Design of a Deformable Smart Tire Using Soft Actuator

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vidya K. Nandikolla ◽  
Michael Costa ◽  
Nathan Boyd ◽  
Gilberto Rosales
Keyword(s):  
Force Feedback ◽  
Design Procedure ◽  
Nickel Titanium ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Mechanical Modeling ◽  
Soft Actuator ◽  
Voltage Signal ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Soft Actuators

Abstract The unique functional properties of nickel-titanium Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) enable them to be used as actuators. This research paper demonstrates theoretically and experimentally the feasibility of using SMA in smart tires for a mobile robot. The design procedure for SMA as a coil spring actuator for a soft deformable wheel is described. The primary focus is the mechanical modeling, manufacturing, and system dynamics of a soft deformable wheel. The 3D printed soft tire exploits the capabilities of the SMA actuation using a voltage signal. The printed components are activated and integrated with electromechanical circuit for wireless communication system. The performance of the force feedback control system is evaluated at different operating conditions to demonstrate the shape-changing characteristic of the smart tire. The developed prototype is designed to propel forward and backward on flat and uneven surface. The experimental results obtained demonstrate the potential of SMA as soft actuators, its benefits and limitations as flexible systems.

scholarly journals Control-Oriented Modelling of a 3D-Printed Soft Actuator

Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Zolfagharian ◽  
Akif Kaynak ◽  
Sui Yang Khoo ◽  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Saeid Nahavandi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
3D Printing ◽  
Dynamic Models ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Input Voltage ◽  
Soft Actuator ◽  
Voltage Variation ◽  
Sophisticated Model ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Rc Circuit ◽  
Soft Actuators

A new type of soft actuator was developed by using hydrogel materials and three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, attracting the attention of researchers in the soft robotics field. Due to parametric uncertainties of such actuators, which originate in both a custom design nature of 3D printing as well as time and voltage variant characteristics of polyelectrolyte actuators, a sophisticated model to estimate their behaviour is required. This paper presents a practical modeling approach for the deflection of a 3D printed soft actuator. The suggested model is composed of electrical and mechanical dynamic models while the earlier version describes the actuator as a resistive-capacitive (RC) circuit. The latter model relates the ionic charges to the bending of an actuator. The experimental results were acquired to estimate the transfer function parameters of the developed model incorporating Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy sets. The proposed model was successful in estimating the end-point trajectory of the actuator, especially in response to a broad range of input voltage variation. With some modifications in the electromechanical aspects of the model, the proposed modelling method can be used with other 3D printed soft actuators.

scholarly journals Multi-Scale Studies of 3D Printed Mn–Na–W/SiO2 Catalyst for Oxidative Coupling of Methane

Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 290
Author(s):  
Tim Karsten ◽  
Vesna Middelkoop ◽  
Dorota Matras ◽  
Antonis Vamvakeros ◽  
Stephen Poulston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Coupling ◽  
Oxidative Coupling Of Methane ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Homogeneous Distribution ◽  
Silica Support ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
3D Printed

This work presents multi-scale approaches to investigate 3D printed structured Mn–Na–W/SiO2 catalysts used for the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) reaction. The performance of the 3D printed catalysts has been compared to their conventional analogues, packed beds of pellets and powder. The physicochemical properties of the 3D printed catalysts were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Performance and durability tests of the 3D printed catalysts were conducted in the laboratory and in a miniplant under real reaction conditions. In addition, synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction computed tomography technique (XRD-CT) was employed to obtain cross sectional maps at three different positions selected within the 3D printed catalyst body during the OCM reaction. The maps revealed the evolution of catalyst active phases and silica support on spatial and temporal scales within the interiors of the 3D printed catalyst under operating conditions. These results were accompanied with SEM-EDS analysis that indicated a homogeneous distribution of the active catalyst particles across the silica support.

scholarly journals Development and Testing of a Methodology for the Assessment of Acceptability of LKA Systems

Machines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Salvati ◽  
Matteo d’Amore ◽  
Anita Fiorentino ◽  
Arcangelo Pellegrino ◽  
Pasquale Sena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Force Feedback ◽  
Feedback System ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Experimental Methodology ◽  
Driving Safety ◽  
Steering Wheel ◽  
Human In The Loop ◽  
Automation Systems ◽  
Driving Stability ◽  
Lane Keeping

In recent years, driving simulators have been widely used by automotive manufacturers and researchers in human-in-the-loop experiments, because they can reduce time and prototyping costs, and provide unlimited parametrization, more safety, and higher repeatability. Simulators play an important role in studies about driver behavior in operating conditions or with unstable vehicles. The aim of the research is to study the effects that the force feedback (f.f.b.), provided to steering wheel by a lane-keeping-assist (LKA) system, has on a driver’s response in simulators. The steering’s force feedback system is tested by reproducing the conditions of criticality of the LKA system in order to minimize the distance required to recover the driving stability as a function of set f.f.b. intensity and speed. The results, obtained in three specific criticality conditions, show that the behaviour of the LKA system, reproduced in the simulator, is not immediately understood by the driver and, sometimes, it is in opposition with the interventions performed by the driver to ensure driving safety. The results also compare the performance of the subjects, either overall and classified into subgroups, with reference to the perception of the LKA system, evaluated by means of a questionnaire. The proposed experimental methodology is to be regarded as a contribution for the integration of acceptance tests in the evaluation of automation systems.

