Corrugated Diaphragm Actuator for Soft Robotic Applications

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Veysel Erel ◽  
Alexandra Lindsay ◽  
Inderjeet Singh ◽  
Muthu Wijesundara

Abstract Soft robotics is projected to have a significant impact on healthcare, industry, and the military to deliver assistance in rehabilitation, daily living activities, repetitive motion tasks, and human performance augmentation. Many attempts have been made for application-specific robotic joints, robots, and exoskeletons using various actuator types, materials, and designs. The progress of creating soft robotic systems can be accelerated if a set of actuators with defined characteristics were developed, similar to conventional robotic actuators, which can be assembled to create desired systems including exoskeletons and end effectors. This work presents the design methodology of such a modular actuator, created with a novel corrugated diaphragm that can apply linear displacement, angular displacement, and force. This modular actuator approach allows for creating various robotic joints by arranging them into different configurations. The modular corrugated diaphragm actuator concept was validated through numerical simulation, fabrication, and testing. Linear displacement, angular displacement, and force characteristics were shown for a single module and in multi-module assemblies. Actuator assemblies that are configured in a serial and parallel manner were investigated to demonstrate the applicability and versatility of the concept of the modular corrugated diaphragm actuator for creating single and multi-DOF joints.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veysel Erel ◽  
Alexandra R. Lindsay ◽  
Inderjeet Singh ◽  
Muthu B. J. Wijesundara

Abstract Soft robotics is projected to have a significant impact on healthcare, industry, and the military to deliver assistance in rehabilitation, daily living activities, repetitive motion tasks, and human performance augmentation. Many attempts have been made for application-specific robotic joints, robots, and exoskeletons using various actuator types, materials, and designs. The progress of creating soft robotic systems can be accelerated if a set of actuators with defined characteristics were developed, similar to conventional robotic actuators, which can be assembled to create desired systems including exoskeletons and end effectors. This work presents such an attempt by designing a modular corrugated diaphragm actuator that can apply linear displacement, force, and bending motion. This modular actuator approach allows for creating various robotic joints by arranging them into different configurations. Numerical simulation, fabrication, and testing were carried out to evaluate the displacement, force, and bending characteristics of the corrugated diaphragm actuator as a single unit and in multi-unit arrays to understand their applicability for different scenarios. Actuator arrays that are configured in a serial and parallel manner were investigated. The results will be presented in terms of using this modular actuator concept to create single and multi-DOF joints, which will demonstrate the versatility of this modular actuator approach.


Author(s):  
Mihailo P Lazarević ◽  
Petar D Mandić ◽  
Srđan Ostojić

Recently, calculus of general order [Formula: see text] has attracted attention in scientific literature, where fractional operators are often used for control issues and the modeling of the dynamics of complex systems. In this work, some attention will be devoted to the problem of viscous friction in robotic joints. The calculus of general order and the calculus of variations are utilized for the modeling of viscous friction which is extended to the fractional derivative of the angular displacement. In addition, to solve the output tracking problem of a robotic manipulator with three DOFs with revolute joints in the presence of model uncertainties, robust advanced iterative learning control (AILC) is introduced. First, a feedback linearization procedure of a nonlinear robotic system is applied. Then, the proposed intelligent feedforward-feedback AILC algorithm is introduced. The convergence of the proposed AILC scheme is established in the time domain in detail. Finally, simulations on the given robotic arm system confirm the effectiveness of the robust AILC method.


Head Strong ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 78-98
Author(s):  
Michael D. Matthews

Budgetary constraints and emerging advances in weapons technology have resulted in a substantial reduction in the sizes of contemporary military forces. The US Army, at less than 500,000 soldiers, is a fraction of its size of a generation ago, yet the demands for it to deploy in a variety of missions around the globe have only increased. This chapter reviews current and emerging strategies that may aid in optimizing soldier performance. Developments in human physiology, genetics, nutrition, neurotechnology, sleep, noncognitive amplifiers, and leader development are described. Currently available strategies are identified, as are approaches to human performance optimization that are likely to emerge in the near future. Extrapolations of human performance optimization protocols to other contexts beyond the military are considered.


