algorithms rely on centralized a-priori task assignment and are not robust against changes in the environment, e.g. changes in load conditions; therefore, they are of limited applicability in scenarios involving ad-hoc networks of autonomous vehicles operating in a time-varying environment. First, we present a new class of policies for the 1-DTRP problem that: (i) are provably optimal both in light- and heavy-load condition, and (ii) are adaptive, in particular, they are robust against changes in load conditions. Second, we show that partitioning policies, whereby the environment is partitioned among the vehicles and each vehicle follows a certain set of rules in its own region, are optimal in heavy-load conditions. Finally, by combining the new class of algorithms for the 1-DTRP with suitable partitioning policies, we design distributed algorithms for the m-DTRP problem that (i) are spatially distributed, scalable to large networks, and adaptive to network changes, (ii) are within a constant-factor of optimal in heavy-load conditions and stabilize the system in any load condition. Simulation results are presented and discussed. | Distributed and Adaptive Algorithms for Vehicle Routing in a Stochastic
and Dynamic Environment | 8,143 |
Medical robotics includes assistive devices used by the physician in order to make his/her diagnostic or therapeutic practices easier and more efficient. This chapter focuses on such systems. It introduces the general field of Computer-Assisted Medical Interventions, its aims, its different components and describes the place of robots in that context. The evolutions in terms of general design and control paradigms in the development of medical robots are presented and issues specific to that application domain are discussed. A view of existing systems, on-going developments and future trends is given. A case-study is detailed. Other types of robotic help in the medical environment (such as for assisting a handicapped person, for rehabilitation of a patient or for replacement of some damaged/suppressed limbs or organs) are out of the scope of this chapter. | Computer- and robot-assisted Medical Intervention | 8,144 |
The most widely applied strategy for workload sharing is to equalize the workload assigned to each resource. In mobile multi-agent systems, this principle directly leads to equitable partitioning policies in which (i) the workspace is divided into subregions of equal measure, (ii) there is a bijective correspondence between agents and subregions, and (iii) each agent is responsible for service requests originating within its own subregion. In this paper, we design provably correct, spatially-distributed and adaptive policies that allow a team of agents to achieve a convex and equitable partition of a convex workspace, where each subregion has the same measure. We also consider the issue of achieving convex and equitable partitions where subregions have shapes similar to those of regular polygons. Our approach is related to the classic Lloyd algorithm, and exploits the unique features of power diagrams. We discuss possible applications to routing of vehicles in stochastic and dynamic environments. Simulation results are presented and discussed. | Equitable Partitioning Policies for Mobile Robotic Networks | 8,145 |
The paper presents a new stiffness modeling method for overconstrained parallel manipulators with flexible links and compliant actuating joints. It is based on a multidimensional lumped-parameter model that replaces the link flexibility by localized 6-dof virtual springs that describe both translational/rotational compliance and the coupling between them. In contrast to other works, the method involves a FEA-based link stiffness evaluation and employs a new solution strategy of the kinetostatic equations for the unloaded manipulator configuration, which allows computing the stiffness matrix for the overconstrained architectures, including singular manipulator postures. The advantages of the developed technique are confirmed by application examples, which deal with comparative stiffness analysis of two translational parallel manipulators of 3-PUU and 3-PRPaR architectures. Accuracy of the proposed approach was evaluated for a case study, which focuses on stiffness analysis of Orthoglide parallel manipulator. | Stiffness Analysis of Overconstrained Parallel Manipulators | 8,146 |
Recursive modelling for the kinematics of a 3-PRP planar parallel robot is presented in this paper. Three planar chains connecting to the moving platform of the manipulator are located in a vertical plane. Knowing the motion of the platform, we develop the inverse kinematics and determine the positions, velocities and accelerations of the robot. Several matrix equations offer iterative expressions and graphs for the displacements, velocities and accelerations of three prismatic actuators. | Kinematics of A 3-PRP planar parallel robot | 8,147 |
Human interaction introduces two main constraints: Safety and Comfort. Therefore service robot manipulator can't be controlled like industrial robotic manipulator where personnel is isolated from the robot's work envelope. In this paper, we present a soft motion trajectory planner to try to ensure that these constraints are satisfied. This planner can be used on-line to establish visual and force control loop suitable in presence of human. The cubic trajectories build by this planner are good candidates as output of a manipulation task planner. The obtained system is then homogeneous from task planning to robot control. The soft motion trajectory planner limits jerk, acceleration and velocity in cartesian space using quaternion. Experimental results carried out on a Mitsubishi PA10-6CE arm are presented. | Soft Motion Trajectory Planner for Service Manipulator Robot | 8,148 |
The basic idea behind evolutionary robotics is to evolve a set of neural controllers for a particular task at hand. It involves use of various input parameters such as infrared sensors, light sensors and vision based methods. This paper aims to explore the evolution of vision based navigation in a mobile robot. It discusses in detail the effect of different field of views for a mobile robot. The individuals have been evolved using different FOV values and the results have been recorded and analyzed.The optimum values for FOV have been proposed after evaluating more than 100 different values. It has been observed that the optimum FOV value requires lesser number of generations for evolution and the mobile robot trained with that particular value is able to navigate well in the environment. | Vision Based Navigation for a Mobile Robot with Different Field of Views | 8,149 |
We introduce a problem in which a service vehicle seeks to guard a deadline (boundary) from dynamically arriving mobile targets. The environment is a rectangle and the deadline is one of its edges. Targets arrive continuously over time on the edge opposite the deadline, and move towards the deadline at a fixed speed. The goal for the vehicle is to maximize the fraction of targets that are captured before reaching the deadline. We consider two cases; when the service vehicle is faster than the targets, and; when the service vehicle is slower than the targets. In the first case we develop a novel vehicle policy based on computing longest paths in a directed acyclic graph. We give a lower bound on the capture fraction of the policy and show that the policy is optimal when the distance between the target arrival edge and deadline becomes very large. We present numerical results which suggest near optimal performance away from this limiting regime. In the second case, when the targets are slower than the vehicle, we propose a policy based on servicing fractions of the translational minimum Hamiltonian path. In the limit of low target speed and high arrival rate, the capture fraction of this policy is within a small constant factor of the optimal. | A Dynamic Boundary Guarding Problem with Translating Targets | 8,150 |
