Investigation of kinetic compensation effect in lignocellulosic biomass torrefaction: Kinetic and thermodynamic analyses

The kinetic compensation effect between the activation energy and the pre-exponential factor has extensively existed in the thermochemical conversion processes of lignocellulosic biomass. The research on the kinetic compensation effect in lignocellulosic biomass torrefaction has been insufficient yet. The torrefaction of the pinewood sample was experimentally investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) at five isothermal temperatures of 220, 250, 265, 280 and 295 °C. The reaction order model was used to analyze the isothermal torrefaction kinetics of lignocellulosic biomass, and the results showed that many sets of activation energy and pre-exponential factor could describe the experimental data at each temperature equally well and they excellently satisfied the kinetic compensation effect relationship. The linear regression lines of the kinetic compensation effect points at different temperatures intersected at one point, whose values corresponded to the obtained optimal kinetic parameters. A kinetic-compensation-effect-based method was developed and verified to determine the kinetic parameters of isothermal biomass torrefaction. Based on the optimal kinetic parameters, the thermodynamic parameters (including Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy) of biomass torrefaction processes at various temperatures were calculated and analyzed

Spatial Registration for a Three-Arm Robot Assisted Mandible Reconstruction Surgery

The three-arm surgical robot system assisted mandible reconstruction surgery (TMR-MRS) is developed to repair the mandible defects caused by congenital defect, trauma, or acquired disease. The surgical robot system is divided into four parts, including 3D reconstructed image subsystem, robotic subsystem, optical measurement subsystem, and patient subsystem. The spatial registration based on quaternion is proposed to obtain the transformation relationship between four surgical subsystems. A method of hand-eye coordination is presented to control the end-effector of the robot arm to target position according to surgical planning. A least square error criterion is developed to optimize and compensate the hand-eye coordination method. In addition, the position of fibular implant in the robot space is calculated when it is grasped by end-effector of robot middle arm. Finally, the positioning accuracy tests and skull model experiments were conducted to evaluate the function of the surgical robot system. The results validate its feasibility and are consistent with the preoperative surgical planning

A Robust Control via a Fuzzy System with PID for the ROV

Uncertainty and nonlinearity in the depth control of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) have been widely studied, especially in complex underwater environments. To improve the motion performance of ROVs and enhance their robustness, the model of ROV depth control in complex water environments was developed. The developed control scheme of interval type-2 fuzzy proportional–integral–derivative control (IT2FPID) is based on proportional–integral–derivative control (PID) and interval type-2 fuzzy logic control (IT2FLC). The performance indicators were used to evaluate the immunity of the controller type to external disturbances. The overshoot of 0.3% and settling time of 7.5 s of IT2FPID seem to be more robust compared to those of type-1 fuzzy proportional–integral–derivative (T1FPID) and PID

Control Strategy and Experiments for Robot Assisted Craniomaxillofacial Surgery System

Since the intricate anatomical structure of the craniomaxillofacial region and the limitation of surgical field and instrument, the current surgery is extremely of high risk and difficult to implement. The puncturing operations for biopsy, ablation, and brachytherapy have become vital method for disease diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, a craniomaxillofacial surgery robot system was developed to achieve accurate positioning of the puncture needle and automatic surgical operation. Master-salve control and “kinematic + optics” hybrid automatic motion control based on navigation system, which is proposed in order to improve the needle positioning accuracy, were implemented for different processes of the operation. In addition, the kinematic simulation, kinematic parameters identification, positioning accuracy experiment (0.56 ± 0.21 mm), and phantom experiments (1.42 ± 0.33 mm, 1.62 ± 0.26 mm, and 1.41 ± 0.30 mm for biopsy, radiofrequency, and brachytherapy of phantom experiments) were conducted to verify the feasibility of the hybrid automatic control method and evaluate the function of the surgical robot system

Improving the Force Display of Haptic Device Based on Gravity Compensation for Surgical Robotics

Haptic devices are applied as masters to provide force displays for telemedicinal robots. Gravity compensation has been proven to be crucial for the accuracy and capability of force displays, which are critical for haptic devices to assist operators. Therefore, the existing method suffers from an unsatisfactory effect, a complex implementation, and low efficiency. In this paper, an approach combining active and passive gravity compensation is proposed to improve the performance of a force display. The passive compensation is conducted by counterweights fixed with the moving platform and pantographs to offset most of the gravity and reduce the loads of the motors, while the peak capability of the force display is enhanced. The required weight is optimized by a multi-objective genetic algorithm in terms of the maximum torque of the motors in the global workspace. As a supplement, the residual gravity is eliminated by active compensation to extend the accuracy of the force display. The balancing forces in the discretized workspace are entirely calibrated, and the required force for the arbitrary configuration is calculated by interpolations. The decisions regarding the algorithm parameters are also discussed to achieve a compromise between the effect and elapsed time. Finally, the prototype with a compensation mechanism is implemented and experiments are carried out to verify the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the peak capability of the force display is enhanced by 45.43% and the maximum deviation is lowered to 0.6 N

A Medical Manipulator System with Lasers in Photodynamic Therapy of Port Wine Stains

Port wine stains (PWS) are a congenital malformation and dilation of the superficial dermal capillary. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with lasers is an effective treatment of PWS with good results. However, because the laser density is uneven and nonuniform, the treatment is carried out manually by a doctor thus providing little accuracy. Additionally, since the treatment of a single lesion can take between 30 and 60 minutes, the doctor can become fatigued after only a few applications. To assist the medical staff with this treatment method, a medical manipulator system (MMS) was built to operate the lasers. The manipulator holds the laser fiber and, using a combination of active and passive joints, the fiber can be operated automatically. In addition to the control input from the doctor over a human-computer interface, information from a binocular vision system is used to guide and supervise the operation. Clinical results are compared in nonparametric values between treatments with and without the use of the MMS. The MMS, which can significantly reduce the workload of doctors and improve the uniformity of laser irradiation, was safely and helpfully applied in PDT treatment of PWS with good therapeutic results

Improving the Force Display of Haptic Device Based on Gravity Compensation for Surgical Robotics

Haptic devices are applied as masters to provide force displays for telemedicinal robots. Gravity compensation has been proven to be crucial for the accuracy and capability of force displays, which are critical for haptic devices to assist operators. Therefore, the existing method suffers from an unsatisfactory effect, a complex implementation, and low efficiency. In this paper, an approach combining active and passive gravity compensation is proposed to improve the performance of a force display. The passive compensation is conducted by counterweights fixed with the moving platform and pantographs to offset most of the gravity and reduce the loads of the motors, while the peak capability of the force display is enhanced. The required weight is optimized by a multi-objective genetic algorithm in terms of the maximum torque of the motors in the global workspace. As a supplement, the residual gravity is eliminated by active compensation to extend the accuracy of the force display. The balancing forces in the discretized workspace are entirely calibrated, and the required force for the arbitrary configuration is calculated by interpolations. The decisions regarding the algorithm parameters are also discussed to achieve a compromise between the effect and elapsed time. Finally, the prototype with a compensation mechanism is implemented and experiments are carried out to verify the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the peak capability of the force display is enhanced by 45.43% and the maximum deviation is lowered to 0.6 N