IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics

The static balancing of planar 3-DOF parallel mechanisms is addressed in this paper. Static balancing is defined as the set of conditions on mechanism dimensional and inertial parameters which, when satisfied, ensure that the weight of the links does not produce any torque (or force) at the actuators for any configuration of the mechanism, under static conditions. For the mechanisms studied here, ... View full abstract»

Presents the design of a piezoelectric-ceramic (PZT)-stack-actuated brake that is similar to a magnetic particle brake in dynamic range, size, weight, and cost, while providing a significantly larger bandwidth and requiring significantly less electrical power for a given continuous torque output. The device is essentially a single-pad drum brake that is actuated with a PZT-stack actuator. A signif... View full abstract»

This paper addresses the design and commutation of a novel kind of spherical stepper motor in which the poles of the stator are electromagnets and the poles of the rotor (rotating ball) are permanent magnets. Due to the fact that points on a sphere can only be arranged with equal spacing in a limited number of cases (corresponding to the Platonic solids), design of spherical stepper motors with fi... View full abstract»

Many mechatronic systems involve complex motions resulting in highly dynamic motor loads. Motor characteristics, such as rotor inertia, affect this motor load, which makes the design and selection of the complete drive system-consisting of motor, mechanical reducer, and converter-a huge combinatorial problem. The approach presented in the paper separates the problem into feasibility and optimizati... View full abstract»

A human-friendly robot (HFR) is described to realize human safety, and a collision-tolerant control method is also proposed to achieve task performance. The HFR consists of an arm covered with viscoelastic materials and a trunk with mechanical elements, such as springs and dampers. In an unexpected or expected collision with a human, the passive viscoelastic trunk of the HFR passively deforms in r... View full abstract»

As the demand increases for machines of high accuracy, high speed, and high stiffness, programmable closed-loop linkages emerge in the development of modern machinery. A mechatronic design methodology is proposed for the integrated design of mechanical structure and control algorithm for a programmable closed-loop mechanism system. This design methodology suggests a negative mass-redistribution sc... View full abstract»

A task-specific optimal simultaneous kinematic, dynamic and control design approach is proposed for high-performance computer-controlled machines, such as robots. This mechatronics design approach is based on the trajectory pattern method and a fundamentally new design philosophy that such machines, in general, and ultrahigh-performance machines, in particular, must only be designed to perform a c... View full abstract»

The zero phase error tracking controller (ZPETC) in motion control, as proposed by Tomizuka (1987) , renders the desirable zero phase error, but with a limited gain response. Moreover, a ZPETC, which is basically in a feedforward control structure, is very sensitive to modeling error. To improve the tracking accuracy of the ZPETC, this paper presents an optimal ZPETC design with a concise polynomi... View full abstract»

Matching a drive system to the force-displacement characteristics of the load is the cardinal principle in electromechanical systems design. Unconventional actuation schemes; such as piezoelectric, electrostatic, and shape-memory alloys (SMAs), seem to exhibit certain limitations in terms of power density, stroke length, bandwidth, etc., when one attempts to employ them directly to an application.... View full abstract»