This paper discusses the utility of using simple stiffness and vibrations models, based on the Jacobian matrix of a manipulator and only the rigidity of the actuators, whenever its geometry is optimised. In many works, these simplified models are used to propose optimal design of robots. However, the elasticity of the drive system is often negligible in comparison with the elasticity of the elements, especially in applications where high dynamic performances are needed. Therefore, the use of such a simplified model may lead to the creation of robots with long legs, which will be submitted to large bending and twisting deformations. This paper presents an example of manipulator for which it is preferable to use a complete stiffness or vibration model to obtain the most suitable design and shows that the use of simplified models can lead to mechanisms with poorer rigidity. | On the optimal design of parallel robots taking into account their
deformations and natural frequencies | 8,151 |
A class of analytic planar 3-RPR manipulators is analyzed in this paper. These manipulators have congruent base and moving platforms and the moving platform is rotated of 180 deg about an axis in the plane. The forward kinematics is reduced to the solution of a 3rd-degree polynomial and a quadratic equation in sequence. The singularities are calculated and plotted in the joint space. The second-order singularities (cups points), which play an important role in non-singular change of assembly-mode motions, are also analyzed. | Kinematic analysis of a class of analytic planar 3-RPR parallel
manipulators | 8,152 |
The paper focuses on the accuracy improvement of stiffness models for parallel manipulators, which are employed in high-speed precision machining. It is based on the integrated methodology that combines analytical and numerical techniques and deals with multidimensional lumped-parameter models of the links. The latter replace the link flexibility by localized 6-dof virtual springs describing both translational/rotational compliance and the coupling between them. There is presented detailed accuracy analysis of the stiffness identification procedures employed in the commercial CAD systems (including statistical analysis of round-off errors, evaluating the confidence intervals for stiffness matrices). The efficiency of the developed technique is confirmed by application examples, which deal with stiffness analysis of translational parallel manipulators. | Accuracy Improvement for Stiffness Modeling of Parallel Manipulators | 8,153 |
The paper proposes an integrated approach to the design optimization of parallel manipulators, which is based on the concept of the workspace grid and utilizes the goal-attainment formulation for the global optimization. To combine the non-homogenous design specification, the developed optimization technique transforms all constraints and objectives into similar performance indices related to the maximum size of the prescribed shape workspace. This transformation is based on the dedicated dynamic programming procedures that satisfy computational requirements of modern CAD. Efficiency of the developed technique is demonstrated via two case studies that deal with optimization of the kinematical and stiffness performances for parallel manipulators of the Orthoglide family. | Design optimization of parallel manipulators for high-speed precision
machining applications | 8,154 |
In this paper we describe a new robotic brachytherapy needle-insertion system that is designed to replace the template used in the manual technique. After a brief review of existing robotic systems, we describe the requirements that we based our design upon. A detailed description of the proposed system follows. Our design is capable of positioning and inclining a needle within the same workspace as the manual template. To help improve accuracy, the needle can be rotated about its axis during insertion into the prostate. The system can be mounted on existing steppers and also easily accommodates existing seed dispensers, such as the Mick Applicator. | Design of an ultrasound-guided robotic brachytherapy needle insertion
system | 8,155 |
The paper proposes a new calibration method for parallel manipulators that allows efficient identification of the joint offsets using observations of the manipulator leg parallelism with respect to the base surface. The method employs a simple and low-cost measuring system, which evaluates deviation of the leg location during motions that are assumed to preserve the leg parallelism for the nominal values of the manipulator parameters. Using the measured deviations, the developed algorithm estimates the joint offsets that are treated as the most essential parameters to be identified. The validity of the proposed calibration method and efficiency of the developed numerical algorithms are confirmed by experimental results. The sensitivity of the measurement methods and the calibration accuracy are also studied. | Kinematic calibration of Orthoglide-type mechanisms from observation of
parallel leg motions | 8,156 |
The paper presents a new stiffness modelling method for multi-chain parallel robotic manipulators with flexible links and compliant actuating joints. In contrast to other works, the method involves a FEA-based link stiffness evaluation and employs a new solution strategy of the kinetostatic equations, which allows computing the stiffness matrix for singular postures and to take into account influence of the external forces. The advantages of the developed technique are confirmed by application examples, which deal with stiffness analysis of a parallel manipulator of the Orthoglide family | Stiffness Analysis Of Multi-Chain Parallel Robotic Systems | 8,157 |
Today's forging die manufacturing process must be adapted to several evolutions in machining process generation: CAD/CAM models, CAM software solutions and High Speed Machining (HSM). In this context, the adequacy between die shape and HSM process is in the core of machining preparation and process planning approaches. This paper deals with an original approach of machining preparation integrating this adequacy in the main tasks carried out. In this approach, the design of the machining process is based on two levels of decomposition of the geometrical model of a given die with respect to HSM cutting conditions (cutting speed and feed rate) and technological constrains (tool selection, features accessibility). This decomposition assists machining assistant to generate an HSM process. The result of this decomposition is the identification of machining features. | Decomposition of forging die for high speed machining | 8,158 |
