What is an artificial muscle? A comparison of soft actuators to biological muscles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego R. Higueras-Ruiz ◽  
Kiisa Nishikawa ◽  
Heidi Feigenbaum ◽  
Michael Shafer
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Power Efficiency ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Energy Integration ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Soft Actuators ◽  
And Control

Abstract Interest in emulating the properties of biological muscles that allow for fast adaptability and control in unstructured environments has motivated researchers to develop new soft actuators, often referred to as ‘artificial muscles’. The field of soft robotics is evolving rapidly as new soft actuator designs are published every year. In parallel, recent studies have also provided new insights for understanding biological muscles as ‘active’ materials whose tunable properties allow them to adapt rapidly to external perturbations. This work presents a comparative study of biological muscles and soft actuators, focusing on those properties that make biological muscles highly adaptable systems. In doing so, we briefly review the latest soft actuation technologies, their actuation mechanisms, and advantages and disadvantages from an operational perspective. Next, we review the latest advances in understanding biological muscles. This presents insight into muscle architecture, the actuation mechanism, and modeling, but more importantly, it provides an understanding of the properties that contribute to adaptability and control. Finally, we conduct a comparative study of biological muscles and soft actuators. Here, we present the accomplishments of each soft actuation technology, the remaining challenges, and future directions. Additionally, this comparative study contributes to providing further insight on soft robotic terms, such as biomimetic actuators, artificial muscles, and conceptualizing a higher level of performance actuator named artificial supermuscle. In conclusion, while soft actuators often have performance metrics such as specific power, efficiency, response time, and others similar to those in muscles, significant challenges remain when finding suitable substitutes for biological muscles, in terms of other factors such as control strategies, onboard energy integration, and thermoregulation.

Analysis of emissions from various driving cycles based on real driving measurements obtained in a high-altitude city

2020 ◽  
Vol 234 (6) ◽  
pp. 1563-1571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Lyu ◽  
Xiaofeng Bao ◽  
Yunjing Wang ◽  
Ronald Matthews
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Real World ◽  
Vehicle Emissions ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Driving Cycle ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Test Cycle ◽  
Light Duty ◽  
And Control ◽  
Light Duty Vehicles

Vehicle emissions standards and regulations remain weak in high-altitude regions. In this study, vehicle emissions from both the New European Driving Cycle and the Worldwide harmonized Light-duty driving Test Cycle were analyzed by employing on-road test data collected from typical roads in a high-altitude city. On-road measurements were conducted on five light-duty vehicles using a portable emissions measurement system. The certification cycle parameters were synthesized from real-world driving data using the vehicle specific power methodology. The analysis revealed that under real-world driving conditions, all emissions were generally higher than the estimated values for both the New European Driving Cycle and Worldwide harmonized Light-duty driving Test Cycle. Concerning emissions standards, more CO, NOx, and hydrocarbons were emitted by China 3 vehicles than by China 4 vehicles, whereas the CO2 emissions exhibited interesting trends with vehicle displacement and emissions standards. These results have potential implications for policymakers in regard to vehicle emissions management and control strategies aimed at emissions reduction, fleet inspection, and maintenance programs.

scholarly journals Plant and Controller Optimization for Power and Energy Systems With Model Predictive Control

2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald J. Docimo ◽  
Ziliang Kang ◽  
Kai A. James ◽  
Andrew G. Alleyne
Keyword(s):  
Model Predictive Control ◽  
Predictive Control ◽  
Hybrid Electric Vehicle ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Thermal Dynamics ◽  
Plant Optimization ◽  
Power And Energy Systems ◽  
And Control

