Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 182, July 1978

This bibliography lists 165 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in June 1978

Vision Based Robotic Grasping Tracking of a Moving Object

Real-time vision allows the direct steering of a robotic manipulator. In this thesis we use a stereo rig mounted on an industrial robot (ABB IRB-6/2) which gives us information about the end effector position of a second robot (ABB IRB-2000/3). This second robotic manipulator performs the task of tracking a moving object, which in our case is a rolling ball. The first concern of this project is to deal with the different kinds of problems occurring in such a system. After measuring the time-delays in our system we can establish the degree in which they effect it. We can then use these results for the actual control loop. More specifically a Kalman predictor scheme is implemented to produce estimates of coordinates for requested times, based on the time delay analysis. This Kalman predictor also helps us when we have lost track of either the robotic manipulator or the rolling ball. Finally we perform the actual experiment of tracking the rolling ball. The experimental setup consists of the two robots and the stereo rig mentioned above, as well as a metallic ball rolling on a metallic board. The IRB-6 is mounted with the stereo rig and is set in a pre-decided position to be able to observe the movement of the rolling ball throughout the whole of its course. The other robotic manipulator performs the task of tracking the rolling ball, using as feedback the data received from the stereo rig.</p

A Comparison between Two Force-Position Controllers with Gravity Compensation Simulated on a Humanoid Arm

The authors propose a comparison between two force-position controllers with gravity compensation simulated on the DEXTER bioinspired robotic arm. The two controllers are both constituted by an internal proportional-derivative (PD) closed-loop for the position control. The force control of the two systems is composed of an external proportional (P) closed-loop for one system (P system) and an external proportional-integrative (PI) closed-loop for the other system (PI system). The simulation tests performed with the two systems on a planar representation of the DEXTER, an eight-DOF bioinspired arm, showed that by varying the stiffness of the environment, with a correct setting of parameters, both systems ensure the achievement of the desired force regime and with great precision the desired position. The two controllers do not have large differences in performance when interacting with a lower stiffness environment. In case of an environment with greater rigidity, the PI system is more stable. The subsequent implementation of these control systems on the DEXTER robotic bioinspired arm gives guidance on the design and control optimisation of the arms of the humanoid robot named SABIAN

Dynamic Analysis and Control of Redundant Manipulator for Agricultural Applications in a Virtual Environment

In the development of automated manipulators for fruit and vegetable picking technologies, the challenge of ensuring an efficient, stable, and loss-free picking process has been a complex problem. In such an environment, manipulators require the most efficient and robust control for effective operations. In this paper, a serial 9-DOF redundant manipulator (1P8R) is proposed with various controllers for trajectory tracking problems in agricultural applications. The dynamic analysis of redundant manipulator has been carried out using the Recursive Newton-Euler method. The joint configurations of the robot are determined using optimization techniques for specific Task Space Locations (TSLs) by avoiding obstacles. The process of generating joint trajectories has been implemented by considering the cubic polynomial function. For the task of controlling the robot trajectory tracking in the virtual agricultural environment, different combinations of Proportional (P), Integrative (I), Derivative (D), and Feed-Forward (FF) controllers are employed, and a comparative analysis has been performed among these controllers. To verify the performance of the manipulator, simulations are carried out in a virtual environment using Simulink software. Results show that the robot is able to reach specific TSL accurately with better control and it is found that the implementation of Feed-Forward and PID-CTC controllers has better performance in a complex environment

Coupled and decoupled force/motion controllers for an underwater vehicle-manipulator system

Autonomous interaction with the underwater environment has increased the interest of scientists in the study of control structures for lightweight underwater vehicle-manipulator systems. This paper presents an essential comparison between two different strategies of designing control laws for a lightweight underwater vehicle-manipulator system. The first strategy aims to separately control the vehicle and the manipulator and hereafter is referred to as the decoupled approach. The second method, the coupled approach, proposes to control the system at the operational space level, treating the lightweight underwater vehicle-manipulator system as a single system. Both strategies use a parallel position/force control structure with sliding mode controllers and incorporate the mathematical model of the system. It is demonstrated that both methods are able to handle this highly non-linear system and compensate for the coupling effects between the vehicle and the manipulator. The results demonstrate the validity of the two different control strategies when the goal is located at various positions, as well as the reliable behaviour of the system when different environment stiffnesses are considered

Sensory substitution for space gloves and for space robots

Sensory substitution systems for space applications are described. Physical sensors replace missing human receptors and feed information to the interpretive centers of a different sense. The brain is plastic enough so that, with training, the subject localizes the input as if it were received through the missing receptors. Astronauts have difficulty feeling objects through space suit gloves because of their thickness and because of the 4.3 psi pressure difference. Miniature force sensors on the glove palm drive an electrotactile belt around the waist, thus augmenting the missing tactile sensation. A proposed teleoperator system with telepresence for a space robot would incorporate teleproprioception and a force sensor/electrotactile belt sensory substitution system for teletouch

Research on dynamic performance and motion control of robot manipulator

Amongst the robotics and autonomous systems, robot manipulators have proven themselves to be of increasing importance and are widely adopted to substitute for human in repetitive and/or hazardous tasks. In this paper, the purpose is to research on dynamic performance and motion control of robot manipulator for the more precise, crucial and critical tasks in industry. Firstly, the forward and inverse kinematics was accurately described by obtaining the link transformation matrices from each joint in robot manipulator. To find admissible solutions along the path, the workspace of the manipulator was determined by joint limit condition and validated by actual measurement. And then, the dynamic performance of robot manipulator is researched by using the forming flexible multi-body system. Furthermore, the frequency response curves are obtained by exciting vibration simulation based on vibration model, which the predicted method was validated by comparing simulation and experimental results. Finally, the control system architecture was given and the grasping process was conducted by gripper based on motion trajectory control in the workspace