Today's High-Speed Machining (HSM) machine tool combines productivity and part quality. The difficulty inherent in HSM operations lies in understanding the impact of machine tool behaviour on machining time and part quality. Analysis of some of the relevant ISO standards (230-1998, 10791-1998) and a complementary protocol for better understanding HSM technology are presented in the first part of this paper. These ISO standards are devoted to the procedures implemented in order to study the behavior of machine tool. As these procedures do not integrate HSM technology, the need for HSM machine tool tests becomes critical to improving the trade-off between machining time and part quality. A new protocol for analysing the HSM technology impact during circular interpolation is presented in the second part of the paper. This protocol which allows evaluating kinematic machine tool behaviour during circular interpolation was designed from tests without machining. These tests are discussed and their results analysed in the paper. During the circular interpolation, axis capacities (such as acceleration or Jerk) related to certain setting parameters of the numerical control unit have a significant impact on the value of the feed rate. Consequently, a kinematic model for a circular-interpolated trajectory was developed on the basis of these parameters. Moreover, the link between part accuracy and kinematic machine tool behaviour was established. The kinematic model was ultimately validated on a bore machining simulation. | Circular tests for HSM machine tools: Bore machining application | 8,159 |
Nowadays high speed machining (HSM) machine tool combines productivity and part quality. So mould and die maker invested in HSM. Die and mould features are more and more complex shaped. Thus, it is difficult to choose the best machining strategy according to part shape. Geometrical analysis of machining features is not sufficient to make an optimal choice. Some research show that security, technical, functional and economical constrains must be taken into account to elaborate a machining strategy. During complex shape machining, production system limits induce feed rate decreases, thus loss of productivity, in some part areas. In this paper we propose to analyse these areas by estimating tool path quality. First we perform experiments on HSM machine tool to determine trajectory impact on machine tool behaviour. Then, we extract critical criteria and establish models of performance loss. Our work is focused on machine tool kinematical performance and numerical controller unit calculation capacity. We implement these models on Esprit CAM Software. During machining trajectory creation, critical part areas can be visualised and analysed. Parameters, such as, segment or arc lengths, nature of discontinuities encountered are used to analyse critical part areas. According to this visualisation, process development engineer should validate or modify the trajectory. | Machining strategy choice: performance VIEWER | 8,160 |
This paper will provide a method to decompose forging dies for machining planning in the case of high speed machining finishing operations. This method lies on a machining feature approach model presented in the following paper. The two main decomposition phases, called Basic Machining Features Extraction and Process Planning Generation, are presented. These two decomposition phases integrates machining resources models and expert machining knowledge to provide an outstanding process planning. | Decomposition of forging dies for machining planning | 8,161 |
In several fields like aeronautics, die and automotive, the machining of the parts is done more and more on high speed machines tools. Today, the offer for purchasing these machine tools is very wide. This situation poses the problem of the judicious and objective choice meeting industrial needs that must be necessary well expressed. The choice remains difficult insofar as the technical data provided to the customers by the manufacturers of machine tools are insufficient as well quantitatively as qualitatively. In this paper we present a protocol for the characterization of machines tools in order to direct the choice. The protocol is based on the one hand on no-load complementary tests to those recommended by the standards ISO 230 and ISO 10791 and on the other hand on the tests in load on a part test. In the first part, we present the industrial needs as well as an analysis of the technical data of machine tools. The second part is devoted to the study of the standards, the description of the protocol and the presentation of the results. | Définition d'une pièce test pour la caractérisation d'une machine
UGV | 8,162 |
Recursive matrix relations for kinematics and dynamics of the Orthoglide parallel robot having three concurrent prismatic actuators are established in this paper. These are arranged according to the Cartesian coordinate system with fixed orientation, which means that the actuating directions are normal to each other. Three identical legs connecting to the moving platform are located on three planes being perpendicular to each other too. Knowing the position and the translation motion of the platform, we develop the inverse kinematics problem and determine the position, velocity and acceleration of each element of the robot. Further, the principle of virtual work is used in the inverse dynamic problem. Some matrix equations offer iterative expressions and graphs for the input forces and the powers of the three actuators. | Dynamics of the Orthoglide parallel robot | 8,163 |
This paper deals with the optimal path placement for a manipulator based on energy consumption. It proposes a methodology to determine the optimal location of a given test path within the workspace of a manipulator with minimal electric energy used by the actuators while taking into account the geometric, kinematic and dynamic constraints. The proposed methodology is applied to the Orthoglide~3-axis, a three-degree-of-freedom translational parallel kinematic machine (PKM), as an illustrative example. | Path placement optimization of manipulators based on energy consumption:
application to the orthoglide 3-axis | 8,164 |
This paper introduces a methodology to analyze geometrically the singularities of manipulators, of which legs apply both actuation forces and constraint moments to their moving platform. Lower-mobility parallel manipulators and parallel manipulators, of which some legs do not have any spherical joint, are such manipulators. The geometric conditions associated with the dependency of six Pl\"ucker vectors of finite lines or lines at infinity constituting the rows of the inverse Jacobian matrix are formulated using Grassmann-Cayley Algebra. Accordingly, the singularity conditions are obtained in vector form. This study is illustrated with the singularity analysis of four manipulators. | Singularity Analysis of Lower-Mobility Parallel Manipulators Using
Grassmann-Cayley Algebra | 8,165 |
It was shown recently that parallel manipulators with several inverse kinematic solutions have the ability to avoid parallel singularities [Chablat 1998a] and self-collisions [Chablat 1998b] by choosing appropriate joint configurations for the legs. In effect, depending on the joint configurations of the legs, a given configuration of the end-effector may or may not be free of singularity and collision. Characterization of the collision/singularity-free workspace is useful but may be insufficient since two configurations can be accessible without collisions nor singularities but it may not exist a feasible trajectory between them. The goal of this paper is to define the maximal regions of the workspace where it is possible to execute trajectories. Twodifferent families of regions are defined : 1. those regions where the end-effector can move between any set of points, and 2. the regions where any continuous path can be tracked. These regions are characterized from the notion of aspects and free-aspects recently defined for parallel manipulators [Chablat 1998b]. The construction of these regions is achieved by enrichment techniques and using an extension of the octree structures to spaces of dimension greater than three. Illustrative examples show the interest of this study to the optimization of trajectories and the design of parallel manipulators. | On the characterization of the regions of feasible trajectories in the
