Robust fractional-order fast terminal sliding mode control with fixed-time reaching law for high-performance nanopositioning

Open Access via the Wiley Agreement ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work is supported by the China Scholarship Council under Grant No. 201908410107 and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51505133. The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Bio-Inspired Soft Artificial Muscles for Robotic and Healthcare Applications

Soft robotics and soft artificial muscles have emerged as prolific research areas and have gained substantial traction over the last two decades. There is a large paradigm shift of research interests in soft artificial muscles for robotic and medical applications due to their soft, flexible and compliant characteristics compared to rigid actuators. Soft artificial muscles provide safe human-machine interaction, thus promoting their implementation in medical fields such as wearable assistive devices, haptic devices, soft surgical instruments and cardiac compression devices. Depending on the structure and material composition, soft artificial muscles can be controlled with various excitation sources, including electricity, magnetic fields, temperature and pressure. Pressure-driven artificial muscles are among the most popular soft actuators due to their fast response, high exertion force and energy efficiency. Although significant progress has been made, challenges remain for a new type of artificial muscle that is easy to manufacture, flexible, multifunctional and has a high length-to-diameter ratio. Inspired by human muscles, this thesis proposes a soft, scalable, flexible, multifunctional, responsive, and high aspect ratio hydraulic filament artificial muscle (HFAM) for robotic and medical applications. The HFAM consists of a silicone tube inserted inside a coil spring, which expands longitudinally when receiving positive hydraulic pressure. This simple fabrication method enables low-cost and mass production of a wide range of product sizes and materials. This thesis investigates the characteristics of the proposed HFAM and two implementations, as a wearable soft robotic glove to aid in grasping objects, and as a smart surgical suture for perforation closure. Multiple HFAMs are also combined by twisting and braiding techniques to enhance their performance. In addition, smart textiles are created from HFAMs using traditional knitting and weaving techniques for shape-programmable structures, shape-morphing soft robots and smart compression devices for massage therapy. Finally, a proof-of-concept robotic cardiac compression device is developed by arranging HFAMs in a special configuration to assist in heart failure treatment. Overall this fundamental work contributes to the development of soft artificial muscle technologies and paves the way for future comprehensive studies to develop HFAMs for specific medical and robotic requirements

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