Force sensor of a climbing robot derived from its own flexible structure

One of the most important design constraints of a climbing robot is its own weight. When links or legs are used as a locomotion system they tend to be composed of special lightweight materials, or four-bars-linkage mechanisms are designed to reduce the weight with small rigidity looses. In these cases, flexibility appears and undesirable effects, such as dynamics vibrations, must be avoided at least when the robot moves at low speeds. The knowledge of the real tip position requires the computation of its compliance or stiffness matrix and the external forces applied to the structure. Gravitational forces can be estimated, but external tip forces need to be measured. This paper proposes a strain gauge system which achieves the following tasks: (i) measurement of the external tip forces, and (ii) estimation of the real tip position (including flexibility effects). The main advantages of the proposed system are: (a) the use of external force sensors is avoided, and (b) a substantial reduction of the robot weight is achieved in comparison with other external force measurement systems. The proposed method is applied to a real symmetric climbing robot and experimental results are presented

Adaptive Parameters for a Modified Comprehensive Learning Particle Swarm Optimizer

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a stochastic optimization method sensitive to parameter settings. The paper presents a modification on the comprehensive learning particle swarm optimizer (CLPSO), which is one of the best performing PSO algorithms. The proposed method introduces a self-adaptive mechanism that dynamically changes the values of key parameters including inertia weight and acceleration coefficient based on evolutionary information of individual particles and the swarm during the search. Numerical experiments demonstrate that our approach with adaptive parameters can provide comparable improvement in performance of solving global optimization problems

Dynamics-Based Stranded-Crowd Model for Evacuation in Building Bottlenecks

In high-density public buildings, it is difficult to evacuate. So in this paper, we propose a novel quantitative evacuation model to insure people’s safety and reduce the risk of crowding. We analyze the mechanism of arch-like clogging phenomena during evacuation and the influencing factors in emergency situations at bottleneck passages; then we design a model based on crowd dynamics and apply the model to a stadium example. The example is used to compare evacuation results of crowd density with different egress widths in stranded zones. The results show this model proposed can guide the safe and dangerous egress widths in performance design and can help evacuation routes to be selected and optimized

基于RBF神经网络补偿的一种绳牵引并联机器人支撑系统的力/位混合控制

为了保证用于风洞试验的绳牵引并联机器人支撑系统(Wire-Driven Parallel Robot Support System WDPRSS)的末端执行精度,设计了一种采用Hamilton-Jacobi Inequality(HJI)定理并基于RBF神经网络补偿的力/位混合控制。通过对WDPRSS的动力学建模分析,选择以位姿作为变量建立WDPRSS的整体动力学方程。将所设计的力/位混合控制代入到整体动力学方程中得误差闭环系统,对闭环系统进行稳定性分析,结果证明WDPRSS是趋于渐进稳定特性的。对八绳牵引的并联机器人支撑系统进行MATLAB/SIMULINK仿真实验,仿真结果表明所设计的力/位混合控制是正确有效的,满足控制精度要求,并将所设计的力/位混合控制与PD控制进行对比分析。最后,通过样机实验验证了所提控制方案的有效性。仿真实验和样机实验为在样机上进行技术实现提供了理论依据和实验基础

Investment Decision Support for Engineering Projects Based on Risk Correlation Analysis

Investment decisions are usually made on the basis of the subjective judgments of experts subjected to the information gap during the preliminary stages of a project. As a consequence, a series of errors in risk prediction and/or decision-making will be generated leading to out of control investment and project failure. In this paper, the variable fuzzy set theory and intelligent algorithms integrated with case-based reasoning are presented. The proposed algorithm manages the numerous fuzzy concepts and variable factors of a project and also sets up the decision-making process in accordance with past cases and experiences. Furthermore, it decreases the calculation difficulty and reduces the decision-making reaction time. Three types of risk correlations combined with different characteristics of engineering projects are summarized, and each of these correlations is expounded at the project investment decision-making stage. Quantitative and qualitative change theories of variable fuzzy sets are also addressed for investment risk warning. The approach presented in this paper enables the risk analysis in a simple and intuitive manner and realizes the integration of objective and subjective risk assessments within the decision-makers' risk expectation

Estrategias y tecnologías para la colaboración segura entre personas y robots en entornos industriales

383 p.En este trabajo se presentan diferentes contribuciones encaminadas a facilitar el desarrollo de soluciones robóticas colaborativas fáciles de usar, flexibles y seguras.Fáciles de usar mediante la utilización de tecnologías semánticas que permiten combinar dos mecanismos de interacción, los gestos y la voz, La contribución incluye, además, el desarrollo de la tecnología necesaria para el reconocimiento de gestos.La contribución en el campo de la seguridad se ha centrado en la definición de arquitecturas y estrategias de seguridad, así como en el desarrollo de tecnologías que permiten implementar el modo SSM: el seguimiento de personas y la monitorización de proximidad. Además se ha experimentado con potenciales usuarios de la robótica colaborativa para conocer el grado de aceptación de las diferentes tecnologías desarrolladas, tanto para la seguridad como para la interacción Finalmente se presentan las contribuciones encaminadas a dotar a los robots de capacidades de percepción que les doten de la flexibilidad necesaria para adaptarse a las condiciones cambiantes del entorno

Estrategias y tecnologías para la colaboración segura entre personas y robots en entornos industriales

383 p.En este trabajo se presentan diferentes contribuciones encaminadas a facilitar el desarrollo de soluciones robóticas colaborativas fáciles de usar, flexibles y seguras.Fáciles de usar mediante la utilización de tecnologías semánticas que permiten combinar dos mecanismos de interacción, los gestos y la voz, La contribución incluye, además, el desarrollo de la tecnología necesaria para el reconocimiento de gestos.La contribución en el campo de la seguridad se ha centrado en la definición de arquitecturas y estrategias de seguridad, así como en el desarrollo de tecnologías que permiten implementar el modo SSM: el seguimiento de personas y la monitorización de proximidad. Además se ha experimentado con potenciales usuarios de la robótica colaborativa para conocer el grado de aceptación de las diferentes tecnologías desarrolladas, tanto para la seguridad como para la interacción Finalmente se presentan las contribuciones encaminadas a dotar a los robots de capacidades de percepción que les doten de la flexibilidad necesaria para adaptarse a las condiciones cambiantes del entorno