workspace of parallel manipulators | 8,166 |
The paper proposes a novel approach for the geometrical model calibration of quasi-isotropic parallel kinematic mechanisms of the Orthoglide family. It is based on the observations of the manipulator leg parallelism during motions between the specific test postures and employs a low-cost measuring system composed of standard comparator indicators attached to the universal magnetic stands. They are sequentially used for measuring the deviation of the relevant leg location while the manipulator moves the TCP along the Cartesian axes. Using the measured differences, the developed algorithm estimates the joint offsets and the leg lengths that are treated as the most essential parameters. Validity of the proposed calibration technique is confirmed by the experimental results. | Calibration of 3-d.o.f. Translational Parallel Manipulators Using Leg
Observations | 8,167 |
Automation technique has been widely used in manufacturing industry, but there are still manual handling operations required in assembly and maintenance work in industry. Inappropriate posture and physical fatigue might result in musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in such physical jobs. In ergonomics and occupational biomechanics, virtual human modelling techniques have been employed to design and optimize the manual operations in design stage so as to avoid or decrease potential MSD risks. In these methods, physical fatigue is only considered as minimizing the muscle or joint stress, and the fatigue effect along time for the posture is not considered enough. In this study, based on the existing methods and multiple objective optimisation method (MOO), a new posture prediction and analysis method is proposed for predicting the optimal posture and evaluating the physical fatigue in the manual handling operation. The posture prediction and analysis problem is mathematically described and a special application case is demonstrated for analyzing a drilling assembly operation in European Aeronautic Defence & Space Company (EADS) in this paper. | Multi-Objective Optimisation Method for Posture Prediction and Analysis
with Consideration of Fatigue Effect and its Application Case | 8,168 |
The paper focuses on the enhanced stiffness modeling of robotic manipulators by taking into account influence of the external force/torque acting upon the end point. It implements the virtual joint technique that describes the compliance of manipulator elements by a set of localized six-dimensional springs separated by rigid links and perfect joints. In contrast to the conventional formulation, which is valid for the unloaded mode and small displacements, the proposed approach implicitly assumes that the loading leads to the non-negligible changes of the manipulator posture and corresponding amendment of the Jacobian. The developed numerical technique allows computing the static equilibrium and relevant force/torque reaction of the manipulator for any given displacement of the end-effector. This enables designer detecting essentially nonlinear effects in elastic behavior of manipulator, similar to the buckling of beam elements. It is also proposed the linearization procedure that is based on the inversion of the dedicated matrix composed of the stiffness parameters of the virtual springs and the Jacobians/Hessians of the active and passive joints. The developed technique is illustrated by an application example that deals with the stiffness analysis of a parallel manipulator of the Orthoglide family. | Nonlinear Effects in Stiffness Modeling of Robotic Manipulators | 8,169 |
Series Elastic Actuators provide many benefits in force control of robots in unconstrained environments. These benefits include high force fidelity, extremely low impedance, low friction, and good force control bandwidth. Series Elastic Actuators employ a novel mechanical design architecture which goes against the common machine design principal of "stiffer is better". A compliant element is placed between the gear train and driven load to intentionally reduce the stiffness of the actuator. A position sensor measures the deflection, and the force output is accurately calculated using Hooke's Law (F=Kx). A control loop then servos the actuator to the desired output force. The resulting actuator has inherent shock tolerance, high force fidelity and extremely low impedance. These characteristics are desirable in many applications including legged robots, exoskeletons for human performance amplification, robotic arms, haptic interfaces, and adaptive suspensions. We describe several variations of Series Elastic Actuators that have been developed using both electric and hydraulic components. | Modeling and Application of Series Elastic Actuators for Force Control
Multi Legged Robots | 8,170 |
This article synthezises the most important results on the kinematics of cuspidal manipulators i.e. nonredundant manipulators that can change posture without meeting a singularity. The characteristic surfaces, the uniqueness domains and the regions of feasible paths in the workspace are defined. Then, several sufficient geometric conditions for a manipulator to be noncuspidal are enumerated and a general necessary and sufficient condition for a manipulator to be cuspidal is provided. An explicit DH-parameter-based condition for an orthogonal manipulator to be cuspidal is derived. The full classification of 3R orthogonal manipulators is provided and all types of cuspidal and noncuspidal orthogonal manipulators are enumerated. Finally, some facts about cuspidal and noncuspidal 6R manipulators are reported. | Cuspidal and Noncuspidal Robot Manipulators | 8,171 |
The paper presents the position analysis of a spatial structure composed of two platforms mutually connected by one RRP and three SS serial kinematic chains, where R, P, and S stand for revolute, prismatic, and spherical kinematic pair respectively. A set of three compatibility equations is laid down that, following algebraic elimination, results in a 28th-order univariate algebraic equation, which in turn provides the addressed problem with 28 solutions in the complex domain. Among the applications of the results presented in this paper is the solution to the forward kinematics of the Tricept, a well-known in-parallel-actuated spatial manipulator. Numerical examples show adoption of the proposed method in dealing with two case studies. | Position Analysis of the RRP-3(SS) Multi-Loop Spatial Structure | 8,172 |