Abstract This article explores the optimization of plant characteristics and controller parameters for electrified mobility. Electrification of mobile transportation systems, such as automobiles and aircraft, presents the ability to improve key performance metrics such as efficiency and cost. However, the strong bidirectional coupling between electrical and thermal dynamics within new components creates integration challenges, increasing component degradation, and reducing performance. Diminishing these issues requires novel plant designs and control strategies. The electrified mobility literature provides prior studies on plant and controller optimization, known as control co-design (CCD). A void within these studies is the lack of model predictive control (MPC), recognized to manage multi-domain dynamics for electrified systems, within CCD frameworks. This article addresses this through three contributions. First, a thermo-electromechanical hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) powertrain model is developed that is suitable for both plant optimization and MPC. Second, simultaneous plant and controller optimization is performed for this multi-domain system. Third, MPC is integrated within a CCD framework using the candidate HEV powertrain model. Results indicate that optimizing both the plant and MPC parameters simultaneously can reduce physical component sizes by over 60% and key performance metric errors by over 50%.

scholarly journals Infectious Bronchitis Virus Evolution, Diagnosis and Control

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Legnardi ◽  
Claudia Maria Tucciarone ◽  
Giovanni Franzo ◽  
Mattia Cecchinato
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Bronchitis Virus ◽  
Immune Escape ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Recombination Rates ◽  
Infectious Bronchitis ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
And Control

RNA viruses are characterized by high mutation and recombination rates, which allow a rapid adaptation to new environments. Most of the emerging diseases and host jumps are therefore sustained by these viruses. Rapid evolution may also hinder the understanding of molecular epidemiology, affect the sensitivity of diagnostic assays, limit the vaccine efficacy and favor episodes of immune escape, thus significantly complicating the control of even well-known pathogens. The history of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) fits well with the above-mentioned scenario. Despite being known since the 1930s, it still represents one of the main causes of disease and economic losses for the poultry industry. A plethora of strategies have been developed and applied over time, with variable success, to limit its impact. However, they have rarely been evaluated objectively and on an adequate scale. Therefore, the actual advantages and disadvantages of IBV detection and control strategies, as well as their implementation, still largely depend on individual sensibility. The present manuscript aims to review the main features of IBV biology and evolution, focusing on their relevance and potential applications in terms of diagnosis and control.

scholarly journals Robust Control Examples Applied to a Wind Turbine Simulated Model

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvio Simani ◽  
Paolo Castaldi
Keyword(s):  
Robust Control ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Measurement Errors ◽  
Performance Metrics ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Turbine Plant ◽  
Stochastic Inputs ◽  
And Control ◽  
Simulated Wind ◽  
Proper Performance

Wind turbine plants are complex dynamic and uncertain processes driven by stochastic inputs and disturbances, as well as different loads represented by gyroscopic, centrifugal, and gravitational forces. Moreover, as their aerodynamic models are nonlinear, both modelling and control become challenging problems. On one hand, high-fidelity simulators should contain different parameters and variables in order to accurately describe the main dynamic system behaviour. Therefore, the development of modelling and control for wind turbine systems should consider these complexity aspects. On the other hand, these control solutions have to include the main wind turbine dynamic characteristics without becoming too complicated. The main point of this paper is thus to provide two practical examples of development of robust control strategies when applied to a simulated wind turbine plant. Experiments with the wind turbine simulator and the Monte–Carlo tools represent the instruments for assessing the robustness and reliability aspects of the developed control methodologies when the model-reality mismatch and measurement errors are also considered. Advantages and drawbacks of these regulation methods are also highlighted with respect to different control strategies via proper performance metrics.

Effective infection prevention and control strategies in a large accredited psychiatric facility in Singapore

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Poremski ◽  
Sandra Henrietta Subner ◽  
Grace Lam Fong Kin ◽  
Raveen Dev Ram Dev ◽  
Mok Yee Ming ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Psychiatric Facility ◽  
Essential Services ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
And Control

The Institute of Mental Health in Singapore continues to attempt to prevent the introduction of COVID-19, despite community transmission. Essential services are maintained and quarantine measures are currently unnecessary. To help similar organizations, strategies are listed along three themes: sustaining essential services, preventing infection, and managing human and consumable resources.

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