Novel pneumatic circuit for the computational control of soft robots

Soft robots are of significant research interest in recent decades due to their adaptability to unstructured environments and safe interaction with humans. Soft pneumatic robots, one of the most dominant subsets of soft robots, utilize the interaction between soft elastomeric materials and pressurized air to achieve desired functions. However, the systems currently used for signal computation and pneumatic regulation often make use of rigid valves, pumps, syringe drivers, microcontrollers et al. These bulky and non-integrable devices limit the performance of pneumatically-driven soft robots, carrying challenges for the robot to be miniaturized, untethered, and agile. This DPhil aims to develop pneumatic circuits that can be integrated into the soft robot bodies while performing both onboard computation and control. This thesis presents our contributions towards the aforementioned objective step by step. Firstly, we designed a 3D-printable bistable valve with tunable behaviours for controlling soft pneumatic robots. As an integrable control device, the valve stores one bit of binary information without requiring a constant energy supply and correspondingly controls a pneumatic chamber. Secondly, in order to reduce the number of valves required to control multi-chamber soft robots, we introduced a modular approach to design multi-channel bistable valves based on the previous work. Thirdly, in order to achieve continuous pressure modulation with integrable devices, we designed a soft proportional valve, utilizing the continuous deformation of Magnetorheological Elastomer (MRE) under magnetic flux. Apart from the analogue activation manner, this design also ensures a fast response time, operating at a time scale of tens of milliseconds, much shorter than the mechanical response time of most soft pneumatic actuators. Fourthly, to achieve onboard proportional control of multi-chamber soft robots, we developed an MRE valve array with an embedded cooling chamber. Physical experiments showed that our MRE valve array ensured the independence and accuracy of each valve unit within it, with a significantly lowered temperature of 73.9 $^o$C under 5 minutes of operation. Lastly, we developed an open-source software toolbox supporting the design of integrable pneumatic logic circuits to enhance their accessibility and performance. The toolbox comes with a graphical user interface (GUI) to take users' desired logic functions in the form of a truth table and a set of 2D space constraints related to the available space onboard the robot. It then schedules the pneumatic circuit which performs the desired computation within the space constraints and produces a 3D-printable CAD file that can be fabricated and used directly. The work presented in this thesis enables the community to simplify the process of integrating control devices into soft pneumatic robots, thereby paving the way for a new generation of fully untethered and autonomous soft robots

Biomechatronics: Harmonizing Mechatronic Systems with Human Beings

This eBook provides a comprehensive treatise on modern biomechatronic systems centred around human applications. A particular emphasis is given to exoskeleton designs for assistance and training with advanced interfaces in human-machine interaction. Some of these designs are validated with experimental results which the reader will find very informative as building-blocks for designing such systems. This eBook will be ideally suited to those researching in biomechatronic area with bio-feedback applications or those who are involved in high-end research on manmachine interfaces. This may also serve as a textbook for biomechatronic design at post-graduate level

Proceedings of the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015

This volume contains the full papers accepted for presentation at the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015 held in the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, on June 29 - July 2, 2015. The ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics is an international meeting held once every two years in a European country. Continuing the very successful series of past conferences that have been organized in Lisbon (2003), Madrid (2005), Milan (2007), Warsaw (2009), Brussels (2011) and Zagreb (2013); this edition will once again serve as a meeting point for the international researchers, scientists and experts from academia, research laboratories and industry working in the area of multibody dynamics. Applications are related to many fields of contemporary engineering, such as vehicle and railway systems, aeronautical and space vehicles, robotic manipulators, mechatronic and autonomous systems, smart structures, biomechanical systems and nanotechnologies. The topics of the conference include, but are not restricted to: ● Formulations and Numerical Methods ● Efficient Methods and Real-Time Applications ● Flexible Multibody Dynamics ● Contact Dynamics and Constraints ● Multiphysics and Coupled Problems ● Control and Optimization ● Software Development and Computer Technology ● Aerospace and Maritime Applications ● Biomechanics ● Railroad Vehicle Dynamics ● Road Vehicle Dynamics ● Robotics ● Benchmark ProblemsPostprint (published version

