The design, hysteresis modeling and control of a novel SMA-fishing-line actuator

Fishing line can be combined with shape memory alloy (SMA) to form novel artificial muscle actuators which have low cost, are lightweight and soft. They can be applied in bionic, wearable and rehabilitation robots, and can reduce system weight and cost, increase power-to-weight ratio and offer safer physical human-robot interaction. However, these actuators possess several disadvantages, for example fishing line based actuators possess low strength and are complex to drive, and SMA possesses a low percentage contraction and has high hysteresis. This paper presents a novel artificial actuator (known as an SMA-fishing-line) made of fishing line and SMA twisted then coiled together, which can be driven directly by an electrical voltage. Its output force can reach 2.65N at 7.4V drive voltage, and the percentage contraction at 4V driven voltage with a 3N load is 7.53%. An antagonistic bionic joint driven by the novel SMA-fishing-line actuators is presented, and based on an extended unparallel Prandtl-Ishlinskii (EUPI) model, its hysteresis behavior is established, and the error ratio of the EUPI model is determined to be 6.3%. A Joule heat model of the SMA-fishing-line is also presented, and the maximum error of the established model is 0.510mm. Based on this accurate hysteresis model, a composite PID controller consisting of PID and an integral inverse (I-I) compensator is proposed and its performance is compared with a traditional PID controller through simulations and experimentation. These results show that the composite PID controller possesses higher control precision than basic PID, and is feasible for implementation in an SMA-fishing-line driven antagonistic bionic joint

Flexible shape memory alloy actuators for soft robotics: Modelling and control

One of the limitations in the development of really soft robotic devices is the development of soft actuators. In recent years, our research group has developed a new flexible shape memory alloy actuator that provides more freedom of movements and a better integration in wearable robots, especially in soft wearable robots. Shape memory alloy wires present characteristics such as force/weight ratio, low weight, and noiseless actuation, which make them an ideal choice in these types of applications. However, the control strategy must take into account its complex dynamics due to thermal phase transformation. Different control approaches based on complex non-linear models and other model-free control methods have been tested on real systems. Some exoskeleton prototypes have been developed, which demonstrate the utility of this actuator and the advantages offered by these flexible actuators to improve the comfort and adaptability of exoskeletons

Sinteza H-beskonačno regulatora s unaprijednom granom za kompenzaciju histereze kod piezoelektričnih aktuatora

Piezoelectric actuators, widely used in different micro/nanopositioning applications, generally exhibit nonlinear hysteresis characteristics. The compensation of hysteretic behavior of piezoelectric actuators is mandatory for precise micro/nanopositioning. In this paper, nonlinear hysteresis effect is first characterized using the Prandtl-Ishlinskii hysteresis model. The inverse of the Prandtl-Ishlinskii hysteresis model is employed as a feed-forward controller to compensate for hysteresis nonlinearities of the piezoelectric actuator. Slight hysteresis nonlinearity is still observed in the experimental results due to small mismatch between the identified hysteresis model and the measured hysteresis loop. To further enhance the performance of the piezoelectric actuator in terms of mitigation of hysteresis nonlinearity and precise reference tracking, advanced robust full-order as well as fixed-order H-infinity feedback controllers are designed and applied to this actuator in the presence of feed-forward compensator. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme in achieving the improved tracking performance with peak-to-peak tracking error of less than 1% for the desired displacement of 12 um with tracking frequency of 10 Hz.Piezoelektrični aktuatori, rasprostranjeni u različitim primjenama mikro/nanopozicioniranja, općenito su izloženi nelinearnim histereznim karakteristikama. Kompenzacija histereznog ponašanja piezoelektričnih aktuatora nužna je za precizno mikro/nanopozicioniranje. Inverzni Prandtl-Ishlinskii histerezni model korišten je za unaprijednu kompenzaciju histereznih nelinearnosti piezoelektričnog aktuatora. Neznatna histerezna nelinearnost još uvijek je vidljiva u eksperimentalnim rezultatima zbog malog neslaganja između identificiranog histereznog modela i mjerene histerezne petlje. Za daljnje poboljšanje performansi piezoelektričnog aktuatora u smislu smanjenja histerezne nelinearnosti i preciznog slijeđenja reference, napredni robusni H-beskonačno regulatori punog i određenog reda sintetizirani su i primijenjeni na ovaj aktuator uz prisutnost unaprijednog kompenzatora. Eksperimentalni rezultati potvrđuju efektivnost predložene upravljačke strukture u postizanju poboljšanih performansi slijeđenja, uz vršnu vrijednost pogreške manju od 1% za ciljani pomak od 12 um s frekvencijom slijeđenja od 10 Hz