Author(s):  
Timothy P. Hanratty ◽  
E. Allison Newcomb ◽  
Robert J. Hammell II ◽  
John T. Richardson ◽  
Mark R. Mittrick

Data for military intelligence operations are increasing at astronomical rates. As a result, significant cognitive and temporal resources are required to determine which information is relevant to a particular situation. Soft computing techniques, such as fuzzy logic, have recently been applied toward decision support systems to support military intelligence analysts in selecting relevant and reliable data within the military decision making process. This article examines the development of one such system and its evaluation using a constructive simulation and human performance model to provided critical understanding of how this conceptual information system might interact with personnel, organizational, and system architectures. In addition, similarities between military intelligence analysts and cyber intelligence analysts are detailed along with a plan for transitioning the current fuzzy-based system to the cyber security domain.


Author(s):  
David Vetturi ◽  
Matteo Lancini ◽  
Ileana Bodini

Often a designer has the problem to apply a suitable system of geometrical and dimensional tolerances to an assembly. The right solution is not unique, in fact it depends on the chosen parameters. If the tolerances have to be optimized, some important parameters have to be taken into account, e.g. the efficiency of each prescription, or if this last is reachable, or it can be verified and how much the realization costs. The authors opinion is that a statistical approach based on the Monte Carlo Method is very useful when the tolerances chains are complex. This paper shows an application of this method in order to verify the functional alignment between two assemblies and a critical analysis of the uncertainty in phase both of the component design and test. This study has been developed thanks to the strict requirements imposed by ESA (European Space Agency) on the components that Thales Alenia Space has to realize within the LISA Pathfinder experiment. The very critical aspect of this work is to reciprocally align two cylindrical elements of two different assemblies. The specifications require 100 μm as maximum linear displacement and 300 μrad as maximum angular displacement. Moreover this prescriptions have to be verified also when the two elements are independently moving. To be able to reach such strict accuracy level the components have been assembled in an ISO 100 class cleanroom and the work space was a 3D Coordinate-Measuring Machine (CMM). The cylindrical elements have a 10 mm diameter, so the value of the measurement uncertainty associated with the alignment check is fundamental. Starting from the different uncertainty sources, the measurability and verifiability of the alignment have been considered and evaluated. The overall uncertainty has been assessed by numerical simulations which have taken into account the dimensional, geometrical and form tolerances as well as the instrumental uncertainty of the 3D CMM. This estimation has been positively validated by a session of repeated measurements. Numerical simulations have also allowed performing a sensitivity analysis, in order to give information about which sources more contribute to the overall uncertainty.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 729-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Grace ◽  
John Salvatier ◽  
Allan Dafoe ◽  
Baobao Zhang ◽  
Owain Evans

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will transform modern life by reshaping transportation, health, science, finance, and the military. To adapt public policy, we need to better anticipate these advances. Here we report the results from a large survey of machine learning researchers on their beliefs about progress in AI. Researchers predict AI will outperform humans in many activities in the next ten years, such as translating languages (by 2024), writing high-school essays (by 2026), driving a truck (by 2027), working in retail (by 2031), writing a bestselling book (by 2049), and working as a surgeon (by 2053). Researchers believe there is a 50% chance of AI outperforming humans in all tasks in 45 years and of automating all human jobs in 120 years, with Asian respondents expecting these dates much sooner than North Americans. These results will inform discussion amongst researchers and policymakers about anticipating and managing trends in AI. This article is part of the special track on AI and Society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-61
Author(s):  
Alina-Ioana CHIRA ◽  
Anamaria DUMITRESCU ◽  
Catalin Sever MOISOIU ◽  
Cristian-Alexandru TANASE

Taking into consideration that nowadays the aerospace industry focuses a lot on safety, more durable and stable systems are developed. While the system itself is safer, there is another element that can have a high impact on the overall safety of a flight, namely the human factor. Pilot physiological parameters were measured during a full flight in a fixed cockpit environment using application-specific equipment. The recorded or calculated parameters are used to compute a performance envelope model with the scope of determining the degradation of the pilot’s condition during different flight phases or events. Several standardized tests were realized/performed on subjects who were given flight instructions before the test, without knowing beforehand the scenario and events that will occur/take place. This study helps in identifying the limits of pilots in different flight scenarios and the impact on their presumed performance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 595-597
Author(s):  
Artūras Linkel ◽  
Julius Griškevičius ◽  
Gintaras Jonaitis