Multibody dynamics 2015

This volume contains the full papers accepted for presentation at the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics 2015 held in the Barcelona School of Industrial Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, on June 29 - July 2, 2015. The ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics is an international meeting held once every two years in a European country. Continuing the very successful series of past conferences that have been organized in Lisbon (2003), Madrid (2005), Milan (2007), Warsaw (2009), Brussels (2011) and Zagreb (2013); this edition will once again serve as a meeting point for the international researchers, scientists and experts from academia, research laboratories and industry working in the area of multibody dynamics. Applications are related to many fields of contemporary engineering, such as vehicle and railway systems, aeronautical and space vehicles, robotic manipulators, mechatronic and autonomous systems, smart structures, biomechanical systems and nanotechnologies. The topics of the conference include, but are not restricted to: Formulations and Numerical Methods, Efficient Methods and Real-Time Applications, Flexible Multibody Dynamics, Contact Dynamics and Constraints, Multiphysics and Coupled Problems, Control and Optimization, Software Development and Computer Technology, Aerospace and Maritime Applications, Biomechanics, Railroad Vehicle Dynamics, Road Vehicle Dynamics, Robotics, Benchmark Problems. The conference is organized by the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona. The organizers would like to thank the authors for submitting their contributions, the keynote lecturers for accepting the invitation and for the quality of their talks, the awards and scientific committees for their support to the organization of the conference, and finally the topic organizers for reviewing all extended abstracts and selecting the awards nominees.Postprint (published version

XLIII Jornadas de Automática: libro de actas: 7, 8 y 9 de septiembre de 2022, Logroño (La Rioja)

[Resumen] Las Jornadas de Automática (JA) son el evento más importante del Comité Español de Automática (CEA), entidad científico-técnica con más de cincuenta años de vida y destinada a la difusión e implantación de la Automática en la sociedad. Este año se celebra la cuadragésima tercera edición de las JA, que constituyen el punto de encuentro de la comunidad de Automática de nuestro país. La presente edición permitirá dar visibilidad a los nuevos retos y resultados del ámbito, y su uso en un gran número de aplicaciones, entre otras, las energías renovables, la bioingeniería o la robótica asistencial. Además de la componente científica, que se ve reflejada en este libro de actas, las JA son un punto de encuentro de las diferentes generaciones de profesores, investigadores y profesionales, incluyendo la componente social que es de vital importancia. Esta edición 2022 de las JA se celebra en Logroño, capital de La Rioja, región mundialmente conocida por la calidad de sus vinos de Denominación de Origen y que ha asumido el desafío de poder ganar competitividad a través de la transformación verde y digital. Pero también por ser la cuna del castellano e impulsar el Valle de la Lengua con la ayuda de las nuevas tecnologías, entre ellas la Automática Inteligente. Los organizadores de estas JA, pertenecientes al Área de Ingeniería de Sistemas y Automática del Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica de la Universidad de La Rioja (UR), constituyen un pilar fundamental en el apoyo a la región para el estudio, implementación y difusión de estos retos. Esta edición, la primera en formato íntegramente presencial después de la pandemia de la covid-19, cuenta con más de 200 asistentes y se celebra a caballo entre el Edificio Politécnico de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Industrial y el Monasterio de Yuso situado en San Millán de la Cogolla, dos marcos excepcionales para la realización de las JA. Como parte del programa científico, dos sesiones plenarias harán hincapié, respectivamente, sobre soluciones de control para afrontar los nuevos retos energéticos, y sobre la calidad de los datos para una inteligencia artificial (IA) imparcial y confiable. También, dos mesas redondas debatirán aplicaciones de la IA y la implantación de la tecnología digital en la actividad profesional. Adicionalmente, destacaremos dos clases magistrales alineadas con tecnología de última generación que serán impartidas por profesionales de la empresa. Las JA también van a albergar dos competiciones: CEABOT, con robots humanoides, y el Concurso de Ingeniería de Control, enfocado a UAVs. A todas estas actividades hay que añadir las reuniones de los grupos temáticos de CEA, las exhibiciones de pósteres con las comunicaciones presentadas a las JA y los expositores de las empresas. Por último, durante el evento se va a proceder a la entrega del “Premio Nacional de Automática” (edición 2022) y del “Premio CEA al Talento Femenino en Automática”, patrocinado por el Gobierno de La Rioja (en su primera edición), además de diversos galardones enmarcados dentro de las actividades de los grupos temáticos de CEA. Las actas de las XLIII Jornadas de Automática están formadas por un total de 143 comunicaciones, organizadas en torno a los nueve Grupos Temáticos y a las dos Líneas Estratégicas de CEA. Los trabajos seleccionados han sido sometidos a un proceso de revisión por pares