Hammerstein model for hysteresis characteristics of pneumatic muscle actuators

As a kind of novel compliant actuators, pneumatic muscle actuators (PMAs) have been recently used in wearable devices for rehabilitation, industrial manufacturing and other fields due to their excellent actuation characteristics such as high power/weight ratio, safety and inherent compliance. However, the strong nonlinearity and asymmetrical hysteresis cause difficulties in the accurate control of robots actuated by PMAs. In this paper, a method for hysteresis modeling of PMA based on Hammerstein model is proposed, which introduces the BP neural network into the hysteretic system. In order to overcome the limitation of BP neural network’s single-valued mapping, an extended space input method is adapted while the Modified Prandtl–Ishlinskii model is applied to characterize the hysteretic phenomenon. A conventional PID control is implemented to track the trajectory of PMA with and without the feed-forward hysteresis compensation based on Hammerstein model, and experimental results validate the effectiveness of the designed model which has the advantages of high precision and easy identification

Topics in Machining with Industrial Robots and Optimal Control of Vehicles

Two main topics are considered in this thesis: Machining with industrial robots and optimal control of road-vehicles in critical maneuvers. The motivation for research on the first subject is the need for flexible and accurate production processes employing industrial robots as their main component. The challenge to overcome here is to achieve high-accuracy machining solutions, in spite of strong process forces affecting the robot end-effector. Because of the process forces, the nonlinear dynamics of the manipulator, such as the joint compliance and backlash, significantly degrade the achieved position accuracy of the machined part. In this thesis, a macro/micro manipulator configuration is considered to the purpose of increasing the position accuracy. In particular, a model-based control architecture is developed for control of the micro manipulator. The macro/micro manipulator configuration are validated by experimental results from milling tests in aluminium. The main result is that the proposed actuator configuration, combined with the control architecture proposed in this thesis, can be used for increasing the accuracy of industrial machining processes with robots. The interest for research on optimal control of road-vehicles in timecritical maneuvers is mainly driven by the desire to devise improved vehicle safety systems. Primarily, the solution of an optimal control problem for a specific cost function and model configuration can provide indication of performance limits as well as inspiration for control strategies in time-critical maneuvering situations. In this thesis, a methodology for solving this kind of problems is discussed. More specifically, vehicle and tire modeling and the optimization formulation required to get useful solutions to these problems are investigated. Simulation results are presented for different vehicle models, under varying road-surface conditions, in aggressive maneuvers, where in particular the tires are performing at their limits. The obtained results are evaluated and compared. The main conclusion here is that even simplified road-vehicle models are able to replicate behavior observed when experienced drivers are handling vehicles in time-critical maneuvers. Hence, it is plausible that the results presented in this thesis provide a basis for development of future optimization-based driver assistance technologies

Modelado y control de sistemas no lineales de tipo SMA

El control es una área de la ingeniería, que nació del deseo de automatizar sistemas complejos, sin ninguna intervención directa por parte del ser humano. Para ello, utilizando el principio de realimentación, se pretende conseguir que las variables de interés de un sistema se acerquen a un comportamiento deseado. Aunque la gran mayoría de las aplicaciones utilizan control lineal, hay ocasiones que se requieren de otras técnicas para conseguir resultados aceptables. Durante los últimos años se han descubierto y desarrollado los denominados materiales inteligentes, los cuales, presentan propiedades muy interesantes, pero por contra son difíciles de controlar mediante las técnicas clásicas. Aunque, muchos de ellos han limitado sus usos por esta complejidad, con las técnicas y potencia de cómputo actual, se vuelven muy atractivos. De este modo, y con la continua mejora en prestaciones y tamaño, muchos de ellos se convertirán en los referentes del futuro. El objetivo de la presente tesis doctoral es proponer soluciones a varios de los problemas de control en actuadores de tipo SMA. Debido a la elevada histéresis que presentan, se propone una metodología para su identificacióon, ajuste e implementación sobre el bucle de control, que sobre todo, mejore las técnicas convencionales de control lineal. Para ello, se muestran ensayos experimentales y comparativas entre diversos métodos de control, y se resuelve uno de los problemas más importantes de estos actuadores: la búusqueda de un estado inicial. Las contribuciones presentadas en esta tesis han sido probadas y optimizadas, para su funcionamiento sobre una plataforma de actuación en tiempo real. De este modo, se facilita su aplicacióon sobre futuros desarrollos y actuadores, abriendo un amplio abanico de posibilidades. -----------------------------------------------------------------One of the most challenging fields of engineering is system control, which was established with the aim of automating complex systems without human interaction. Thus, by means of the feedback theory, it is intended to modify the most critical system variables to the obtain the desired behavior. Event most of the applications are linear control-based, there exist some occasions where it becomes necessary to apply other approaches for obtaining reasonable results. During the last years, a new type of elements named intelligent materials have been discovered and developed. They yield very interesting properties although they are extremely difficult to control with classical techniques. Even they have a limited number of applications due to their complexity, the actual increase in computer power make them attractive. In such a way, the continuous improvement of their size and performance have converted these intelligent materials into a future reference. The aim of this dissertation is to suggest solutions to several problems controlling SMA actuators. Due to their high hysteresis, a novel methodology for their identification, adjustment and implementation in the control loop is presented improving the conventional linear methods. Thus, several experimental results and comparisons among several control methods are presented. Furthermore, the initial state search problem in the SMA actuator has been solved. The presented contributions of this thesis have been tested and fully optimized in order to be installed in a real time actuation platform. In such a way, a new field of applications and future works is established suggesting a wide range of new possibilities.Esta tesis ha sido financiada por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación del Gobierno de España, y está enmarcada dentro de proyecto HYPER CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 (ref. 2010/00154/001). Robotics Lab – Universidad Carlos III de Madri

