1,759 research outputs found
Nonlinear position and stiffness Backstepping controller for a two Degrees of Freedom pneumatic robot
This paper presents an architecture of a 2 Degrees of Freedom pneumatic robot which can be used as a haptic interface. To improve the haptic rendering of this device, a nonlinear position and stiffness controller without force measurement based on a Backstepping synthesis is presented. Thus, the robot can follow a targeted trajectory in Cartesian position with a variable compliant behavior when disturbance forces are applied. An appropriate tuning methodology of the closed-loop stiffness and closed-loop damping of the robot is given to obtain a desired disturbance response. The models, the synthesis and the stability analysis of this controller are described in this paper. Two models are presented in this paper, the first one is an accurate simulation model which describes the mechanical behavior of the robot, the thermodynamics phenomena in the pneumatic actuators, and the servovalves characteristics. The second model is the model used to synthesize the controller. This control model is obtained by simplifying the simulation model to obtain a MIMO strict feedback form. Finally, some simulation and experimental results are given and the controller performances are discussed and compared with a classical linear impedance controller
Pneumatic motion control systems for modular robots
This thesis describes a research study in the design,
implementation, evaluation and commercialisation of
pneumatic motion control systems for modular robots. The
research programme was conducted as part of a collaborative
study, sponsored by the Science and Engineering Research
Council, between Loughborough University and Martonair (UK)
Limited.
Microprocessor based motion control strategies have been
used to produce low cost pneumatic servo-drives which can be
used for 'point-to-point' positioning of payloads. Software
based realtime control strategies have evolved which
accomplish servo-controlled positioning while compensating
for drive system non-linearities and time delays. The
application of novel compensation techniques has resulted in
a significant improvement in both the static and dynamic
performance of the drive.
A theoretical foundation is presented based on a
linearised model of a pneumatic actuator, servo-valve, and
load system. The thesis describes the design and evolution
of microprocessor based hardware and software for motion
control of pneumatic drives. A British Standards based
test-facility has allowed control strategies to be evaluated
with reference to standard performance criteria.
It is demonstrated in this research study that the dynamic
and static performance characteristics of a pneumatic motion
control system can be dramatically improved by applying
appropriate software based realtime control strategies. This
makes the application of computer controlled pneumatic
servos in manufacturing very attractive with cost
performance ratios which match or better alternative drive
technologies.
The research study has led to commercial products
(marketed by Martonair Ltd), in which realtime control
algorithms implementing these control strategy designs are
executed within a microprocessor based motion controller
A Review of Pneumatic Actuators Used for the Design of Medical Simulators and Medical Tools
International audienc
A bistable soft gripper with mechanically embedded sensing and actuation for fast closed-loop grasping
Soft robotic grippers are shown to be high effective for grasping
unstructured objects with simple sensing and control strategies. However, they
are still limited by their speed, sensing capabilities and actuation mechanism.
Hence, their usage have been restricted in highly dynamic grasping tasks. This
paper presents a soft robotic gripper with tunable bistable properties for
sensor-less dynamic grasping. The bistable mechanism allows us to store
arbitrarily large strain energy in the soft system which is then released upon
contact. The mechanism also provides flexibility on the type of actuation
mechanism as the grasping and sensing phase is completely passive. Theoretical
background behind the mechanism is presented with finite element analysis to
provide insights into design parameters. Finally, we experimentally demonstrate
sensor-less dynamic grasping of an unknown object within 0.02 seconds,
including the time to sense and actuate
High Fidelity Dynamic Modeling and Nonlinear Control of Fluidic Artificial Muscles
A fluidic artificial muscle is a type of soft actuator. Soft actuators transmit power with elastic or hyper-elastic bladders that are deformed with a pressurized fluid. In a fluidic artificial muscle a rubber tube is encompassed by a helical fiber braid with caps on both ends. One of the end caps has an orifice, allowing the control of fluid flow in and out of the device. As the actuator is pressurized, the rubber tube expands radially and is constrained by the helical fiber braid. This constraint results in a contractile motion similar to that of biological muscles. Although artificial muscles have been extensively studied, physics-based models do not exist that predict theirmotion.This dissertation presents a new comprehensive lumped-parameter dynamic model for both pneumatic and hydraulic artificial muscles. It includes a tube stiffness model derived from the theory of large deformations, thin wall pressure vessel theory, and a classical artificial muscle force model. Furthermore, it incorporates models for the kinetic friction and braid deformation. The new comprehensive dynamic model is able to accurately predict the displacement of artificial muscles as a function of pressure. On average, the model can predict the quasi-static position of the artificial muscles within 5% error and the dynamic displacement within 10% error with respect to the maximum stroke. Results show the potential utility of the model in mechanical system design and control design. Applications include wearable robots, mobile robots, and systems requiring compact, powerful actuation.The new model was used to derive sliding mode position and impedance control laws. The accuracy of the controllers ranged from ± 6 µm to ± 50 µm, with respect to a 32 mm and 24 mm stroke artificial muscles, respectively. Tracking errors were reduced by 59% or more when using the high-fidelity model sliding mode controller compared to classical methods. The newmodel redefines the state-of-the-art in controller performance for fluidic artificial muscles
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