A Simple Design Approach for Excitation Controller and Power System Stabilizer

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Fusco ◽  
M. Russo
Keyword(s):  
Power System ◽  
Transient Stability ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Design Procedure ◽  
Voltage Regulation ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Power System Stabilizer ◽  
Simple Design ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
System Stabilizer

This paper proposes a simple design procedure to solve the problem of controlling generator transient stability following large disturbances in power systems. A state-feedback excitation controller and power system stabilizer are designed to guarantee robustness against uncertainty in the system parameters. These controllers ensure satisfactory swing damping and quick decay of the voltage regulation error over a wide range of operating conditions. The controller performance is evaluated in a case study in which a three-phase short-circuit fault near the generator terminals in a four-bus power system is simulated.

Multiple Inputs-Single Accumulated Output Mechanism for Soft Linear Actuators

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyeong Ho Cho ◽  
Ho Moon Kim ◽  
Youngeun Kim ◽  
Sang Yul Yang ◽  
Hyouk Ryeol Choi
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Operating Mode ◽  
Robotic Arm ◽  
Soft Actuator ◽  
Wearable Robots ◽  
Working Principle ◽  
Linear Actuators ◽  
Soft Actuators ◽  
Muscle Actuators ◽  
Further Development

Soft linear actuators (SLAs) such as shape memory alloy (SMA) wires, pneumatic soft actuators, dielectric elastomer actuator, and twisted and coiled soft actuator (TCA) called artificial muscle actuators in general, have many advantages over the conventional actuators. SLAs can realize innovative robotic technologies like soft robots, wearable robots, and bionic arms in the future, but further development is still needed in real applications because most SLAs do not provide large displacement or force as needed. This paper presents a novel mechanism supplementing SLAs by accumulating the displacement of multiple SLAs. It adopts the principle of differential gears in reverse. Since the input units of the mechanism are extensible, more displacement can be accumulated by increasing the number of the input units as many as needed. The mechanism is basically used to accumulate displacements, but can be used to accumulate forces by changing its operating mode. This paper introduces the design and working principle of the mechanism and validates its operation experimentally. In addition, the mechanism is implemented on a robotic arm and its effectiveness is confirmed.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of Supersonic ORC Turbine Injector Designs to Fluctuating Operating Conditions

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elio A. Bufi ◽  
Paola Cinnella ◽  
Xavier Merle
Keyword(s):  
Method Of Characteristics ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Design Procedure ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Real Gas ◽  
Real Gas Effects ◽  
Nozzle Shape ◽  
Turbine Design ◽  
The Impact

The design of an efficient organic rankine cycle (ORC) expander needs to take properly into account strong real gas effects that may occur in given ranges of operating conditions, which can also be highly variable. In this work, we first design ORC turbine geometries by means of a fast 2-D design procedure based on the method of characteristics (MOC) for supersonic nozzles characterized by strong real gas effects. Thanks to a geometric post-processing procedure, the resulting nozzle shape is then adapted to generate an axial ORC blade vane geometry. Subsequently, the impact of uncertain operating conditions on turbine design is investigated by coupling the MOC algorithm with a Probabilistic Collocation Method (PCM) algorithm. Besides, the injector geometry generated at nominal operating conditions is simulated by means of an in-house CFD solver. The code is coupled to the PCM algorithm and a performance sensitivity analysis, in terms of adiabatic efficiency and power output, to variations of the operating conditions is carried out.

Examining the Coiling Motion of Soft Actuators Reinforced With Tilted Helix Fibers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Geer ◽  
Suyi Li
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Axis ◽  
Robotic Manipulation ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Soft Actuator ◽  
Kevlar Fiber ◽  
New Family ◽  
End Caps ◽  
Soft Actuators ◽  
Unique Cell ◽  
Cell Wall Architecture