The article proposes the method for evaluating angular and linear changes in intervertebral discs of the spine depending on linear and nonlinear intervertebral disc stiffness. A dynamic made of 5 solid bodies connected by damping and stiffness components and applied for 2-D 10 degrees of freedom of the lumbar spine has been used for calculations. The system of the equation has been written in a matrix form. Lumbar intervertebral discs stiffness and damping properties have been selected from scientific articles and make from 200 N/mm to 1200 N/mm and from 229 Ns / mm to 5100 Ns/mm respectively for non-linear calculation and 800 N / mm – 2637 Ns/mm for linear displacement calculation. External loads applied to the model are 1648 N, 2957 N, 3863 N and 4542 N. The basic task of the paper is to calculate the biggest difference in linear and angular displacement considering 2 cases: linear and non-linear stiffness value. The greatest estimated difference, under the highest load, makes 0.6 mm for linear and 0.95 degrees for angular displacement. Because of the fast response of the model to the load, the damping value could not affect displacement. Tyrimo objektas yra stuburo trapslankstelinių diskų poslinkių skirtumai esant tiesiniam ir netiesiniam jų standumo koeficientui. Taikomas 10 laisvės laipsnių 2-D stuburo juosmeninės dalies dinaminis modelis, kuris susideda iš 5 juosmens slankstelių, sujungtų standumo ir slopinimo ryšiais. Modeliui nustatomos juosmens apkrovos, kurios susidaro važiuojant dviračiu. Tarpslankstelinių diskų savybės parenkamos iš mokslinės literatūros. Sudarytas matematinis modelis leido apskaičiuoti stuburo slankstelių linijinius ir kampinius poslinkius įvertinant tarpslankstelinio disko standžio netiesiškumą. Atlikti skaičiavimai parodė, kad didžiausi skirtumai susidaro esant maksimaliai apkrovai. Didžiausi linijinių poslinkių skirtumai yra 0,6 mm, o kampinių – 0,95 laipsnio. Nustatytos slopinimo koeficiento reikšmės dėl greito modelio atsako poslinkių skaičiavimams įtakos neturėjo.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella Brick Larkin ◽  
Michael Geuss ◽  
Alfred Brian Yu ◽  
Joe Rexwinkle ◽  
Chloe Callahan-Flintoft ◽  
...  

In light of the Army’s intent to leverage advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for augmenting dismounted Soldier Lethality through the development of in-scope and Heads-Up Display (HUD)-based Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) systems, the Combat Capabilities Development Command U. S. Army Research Laboratory’s Human Research and Engineering Directorate (CCDC-ARL/HRED) has identified several critical gaps that must be addressed in order to effectively team the Soldier with ATR for the desired augmented Lethality. One of these areas pertains to the way in which ATR is displayed and requires a thorough understanding and leveraging of relevant cognitive processes that will enable use of this technology. Additionally, insufficient consideration of perceptual, attentional, and cognitive capabilities increases the risk of burdening the Soldier with excessive, unnecessary, or distracting representations of information, which may impede Lethality rather than augment it. HRED’s planned and ongoing research is intended to develop novel mechanisms through which Soldiers teamed with ATR will perform more adaptively and effectively than either the Soldier or the intelligent system could accomplish individually. Based on HRED’s significant expertise in the cognitive sciences, coupled with familiarity with the military-relevant domain spaces, the following initial recommendations for ATR information display requirements are made:1.ATR highlighting should leverage a non-binary display schema to continuously encode threat information (e.g., target class/identity, uncertainty, and prioritization).2.ATR highlighting should be integrated with the target itself instead of functioning as a discrete feature of the display (i.e., highlight the target rather than highlighting a region with the target inside).3.Information about threat certainty or classification confidence (which can also include priority) should be embedded into ATR highlighting.4.Yellow highlights may offer advantages for display5.Changing information (e.g., target certainty) should be accomplished through formation or modification of highlight gradients rather than sudden changes in the display.6.Human performance evaluations of ATR should consider the incorporation of changing threat states and contexts into scenarios for more relevant findings.7.Human performance evaluations of ATR should consider the incorporation of uncued (non-highlighted) targets and miscued targets (false identifications; e.g. ATR identifies non-threat as threat) for more relevant findings.


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