This paper presents three feedback controllers that achieve an asymptotically stable, periodic, and fast walking gait for a 3D (spatial) bipedal robot consisting of a torso, two legs, and passive (unactuated) point feet. The contact between the robot and the walking surface is assumed to inhibit yaw rotation. The studied robot has 8 DOF in the single support phase and 6 actuators. The interest of studying robots with point feet is that the robot's natural dynamics must be explicitly taken into account to achieve balance while walking. We use an extension of the method of virtual constraints and hybrid zero dynamics, in order to simultaneously compute a periodic orbit and an autonomous feedback controller that realizes the orbit. This method allows the computations to be carried out on a 2-DOF subsystem of the 8-DOF robot model. The stability of the walking gait under closed-loop control is evaluated with the linearization of the restricted Poincar\'e map of the hybrid zero dynamics. Three strategies are explored. The first strategy consists of imposing a stability condition during the search of a periodic gait by optimization. The second strategy uses an event-based controller. In the third approach, the effect of output selection is discussed and a pertinent choice of outputs is proposed, leading to stabilization without the use of a supplemental event-based controller. | Asymptotically Stable Walking of a Five-Link Underactuated 3D Bipedal
Robot | 8,173 |
FastSLAM is a framework for simultaneous localization using a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter. In FastSLAM, particle filter is used for the mobile robot pose (position and orientation) estimation, and an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is used for the feature location's estimation. However, FastSLAM degenerates over time. This degeneracy is due to the fact that a particle set estimating the pose of the robot loses its diversity. One of the main reasons for loosing particle diversity in FastSLAM is sample impoverishment. It occurs when likelihood lies in the tail of the proposal distribution. In this case, most of particle weights are insignificant. Another problem of FastSLAM relates to the design of an extended Kalman filter for landmark position's estimation. The performance of the EKF and the quality of the estimation depends heavily on correct a priori knowledge of the process and measurement noise covariance matrices (Q and R) that are in most applications unknown. On the other hand, an incorrect a priori knowledge of Q and R may seriously degrade the performance of the Kalman filter. This paper presents a Neuro-Fuzzy Multi Swarm FastSLAM Framework. In our proposed method, a Neuro-Fuzzy extended kalman filter for landmark feature estimation, and a particle filter based on particle swarm optimization are presented to overcome the impoverishment of FastSLAM. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. | A Neuro-Fuzzy Multi Swarm FastSLAM Framework | 8,174 |
... This paper is to describe exploratory research on the design of a modular autonomous mobile robot controller. The controller incorporates a fuzzy logic [8] [9] approach for steering and speed control [37], a FL approach for ultrasound sensing and an overall expert system for guidance. The advantages of a modular system are related to portability and transportability, i.e. any vehicle can become autonomous with minimal modifications. A mobile robot test bed has been constructed in university of Cincinnati using a golf cart base. This cart has full speed control with guidance provided by a vision system and obstacle avoidance using ultrasonic sensors. The speed and steering fuzzy logic controller is supervised through a multi-axis motion controller. The obstacle avoidance system is based on a microcontroller interfaced with ultrasonic transducers. This micro-controller independently handles all timing and distance calculations and sends distance information back to the fuzzy logic controller via the serial line. This design yields a portable independent system in which high speed computer communication is not necessary. Vision guidance has been accomplished with the use of CCD cameras judging the current position of the robot.[34] [35][36] It will be generating a good image for reducing an uncertain wrong command from ground coordinate to tackle the parameter uncertainties of the system, and to obtain good WMR dynamic response.[1] Here we Apply 3D line following mythology. It transforms from 3D to 2D and also maps the image coordinates and vice versa, leading to the improved accuracy of the WMR position. ... | Fuzzy Logic of Speed and Steering Control System for Three Dimensional
Line Following of an Autonomous Vehicle | 8,175 |
During the last decade, incremental sampling-based motion planning algorithms, such as the Rapidly-exploring Random Trees (RRTs) have been shown to work well in practice and to possess theoretical guarantees such as probabilistic completeness. However, no theoretical bounds on the quality of the solution obtained by these algorithms have been established so far. The first contribution of this paper is a negative result: it is proven that, under mild technical conditions, the cost of the best path in the RRT converges almost surely to a non-optimal value. Second, a new algorithm is considered, called the Rapidly-exploring Random Graph (RRG), and it is shown that the cost of the best path in the RRG converges to the optimum almost surely. Third, a tree version of RRG is introduced, called the RRT$^*$ algorithm, which preserves the asymptotic optimality of RRG while maintaining a tree structure like RRT. The analysis of the new algorithms hinges on novel connections between sampling-based motion planning algorithms and the theory of random geometric graphs. In terms of computational complexity, it is shown that the number of simple operations required by both the RRG and RRT$^*$ algorithms is asymptotically within a constant factor of that required by RRT. | Incremental Sampling-based Algorithms for Optimal Motion Planning | 8,176 |
We investigate several coordinate systems and dynamical vector fields for target tracking to be used in driver assistance systems. We show how to express the discrete dynamics of maneuvering target vehicles in arbitrary coordinates starting from the target's and the own (ego) vehicle's assumed dynamical model in global coordinates. We clarify the notion of "ego compensation" and show how non-inertial effects are to be included when using a body-fixed coordinate system for target tracking. We finally compare the tracking error of different combinations of target tracking coordinates and dynamical vector fields for simulated data. | Observable dynamics and coordinate systems for automotive target
tracking | 8,177 |
An accurate motion model is an important component in modern-day robotic systems, but building such a model for a complex system often requires an appreciable amount of manual effort. In this paper we present a motion model representation, the Dynamic Gaussian Mixture Model (DGMM), that alleviates the need to manually design the form of a motion model, and provides a direct means of incorporating auxiliary sensory data into the model. This representation and its accompanying algorithms are validated experimentally using an 8-legged kinematically complex robot, as well as a standard benchmark dataset. The presented method not only learns the robot's motion model, but also improves the model's accuracy by incorporating information about the terrain surrounding the robot. | Dynamic Motion Modelling for Legged Robots | 8,178 |
In this paper, a simple Neural controller has been used to achieve stable walking in a NAO biped robot, with 22 degrees of freedom that implemented in a virtual physics-based simulation environment of Robocup soccer simulation environment. The algorithm uses a Matsuoka base neural oscillator to generate control signal for the biped robot. To find the best angular trajectory and optimize network parameters, a new population-based search algorithm, called the Harmony Search (HS) algorithm, has been used. The algorithm conceptualized a group of musicians together trying to search for better state of harmony. Simulation results demonstrate that the modification of the step period and the walking motion due to the sensory feedback signals improves the stability of the walking motion. | Evolution of Biped Walking Using Neural Oscillators Controller and
