Active tremor control in 4-DOFs biodynamic hand model

This paper exhibits the performance of the active vibration method in suppressing human hand tremor. The Active Force Control (AFC) and classic Proportional-Derivative (PD) controller are proposed to control the linear electromagnet actuator and applied onto a four Degree-of-Freedoms (4-DOFs) biodynamic model of the human hand to investigate the performance of the controller. The PD controller was designed by using heuristic and optimization method. The Signal Constraint block available in Simulink Response Optimization Toolbox was employed as an optimization technique. Compared to the heuristic method, this proves to be a far more time and energy efficient approach to obtain satisfactory results. Findings show that the combination of AFC and classic PD controller provides a significant improvement in reducing tremor error. The simulation work could be used as the initial stage to study and develop an anti tremor device

Experimental implementation of smart glove incorporating piezoelectric actuator for hand tremor Control

This paper examines the effectiveness of a glove specifically designed to compensate human hand tremor by incorporating a type of piezoelectric actuator. In this paper, the experimental results are divided into two parts involving actual human hand tremor and model hand-arm tremor. Both experiments were done using same measurement equipments, experimental setup and programming to evaluate the effectiveness of the glove in reducing the hand tremor. The initial experiment was done by measuring human hand tremor to determine the coherence frequency while other was performed on a hand-arm model with artificial vibration exciter to validate the response of the actual hand tremor. A number of selected sample frequencies were chosen for the experiment. Next, a piezoelectric actuator was employed as the main active element for the compensation of the tremors in both systems. The results presented both in time and frequency domains show that most tremors are readily suppressed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed systems. They are considered as useful data that can be used for further investigation into the technique of effective human hand tremor suppression, particularly applicable to patients suffering from uncontrollable shaking or trembling such as in Parkinson's disease, white hand syndrome, etc. Subsequently, the output of this investigation can be also used to assist in developing advanced control strategies that involve the generation of controlled signals as the input for the piezoelectric actuator or other similar device to suppress the hand tremor. The presented system is notable for simplicity and low cost

Modeling and simulation of acting force on a flexible automotive wiper

A vehicle wiper system has a potential to generate noise and vibration during its operation. These unwanted dynamics provide poor visibility to drivers and passengers especially during raining condition. It can also bring annoy to them while the wiper continuously sweeping the windscreen. This paper focuses on the development of a simulation model for a wiper system based on the mathematical expression using the Newtonian method. The model is compared with the previous model based on a numerical method to verify the developed analytical approach. A parametric analysis is then conducted to examine behavior of the dynamic system when the parameters are varying. Two acting forces of different speed levels to run the wiper blade are applied to the model and the levels of noise and vibration for the model are compared both in time and frequency domain

User friendly system for the visually impaired in learning Al-Quran

This study presents a method to enable the visually impaired Muslim to learn and read the Al-Quran using Braille Display with software help. The system reads the database which contains all verses of Al-Quran and user will need to select the verse and ayah to read. Besides that, this system can be used in a class to teach visually impaired students to learn Al-Quran. Every word or character typed by the instructor in the main Braille Panel will be transmitted to the sub Braille Panel that is connected to the main Braille Panel. The selected verse of Al-Quran and ayah will also generate an index before being transmitted to the Braille Panel. The index will be transmitted to the Braille Display for people to touch and read the display. A user friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) will be used to fulfill the ergonomics for the visually impaired user's physical capabilities. Several approaches are used to design and implement the interface for the visually impaired like speech or sound output and Braille display. The Braille codes can be displayed using the Braille panel. The design interface and structure of the system for the visually impaired users in learning Al-Quran is presented

The development of cutlery tool to reduce parkinson movement

The typical feeding skills are considered to be eating from a spoonful, and imbibition from a cup and simple activities are difficult for Parkinson's patients. The present study investigates the development of this acquirement in Parkinson's patients of feeding spoon thought out improves on the concept design of feeding spoon, where it can be helpful for patients. In return this can help to improve the future work in designing and fabrication for any instrument to control tremor trembling allowing the patient to practice their delay rotten. Feeding spoon device can provide accurate and diagnostically relevant information about postural tremor. Its portability and ease of use could help translate such techniques into routine clinic use or to the community. With this study it is shown that 70% of improvement in skill assistance spoon feeding compared with ordinary spoon. It is apparent that the developed model can improve the feeding process and make it easier on the patient

