IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics

The derivation and application of a self-optimizing control system for percussive drilling of hard rock is presented. The control system superimposes an oscillating force signal onto the drill feed force and demodulates the signal from the drill rotational torque. The resultant demodulated signal is then used to control the drill, allowing real-time maximization of penetration rate, minimum hole d... View full abstract»

This paper presents the development and preliminary experimental analysis of a soft compliant tactile microsensor (SCTM) with minimum thickness of 2 mm. A high shear sensitive triaxial force microsensor was embedded in a soft, compliant, flexible packaging. The performance of the whole system, including the SCTM, an electronic hardware and a processing algorithm, was evaluated by static calibratio... View full abstract»

This paper describes a novel solution for the active locomotion of a miniaturized endoscopic capsule in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In particular, the authors present the design, development, and testing of a legged locomotion system embedded in a capsule (with a volume of about 4-5 cm3) and actuated by a brushless minimotor. The actuation mechanism and transmission mechanism are d... View full abstract»

A single-link flexible manipulator is fabricated to represent a typical flexible robotic arm. This flexible manipulator is modeled as an SIMO system with the motor torque as the input and the hub angle and the tip position as the outputs. The two transfer functions are identified using a frequency-domain system identification method, and the resonant modes are determined. A feedback loop around th... View full abstract»

The characterization of the dynamic response (including transfer function identification) of trilayer polypyrrole (PPy) type conducting polymer sensors is presented. The sensor was built like a cantilever beam with the free end stimulated through a mechanical lever system, which provided displacement inputs. The voltage generated and current passing between the two outer PPy layers as a result of ... View full abstract»

A variable constraint hip mechanism (VCHM) has been developed for a hybrid neuroprosthesis system (HNP) to provide postural stability and uninhibited sagittal hip rotation throughout the gait of individuals with paraplegia. This paper describes the design concepts used in the development of the VCHM. The VCHM utilizes a hydraulic system to reciprocally couple the hips or individually lock and/or f... View full abstract»

A master-slave type remote ultrasound diagnostic system has been developed. The impedance controller has been implemented and reported for the positions of the master and slave manipulators to display and control the contact force between the ultrasound probe and the affected area. The present paper introduces an alternative orientation controller utilizing continuous path (CP) control in the remo... View full abstract»

Hyper-redundant (HR) (snake-like) robotic manipulators are particularly adept at navigating narrow, convoluted paths, but have traditionally been difficult to model and control. In this paper, we outline a nonmodel-based control methodology, which allows a five-joint HR robot to traverse a foam channel of unknown curvature using the robot actuators as sensors. The robot is fitted to a waveform whi... View full abstract»

Design and control of multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF) electromagnetic actuators require a good understanding of the magnetic fields, and involve real-time calculation of magnetic forces. This paper presents a method to derive distributed multipole (DMP) models for characterizing the magnetic field and torque of permanent magnet (PM) based devices. The DMP method, which offers magnetic-field solution... View full abstract»

This paper has proposed a 3-DOF spherical actuator consisting of a ball-shaped rotor with a full circle of permanent- magnet (PM) poles and a spherical-shell-like stator with two layers of circumferential air-core coils. One key feature of this design is the parametrization of PM and coil poles. Based on the torque model of the PM spherical actuator, the relationship between poles' parameters and ... View full abstract»

The goal of this paper is to develop an electromagnetic servo system for two kinds of multiaxis motion control, namely magnetic servoing and magnetic tracking. Based on the proposed space vector expression that is a function of magnetic flux density for estimating the relative position from a magnet to a Hall probe, the magnetic servoing can achieve a contouring control with respect to a fixed mag... View full abstract»

This paper deals with the problem of bearing failure detection and diagnosis in induction motors. Indeed, bearing deterioration is now the main cause of induction motor rotor failures. In this context, two fault detection and diagnosis techniques, namely the Park transform approach and the Concordia transform, are briefly presented and compared. Experimental tests, on a 0.75 kW two-pole induction ... View full abstract»