Harmony Search Algorithm Optimizer | 8,179 |
This paper is concerned with designing self-driven fitness functions for Embedded Evolutionary Robotics. The proposed approach considers the entropy of the sensori-motor stream generated by the robot controller. This entropy is computed using unsupervised learning; its maximization, achieved by an on-board evolutionary algorithm, implements a "curiosity instinct", favouring controllers visiting many diverse sensori-motor states (sms). Further, the set of sms discovered by an individual can be transmitted to its offspring, making a cultural evolution mode possible. Cumulative entropy (computed from ancestors and current individual visits to the sms) defines another self-driven fitness; its optimization implements a "discovery instinct", as it favours controllers visiting new or rare sensori-motor states. Empirical results on the benchmark problems proposed by Lehman and Stanley (2008) comparatively demonstrate the merits of the approach. | Open-Ended Evolutionary Robotics: an Information Theoretic Approach | 8,180 |
Due to the flexibility and adaptability of human, manual handling work is still very important in industry, especially for assembly and maintenance work. Well-designed work operation can improve work efficiency and quality; enhance safety, and lower cost. Most traditional methods for work system analysis need physical mock-up and are time consuming. Digital mockup (DMU) and digital human modeling (DHM) techniques have been developed to assist ergonomic design and evaluation for a specific worker population (e.g. 95 percentile); however, the operation adaptability and adjustability for a specific individual are not considered enough. In this study, a new framework based on motion tracking technique and digital human simulation technique is proposed for motion-time analysis of manual operations. A motion tracking system is used to track a worker's operation while he/she is conducting a manual handling work. The motion data is transferred to a simulation computer for real time digital human simulation. The data is also used for motion type recognition and analysis either online or offline for objective work efficiency evaluation and subjective work task evaluation. Methods for automatic motion recognition and analysis are presented. Constraints and limitations of the proposed method are discussed. | A Framework for Interactive Work Design based on Digital Work Analysis
and Simulation | 8,181 |
Virtual human techniques have been used a lot in industrial design in order to consider human factors and ergonomics as early as possible. The physical status (the physical capacity of virtual human) has been mostly treated as invariable in the current available human simulation tools, while indeed the physical capacity varies along time in an operation and the change of the physical capacity depends on the history of the work as well. Virtual Human Status is proposed in this paper in order to assess the difficulty of manual handling operations, especially from the physical perspective. The decrease of the physical capacity before and after an operation is used as an index to indicate the work difficulty. The reduction of physical strength is simulated in a theoretical approach on the basis of a fatigue model in which fatigue resistances of different muscle groups were regressed from 24 existing maximum endurance time (MET) models. A framework based on digital human modeling technique is established to realize the comparison of physical status. An assembly case in airplane assembly is simulated and analyzed under the framework. The endurance time and the decrease of the joint moment strengths are simulated. The experimental result in simulated operations under laboratory conditions confirms the feasibility of the theoretical approach. | Fatigue evaluation in maintenance and assembly operations by digital
human simulation | 8,182 |
Most cognitive architectures rely on discrete representation, both in space (e.g., objects) and in time (e.g., events). However, a robot interaction with the world is inherently continuous, both in space and in time. The segmentation of the stream of perceptual inputs a robot receives into discrete and meaningful events poses as a challenge in bridging the gap between internal cognitive representations, and the external world. Event Segmentation Theory, recently proposed in the context of cognitive systems research, sustains that humans segment time into events based on matching perceptual input with predictions. In this work we propose a framework for online event segmentation, targeting robots endowed with active perception. Moreover, sensory processing systems have an intrinsic latency, resulting from many factors such as sampling rate, and computational processing, and which is seldom accounted for. This framework is founded on the theory of dynamical systems synchronization, where the system considered includes both the robot and the world coupled (strong anticipation). An adaption rule is used to perform simultaneous system identification and synchronization, and anticipating synchronization is employed to predict the short-term system evolution. This prediction allows for an appropriate control of the robot actuation. Event boundaries are detected once synchronization is lost (sudden increase of the prediction error). An experimental proof of concept of the proposed framework is presented, together with some preliminary results corroborating the approach. | Online Event Segmentation in Active Perception using Adaptive Strong
Anticipation | 8,183 |
In this paper we present a method for automatically generating optimal robot trajectories satisfying high level mission specifications. The motion of the robot in the environment is modeled as a general transition system, enhanced with weighted transitions. The mission is specified by a general linear temporal logic formula. In addition, we require that an optimizing proposition must be repeatedly satisfied. The cost function that we seek to minimize is the maximum time between satisfying instances of the optimizing proposition. For every environment model, and for every formula, our method computes a robot trajectory which minimizes the cost function. The problem is motivated by applications in robotic monitoring and data gathering. In this setting, the optimizing proposition is satisfied at all locations where data can be uploaded, and the entire formula specifies a complex (and infinite horizon) data collection mission. Our method utilizes B\"uchi automata to produce an automaton (which can be thought of as a graph) whose runs satisfy the temporal logic specification. We then present a graph algorithm which computes a path corresponding to the optimal robot trajectory. We also present an implementation for a robot performing a data gathering mission in a road network. | Optimal Path Planning under Temporal Logic Constraints | 8,184 |