An inverse Prandtl–Ishlinskii model based decoupling control methodology for a 3-DOF flexure-based mechanism

A modified Prandtl–Ishlinskii (P–I) hysteresis model is developed to form the feedforward controller for a 3-DOF flexure-based mechanism. To improve the control accuracy of the P–I hysteresis model, a hybrid structure that includes backlash operators, dead-zone operators and a cubic polynomial function is proposed. Both the rate-dependent hysteresis modeling and adaptive dead-zone thresholds selection method are investigated. System identification was used to obtain the parameters of the newly-developed hysteresis model. Closed-loop control was added to reduce the influence from external disturbances such as vibration and noise, leading to a combined feedforward/feedback control strategy. The cross-axis coupling motion of the 3-DOF flexure-based mechanism has been explored using the established controller. Accordingly, a decoupling feedforward/feedback controller is proposed and implemented to compensate the coupled motion of the moving platform. Experimental tests are reported to examine the tracking capability of the whole system and features of the controller. It is demonstrated that the proposed decoupling control methodology can distinctly reduce the coupling motion of the moving platform and thus improve the positioning accuracy and trajectory tracking capability

Design, Fabrication, Modeling and Control of Artificial Muscle Actuated Wrist Joint System

This research dissertation presents the design, fabrication, modeling and control of an artificial muscle (AM) actuated wrist joint system, i.e., a thermoelectric (TEM) antagonistically driven shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator, to mimic the muscle behavior of human beings. In the developed AM based wrist joint system, the SMA, exhibiting contraction and relaxation corresponding to its temperature, is utilized as the actuator in the AM. Similar to the nerve stimulation, TEM is introduced to provide heat stimulation to the SMA, which involves heating and cooling of the SMA. SMA possesses superelastic behavior that provides a large force over its weight and effective strain in practical applications. However, such superior material has been underutilized due to its high nonlinear hysteresis behavior, strongly affected by the loading stress. Using the data obtained from the experiments, based on the Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) model, a Stress-Dependent Generalized Prandtl-Ishlinskii (SD-GPI) model is proposed, which can describe the hysteresis behavior of the SMA under the influence of various stresses. The parameters of the SD-GPI models at various stresses are obtained using a fitting function from the Matlab. The simulation results of the SD-GPI showed that prediction error is achieved at mean values of ±2% and a standard deviation of less than 7%. Meanwhile, the TEM model is also developed based on the heat balance theory. The model parameters are identified via experimental data using Range-Kutta fourth order integration equation and Matlab curve fitting function. The TEM model has shown a satisfactory temperature prediction. Then, by combining the obtained two models, an integrated model is developed to describe the whole dynamics of the wrist joint system. To control the SMA actuated wrist system, the SD-GPI inverse hysteresis compensator is developed to mitigate the hysteresis effect. However, such a compensator shows errors in compensating the hysteresis effect. Therefore, the inverse hysteresis compensator error and the system tracking error are analyzed, and the adaptive back-stepping based control approach is adopted to develop the inverse based adaptive control for the antagonistic AM wrist joint. Subsequently, a corresponding control law is developed for the TEM system to generate the required temperature obtained from the adaptive controller. Simulations verified the developed approach. Finally, experiments are conducted to verify the proposed system. Input sinusoidal signal with frequency 0.1rad/s and amplitude of ±0.524rad (±30°) is applied to the wrist joint system. Experimental results verified that the TEMs antagonistically driven SMA actuators for artificial muscle resembling wrist joint has been successfully achieved