This study aims to examine the coiling and uncoiling motion of a soft pneumatic actuator reinforced with tilted helix fibers. Coiling motion can be quite useful for robotic manipulation and locomotion purposes. This research proposes and investigates a novel actuator that is inspired and derived from the unique cell wall architecture in the seed appendage of Stork’s Bill plant (Erodium Gruinum). These plant cells are reinforced by cellulose fibers distributed in a tilted helix pattern — helixes that are tilted at a certain angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the cell. As a result, the seed appendage can coil and uncoil via a combination of twisting and bending. This paper discusses the design, fabrication, and testing of a soft actuator that can mimic this sophisticated motion. This actuator consists of Kevlar fiber thread wrapped around a silicon rubber body that has the shape of a tube. The tube will be capped at both ends so that it can be pressurized internally to induce motion. Once the design parameter has been chosen, the soft actuator are fabricated by 1) designing and 3D printing molds, 2) tube casting and fiber wrapping, and 3) creating the end caps for pressure sealing. Carefully executing these fabrication steps is essential because any errors could give undesired deformation. Several soft actuators prototypes are fabricated based on different design choices regarding the actuator radius, tube wall thickness, and the number of tilted helix fibers (aka. fiber coverage). Proof-of-concept tests show that these actuator prototypes can indeed exhibit a combined twisting and bending under internal pressurization: all are the necessary receipts to achieve the coiling and uncoiling motion. Result of this paper can pave the way for a new family of soft actuators capable of unprecedented and sophisticated actuation motions, which are particularly appealing for soft robot application.

Design of a Force Feedback Chatter Control System

1972 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Nachtigal
Keyword(s):  
Machine Tool ◽  
Frequency Domain ◽  
Transient Response ◽  
Force Feedback ◽  
Design Procedure ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Work Piece ◽  
Regenerative Chatter ◽  
Chatter Control ◽  
The Stability

The analysis of machine tool chatter from frequency domain considerations is generally accepted as a valid representation of the regenerative chatter phenomenon. However, active control of regenerative chatter is still in its embryonic stage. It was established in reference [2] that a measurement of the cutting force could be effectively used in conjunction with a controller and a tool position servo system to increase the stability of an engine lathe and to improve its transient response. This paper presents the design basis for such a system, including both analytical and experimental considerations. The design procedure stems from a real part stability criterion based on the work by Merritt [1]. Because of the unknown variability in the dynamics of a machine tool system, the controller parameters were chosen to accomodate some mismatch between structure and tool servo dynamics. Experimental tests to determine the stability zone of the controlled machine tool system qualitatively confirmed the analytical design results. The experimental results were consistent in that the transient response tests confirmed the frequency domain stability tests. It was also demonstrated experimentally that the equivalent static stiffness of a flexible work-piece system could be substantially increased.

Design and optimization of actuator for multi-joint soft rehabilitation glove

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinjie Wang ◽  
Yan Cheng ◽  
Huadong Zheng ◽  
Yihao Li ◽  
Caidong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Constitutive Model ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Longitudinal Section ◽  
Bending Test ◽  
Hand Rehabilitation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Design And Optimization ◽  
Soft Actuator ◽  
New Type ◽  
Soft Actuators

Purpose Currently, rehabilitation medical care is expensive, requires a large number of rehabilitation therapist and which can only limit in the fixed location. In addition, there is a lack of research on the structure optimization and theoretical analysis of soft actuators for hand rehabilitation. In view of the problems above, this paper aims to propose a cheap, portable, wearable soft multiple joints rehabilitation glove. Design/methodology/approach First, this paper determined the hyperelastic constitutive model by material tensile test. Second, the soft actuator’s internal longitudinal section shape was optimized through the comparison of three diverse chamber structures. Meanwhile, the motion model of the soft actuator is established by the finite element model analysis method. Then, this paper established the constitutive model of the soft actuator according to the torque equilibrium equation and analyzed the relationship between the soft actuator’s bending angle and the input air pressure. This paper has verified that the theoretical model is correct through the soft actuator bending test. Finally, rehabilitation gloves were manufactured according to the model and the rehabilitation performance and grasping ability of gloves were verified through experiments. Findings The optimization results show that the internal semicircular cavity has better performance. Then, the actuator performance is better after adding the external arc structure and optimizing the physical dimension. The experimental results show that the trajectory of the actuator conforms to the mathematical model and rehabilitation gloves can meet the needs of rehabilitation treatment. Practical implications Rehabilitation gloves made of actuators can help patients with hand dysfunction in daily rehabilitation training. Then, it can also assist patients with some fine and complicated hand movements. Originality/value This paper proposes a new type of soft rehabilitation glove, which is composed of new soft actuators and adapting pieces. The new actuator is small enough to be fitted to the knuckle of the glove to move each joint of the finger.

Modal Analysis of Turbine Blades by Means of Distributed Optical Fiber Sensors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Pennacchi ◽  
Gabriele Cazzulani ◽  
Alejandro Silva
Keyword(s):  
Optical Fiber ◽  
Modal Analysis ◽  
Turbine Blade ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Optical Fiber Sensors ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Fiber Sensors ◽  
Steam Turbine Blade ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Distributed Optical Fiber

Abstract This paper investigates the possibility of identifying and monitoring the modal shapes of a turbine blade by means of continuous optical fiber sensors based on Optical Backscatter Reflectometry (OBR). The advantage of this approach would be the possibility of embedding the sensors in future carbon fiber blades, in order to make this modal analysis approach available also for the blade operating conditions, since no modifications in the blade fluid-structure interaction occur. The paper describes the proposed method and provides some experimental results obtained on a 3D printed model of an existing steam turbine blade.

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