Off-line robot dynamic identification methods are mostly based on the use of the inverse dynamic model, which is linear with respect to the dynamic parameters. This model is sampled while the robot is tracking reference trajectories that excite the system dynamics. This allows using linear least-squares techniques to estimate the parameters. The efficiency of this method has been proved through the experimental identification of many prototypes and industrial robots. However, this method requires the joint force/torque and position measurements and the estimate of the joint velocity and acceleration, through the bandpass filtering of the joint position at high sampling rates. The proposed new method requires only the joint force/torque measurement. It is a closed-loop output error method where the usual joint position output is replaced by the joint force/torque. It is based on a closed-loop simulation of the robot using the direct dynamic model, the same structure of the control law, and the same reference trajectory for both the actual and the simulated robot. The optimal parameters minimize the 2-norm of the error between the actual force/torque and the simulated force/torque. This is a non-linear least-squares problem which is dramatically simplified using the inverse dynamic model to obtain an analytical expression of the simulated force/torque, linear in the parameters. A validation experiment on a 2 degree-of-freedom direct drive robot shows that the new method is efficient. | A new closed-loop output error method for parameter identification of
robot dynamics | 8,185 |
Sampling-based motion planners are an effective means for generating collision-free motion paths. However, the quality of these motion paths, with respect to different quality measures such as path length, clearance, smoothness or energy, is often notoriously low. This problem is accentuated in the case of non-holonomic sampling-based motion planning, in which the space of feasible motion trajectories is restricted. In this study, we combine the C-PRM algorithm by Song and Amato with our recently introduced path-hybridization approach, for creating high quality non-holonomic motion paths, with combinations of several different quality measures such as path length, smoothness or clearance, as well as the number of reverse car motions. Our implementation includes a variety of code optimizations that result in nearly real-time performance, and which we believe can be extended with further optimizations to a real-time tool for the planning of high-quality car-like motion. | Improving the Quality of Non-Holonomic Motion by Hybridizing C-PRM Paths | 8,186 |
Engineering the software development process in robotics is one of the basic necessities towards industrial-strength service robotic systems. A major challenge is to make the step from code-driven to model-driven systems. This is essential to replace hand-crafted single-unit systems by systems composed out of components with explicitly stated properties. Furthermore, this fosters reuse by separating robotics knowledge from short-cycled implementational technologies. Altogether, this is one but important step towards "able" robots. This paper reports on a model-driven development process for robotic systems. The process consists of a robotics metamodel with first explications of non-functional properties. A model-driven toolchain based on Eclipse provides the model transformation and code generation steps. It also provides design time analysis of resource parameters (e.g. schedulability analysis of realtime tasks) as a first step towards overall resource awareness in the development of integrated robotic systems. The overall approach is underpinned by several real world scenarios. | Towards Quality of Service and Resource Aware Robotic Systems through
Model-Driven Software Development | 8,187 |
Most commercial manufacturers of industrial robots require their robots to be programmed in a proprietary language tailored to the domain - a typical domain-specific language (DSL). However, these languages oftentimes suffer from shortcomings such as controller-specific design, limited expressiveness and a lack of extensibility. For that reason, we developed the extensible Robotics API for programming industrial robots on top of a general-purpose language. Although being a very flexible approach to programming industrial robots, a fully-fledged language can be too complex for simple tasks. Additionally, legacy support for code written in the original DSL has to be maintained. For these reasons, we present a lightweight implementation of a typical robotic DSL, the KUKA Robot Language (KRL), on top of our Robotics API. This work deals with the challenges in reverse-engineering the language and mapping its specifics to the Robotics API. We introduce two different approaches of interpreting and executing KRL programs: tree-based and bytecode-based interpretation. | On reverse-engineering the KUKA Robot Language | 8,188 |
Smart homes are becoming more popular, as every day a new home appliance can be digitally controlled. Smart Digital Homes are using a server to make interaction with all the possible devices in one place, on a computer or webpage. In this paper we designed and implemented a mobile application using Windows Mobile platform that can connect to the controlling server of a Smart Home and grants the access to the Smart Home devices and robots everywhere possible. UML diagrams are presented to illustrate the application design process. Robots are also considered as devices that are able to interact to other object and devices. Scenarios are defined as a set of sequential actions to help manage different tasks all in one place. The mobile application can connect to the server using GPRS mobile internet and Short Message System (SMS). Interactive home map is also designed for easier status-checking and interacting with the devices using the mobile phones. | A Scenario-Based Mobile Application for Robot-Assisted Smart Digital
Homes | 8,189 |
The development of robot control programs is a complex task. Many robots are different in their electrical and mechanical structure which is also reflected in the software. Specific robot software environments support the program development, but are mainly text-based and usually applied by experts in the field with profound knowledge of the target robot. This paper presents a graphical programming environment which aims to ease the development of robot control programs. In contrast to existing graphical robot programming environments, our approach focuses on the composition of parallel action sequences. The developed environment allows to schedule independent robot actions on parallel execution lines and provides mechanism to avoid side-effects of parallel actions. The developed environment is platform-independent and based on the model-driven paradigm. The feasibility of our approach is shown by the application of the sequencer to a simulated service robot and a robot for educational purpose. | A Platform-independent Programming Environment for Robot Control | 8,190 |
Although automatic techniques have been employed in manufacturing industries to increase productivity and efficiency, there are still lots of manual handling jobs, especially for assembly and maintenance jobs. In these jobs, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are one of the major health problems due to overload and cumulative physical fatigue. With combination of conventional posture analysis techniques, digital human modelling and simulation (DHM) techniques have been developed and commercialized to evaluate the potential physical exposures. However, those ergonomics analysis tools are mainly based on posture analysis techniques, and until now there is still no fatigue index available in the commercial software to evaluate the physical fatigue easily and quickly. In this paper, a new muscle fatigue and recovery model is proposed and extended to evaluate joint fatigue level in manual handling jobs. A special application case is described and analyzed by digital human simulation technique. | A new muscle fatigue and recovery model and its ergonomics application