TREMORX: An assistive device to improve tremor patient writing capability

Patients with hand tremor often face difficulties in performing daily tasks using their hands, especially writing. Hence, this paper presents an inventive assistive device named as TREMORX that can assist patients in overcoming this situation by improving their handwriting legibility. TREMORX is designed to suit the patient’s handgrip and focuses more on the patient's comfort. The aim is to analyze the performance of the device based on acceleration data by implementing the power spectral density (PSD), which is focused on reduction of coherence amplitude, and displaying the signal in the time and frequency domains. The measured acceleration data are further analyzed with Matlab simulation and show a significant response. The TREMORX is designed in three different lengths of diameter and the stiffness of each one is measured. The effectiveness of the device is identified using the force sensitive resistor (FSR) to measure the force and flex sensor, as to determine the deflection. The results indicate that the patients experienced improvements in handwriting quality when using TREMOR

Suppression of Parkinson's hand-like tremor using fuzzy-PID controller

This paper presents the performance evaluation of an active vibration technique in suppressing human hand tremor. A PID integrated with fuzzy logic controller is proposed to control a linear electromagnet actuator and then applied onto a four Degree-of-Freedoms (DOFs) biodynamic model which emulate a Parkinson Disease (PD) hand. Heuristic method is employed in searching for appropriate parameters values for the proposed controller. Then, a comparative study between the performances of Fuzzy-PID controller and conventional PID controller tuned using Ziegler-Nichols method is done. The simulation study results demonstrates a comparable performance between Fuzzy-PID controller and conventional PID controller. Fuzzy-PID controller was effectively attenuated about 96.77% of initial tremor magnitude while for the PID controller is about 89.37%

Semi-active suspension control for formula SAE car using magneto-rheological fluid

The Magneto-rheological (MR) fluid damper is prevalent in the field of semi-active suspension whose viscosity changes by the change of magnetic field passing through the damping fluid. In this study, a semi-active suspension quarter car model is employed as a plant. The Bingham model of MRF damper is exploited with PID and Fuzzy + PID controllers. The current is controlled by the controllers according to the quarter car chassis disturbance. The step road profile is used as an input disturbance to the suspension system. The displacement of sprung mass is analyzed in terms of time and frequency domain. The maximum power spectral density of acceleration for step response with Fuzzy + PID is reduced by 87.28 % as compared to passive suspension whereas PID reduced only 79.95 %. This indicates that the MRF damper with right tuned Fuzzy + PID controller provide a safer ride compared to PID controller and passive suspension

Tremor suppression for 4-DOFs biodynamic hand model using genetic algorithm

A person who has severe hand tremor will have difficulty in doing specific tasks such as eating, combing or holding any objects. Currently, there is no medication that can cure the tremor. Thus, this study proposes the active tremor control, in which an intelligent controller is applied to suppress the hand tremor. The main objective is to optimise the proportional-integral (PI) controller using genetic algorithm (GA). A linear voice coil actuator (LVCA) is applied onto a four degree of freedom (4-DOF) human hand model represented in state space. The findings of the study demonstrate that the PI controller optimised by GA gives excellent performance in reducing the tremor error. Based on the frequency evaluation, the PI controller performance was roughly around 84% in reducing the peak of simulated hand tremor. The outcomes provide an important contribution towards achieving novel methods in suppressing hand tremor model by means of intelligent control

CFD analysis on propeller at varying propeller disc angle and advance ratio

The purpose of this study is to see the feasibility of using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis over wind tunnel testing for propeller performance measurement. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis is conducted on APC 6X4E propeller and 9X6E propeller at propeller disc angle, α of 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° using commercially available software ANSYS FLUENT at advance ratio ranging from 0 to 0.88 and angular velocity ranging from 1000rpm to 8000rpm. CFD analysis was also performed for different advance ratio at different rotational speed of 4000rpm and 8000rpm. Multiple Reference Frame model is used to simulate the rotating propeller in a flowing airstream by constructing a rotating and static domain around the propeller. The non-zero propeller disc angle is achieved by changing the inlet direction of the static domain. The SST k-ω turbulence model is used, and tetrahedral mesh is constructed. The propeller thrust and torque obtained from the CFD simulation is used to calculate the aerodynamic characteristics of the propellers. The thrust coefficient, torque coefficient and propeller efficiency obtained for both propellers follow the trend of the wind tunnel testing. The results obtained from the CFD simulation matches with the results trend obtained by another researcher performing wind tunnel analysis, where the thrust coefficient decreases with increasing advance ratio at propeller disc angle less than 60° and increases with increasing advance ratio at propeller disc angle more than 70°. The error produce for thrust estimation is lower than 12% for both 6x4E and 9x6E propellers. The error for torque and efficiency estimation is between 15-30% and 12% respectively. In conclusion, CFD simulation can predict the aerodynamic characteristics of Low Reynolds Number propeller at different propeller disc angle