in human simulation | 8,191 |
The paper presents a methodology for the enhanced stiffness analysis of parallel manipulators with internal preloading in passive joints. It also takes into account influence of the external loading and allows computing both the non-linear "load-deflection" relation and the stiffness matrices for any given location of the end-platform or actuating drives. Using this methodology, it is proposed the kinetostatic control algorithm that allows to improve accuracy of the classical kinematic control and to compensate position errors caused by elastic deformations in links/joints due to the external/internal loading. The results are illustrated by an example that deals with a parallel manipulator of the Orthoglide family where the internal preloading allows to eliminate the undesired buckling phenomena and to improve the stiffness in the neighborhood of its kinematic singularities. | Stiffness Analysis of Parallel Manipulators with Preloaded Passive
Joints | 8,192 |
This paper focuses on the performance evaluation of the parallel manipulators for milling of composite materials. For this application the most significant performance measurements, which denote the ability of the manipulator for the machining are defined. In this case, optimal synthesis task is solved as a multicriterion optimization problem with respect to the geometric, kinematic, kinetostatic, elastostostatic, dynamic properties. It is shown that stiffness is an important performance factor. Previous models operate with links approximation and calculate stiffness matrix in the neighborhood of initial point. This is a reason why a new way for stiffness matrix calculation is proposed. This method is illustrated in a concrete industrial problem. | Performance evaluation of parallel manipulators for milling application | 8,193 |
Virtual human simulation integrated into virtual reality applications is mainly used for virtual representation of the user in virtual environment or for interactions between the user and the virtual avatar for cognitive tasks. In this paper, in order to prevent musculoskeletal disorders, the integration of virtual human simulation and VR application is presented to facilitate physical ergonomic evaluation, especially for physical fatigue evaluation of a given population. Immersive working environments are created to avoid expensive physical mock-up in conventional evaluation methods. Peripheral motion capture systems are used to capture natural movements and then to simulate the physical operations in virtual human simulation. Physical aspects of human's movement are then analyzed to determine the effort level of each key joint using inverse kinematics. The physical fatigue level of each joint is further analyzed by integrating a fatigue and recovery model on the basis of physical task parameters. All the process has been realized based on VRHIT platform and a case study is presented to demonstrate the function of the physical fatigue for a given population and its usefulness for worker selection. | Integrating digital human modeling into virtual environment for
ergonomic oriented design | 8,194 |
The paper presents a methodology to enhance the stiffness analysis of parallel manipulators with parallelogram-based linkage. It directly takes into account the influence of the external loading and allows computing both the non-linear ``load-deflection" relation and relevant rank-deficient stiffness matrix. An equivalent bar-type pseudo-rigid model is also proposed to describe the parallelogram stiffness by means of five mutually coupled virtual springs. The contributions of this paper are highlighted with a parallelogram-type linkage used in a manipulator from the Orthoglide family. | Stiffness modelling of parallelogram-based parallel manipulators | 8,195 |
This paper investigates the existence conditions of cusp points in the design parameter space of the R\underline{P}R-2P\underline{R}R parallel manipulators. Cusp points make possible non-singular assembly-mode changing motion, which can possibly increase the size of the aspect, i.e. the maximum singularity free workspace. The method used is based on the notion of discriminant varieties and Cylindrical Algebraic Decomposition, and resorts to Gr\"obner bases for the solutions of systems of equations. | Cusp points in the parameter space of RPR-2PRR parallel manipulator | 8,196 |
The aim of this paper is to compute of the generalized aspects, i.e. the maximal singularity-free domains in the Cartesian product of the joint space and workspace, for a planar parallel mechanism in using quadtree model and interval analysis based method. The parallel mechanisms can admit several solutions to the inverses and the direct kinematic models. These singular configurations divide the joint space and the workspace in several not connected domains. To compute this domains, the quadtree model can be made by using a discretization of the space. Unfortunately, with this method, some singular configurations cannot be detected as a single point in the joint space. The interval analysis based method allow us to assure that no singularities are not found and to reduce the computing times. This approach is tested on a simple planar parallel mechanism with two degrees of freedom. | Joint space and workspace analysis of a two-DOF closed-chain manipulator | 8,197 |
This paper investigates the cuspidal configurations of 3-RPR parallel manipulators that may appear on their singular surfaces in the joint space. Cusp points play an important role in the kinematic behavior of parallel manipulators since they make possible a non-singular change of assembly mode. In previous works, the cusp points were calculated in sections of the joint space by solving a 24th-degree polynomial without any proof that this polynomial was the only one that gives all solutions. The purpose of this study is to propose a rigorous methodology to determine the cusp points of 3-R\underline{P}R manipulators and to certify that all cusp points are found. This methodology uses the notion of discriminant varieties and resorts to Gr\"obner bases for the solutions of systems of equations. | On the determination of cusp points of 3-R\underline{P}R parallel
manipulators | 8,198 |
This paper deals with the comparison of planar parallel manipulator architectures based on a multi-objective design optimization approach. The manipulator architectures are compared with regard to their mass in motion and their regular workspace size, i.e., the objective functions. The optimization problem is subject to constraints on the manipulator dexterity and stiffness. For a given external wrench, the displacements of the moving platform have to be smaller than given values throughout the obtained maximum regular dexterous workspace. The contributions of the paper are highlighted with the study of 3-RPR, 3-RPR and 3-RPR planar parallel manipulator architectures, which are compared by means of their Pareto frontiers obtained with a genetic algorithm. | Comparison of Planar Parallel Manipulator Architectures based on a
Multi-objective Design Optimization Approach | 8,199 |
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