scholarly journals Modeling and System Integration for a Thin Pneumatic Rubber 3-DOF Actuator

Actuators ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuhei Kawamura ◽  
Mizuki Sudani ◽  
Mingcong Deng ◽  
Yuichi Noge ◽  
Shuichi Wakimoto
Keyword(s):  
System Integration ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Experimental System ◽  
Longitudinal Direction ◽  
Axial Direction ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Contraction Force ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Soft Actuators

Recently, soft actuators have been getting increased attention within various fields. The actuators are composed of flexible materials and driven by pneumatic pressure. A thin pneumatic rubber actuator generating 3 degrees of freedom motion, called 3-DOF micro-hand, has small diameter McKibben artificial muscles which generate a contraction force in the axial direction. By this structure, the micro-hand contracts in the longitudinal direction and bends in any direction by changing the applied air pressure pattern to the artificial muscles. The input–output relation of the micro-hand, however, is complicated and has not been modeled. In this paper, modeling for 3-DOF micro-hand is proposed. Moreover, the experimental system is built for the micro-hand and the proposed model is evaluated by using the experimental results.

Improved Model for Conical Dielectric Elastomer Actuators With Fewer Electrical Connections

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hector Medina ◽  
Carson W. Farmer
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Multiple Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer Actuators ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Robotic Joints ◽  
Improved Model ◽  
Electrical Connections

Abstract Dielectric elastomers (DEs) exhibit remarkable properties that make them stand out among other electroactive polymers. Various types of actuators based on DEs have been used in applications that include artificial muscles, Braille displays, and robotic joints. In particular, conical dielectric elastomer actuators (CDEAs) are very attractive due to their multiple degrees of freedom (DOF) and easiness of construction. In this study, an energy method is used to derive an improved mathematical model for a double-cone dielectric elastomer actuator (DCDEA) capable of predicting horizontal and rotational displacements. To create the model, a new variable is introduced into the equations, the azimuth angle. In addition, a new pattern of electrodes is proposed as a method for achieving five DOF using only half of the electrode connections of traditional DCDEAs. Experimental tests are carried out and used to validate the proposed model. Results show very close agreement. A limiting aspect of the proposed model is that it relies on two experimental correction coefficients. Nonetheless, the model derived provides a means to more accurately implement automatic control to robotic systems that use DCDEAs (work in progress).

Musculoskeletal System for Bio-Inspired Robotic Systems Based on Ball and Socket Joints

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lianjun Wu ◽  
Yonas Tadesse
Keyword(s):  
Musculoskeletal System ◽  
System Integration ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Mechanical Transmission ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Synthetic Materials ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Promising Solution ◽  
Soft Actuators

Musculoskeletal system is the fundamental structure that allows complex mobility of biological systems. A lot of efforts have been made in the past to mimic this structure using synthetic materials for use in robotic systems. Development challenges for this technology include design and manufacturing, system integration, control methods and energy usage. One of the key elements of musculoskeletal system is artificial muscles or actuators used in this system. Actuators presented in the literature do not match the performance of natural muscles in most of the metrics such as force generation, strain output, frequency, power density, ease of control and repeatability. This paper briefly describes the recently introduced Twisted and Coiled Polymer (TCP) muscles integrated into a ball and socket joint made of ABS plus® material. The proposed structure consists of a class of ball-and-socket joint that incorporates TCP muscles and silicone to generate multidimensional actuation. Most traditional joint-and-actuator assemblies include passive rotary joints actuated by servomotors via gears transmission. Our proposed ABS based 3D printed joint is actuated by artificial muscles without any complex mechanical transmission system. In comparison with other such assemblies, the proposed joint system is a promising solution to the diverse applications in robotics, especially where soft actuators and cost effective solutions are needed.

scholarly journals Development of Soft Pneumatic Actuators Using High-Strain Elastic Materials with Stress Anisotropy of Short Fibers

Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Akihiro Kojima ◽  
Manabu Okui ◽  
Taro Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Fiber Type ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Axial Direction ◽  
Short Fiber ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Rubber Tube ◽  
Fiber Reinforced ◽  
Soft Robots ◽  
Soft Actuators

In recent years, soft robots, such as those with high human affinity and those that excellently imitate the movements of natural creatures, have gained considerable attention. In soft robots, structurally flexible soft actuators need to be used, not conventional motors or hydraulic/pneumatic cylinders. Various types of soft actuators have been developed depending on the driving principle. A pneumatic rubber artificial muscle is a kind of soft actuator that acquires power through injection of a working fluid, such as air, into an elastic structure, such as rubber. In this study, the authors developed an actuator, namely, the straight-fiber-type artificial muscle, which exhibits excellent contraction characteristics. This artificial muscle consists of a rubber tube that contains reinforcing fibers arranged in the axial direction. When air pressure is applied to the rubber tube, the artificial muscle expands only in the radial direction and contracts in the axial direction due to the restraining effect of the reinforcing fiber. While this artificial muscle exhibits excellent contraction properties, it has some drawbacks. One is the difficulty in enclosing the reinforced fibers that have accumulated in the rubber tube, making this artificial muscle difficult to manufacture. In this study, we investigated short-fiber-reinforced artificial muscles that can be easily manufactured. First, a short-fiber-reinforced rubber was prepared, and anisotropy was evaluated via a tensile test. Then, the short-fiber-reinforced artificial muscles were prepared, and their contractions rates were evaluated. The results confirmed that a short-fiber-reinforced rubber can be useful for the manufacture of artificial muscles.

Influence of Clearances and Thermal Effects on the Dynamic Behavior of Gear-Hydrodynamic Journal Bearing Systems

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Fargère ◽  
P. Velex
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Integration Scheme ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Specific Element ◽  
Normal Contact ◽  
Contact Algorithm ◽  
Gear Teeth ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Elastic Couplings ◽  
Definition Of

A global model of mechanical transmissions is introduced which deals with most of the possible interactions between gears, shafts, and hydrodynamic journal bearings. A specific element for wide-faced gears with nonlinear time-varying mesh stiffness and tooth shape deviations is combined with shaft finite elements, whereas the bearing contributions are introduced based on the direct solution of Reynolds' equation. Because of the large bearing clearances, particular attention has been paid to the definition of the degrees-of-freedom and their datum. Solutions are derived by combining a time step integration scheme, a Newton–Raphson method, and a normal contact algorithm in such a way that the contact conditions in the bearings and on the gear teeth are simultaneously dealt with. A series of comparisons with the experimental results obtained on a test rig are given which prove that the proposed model is sound. Finally, a number of results are presented which show that parameters often discarded in global models such as the location of the oil inlet area, the oil temperature in the bearings, the clearance/elastic couplings interactions, etc. can be influential on static and dynamic tooth loading.

TSDT theory for free vibration of functionally graded plates with various material properties

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-704
Author(s):  
M. Janane Allah ◽  
◽  
Y. Belaasilia ◽  
A. Timesli ◽  
A. El Haouzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Equations Of Motion ◽  
Shear Deformation Theory ◽  
Functionally Graded ◽  
Third Order ◽  
Implicit Algorithm ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Graded Material ◽  
Composite Modeling

In this work, an implicit algorithm is used for analyzing the free dynamic behavior of Functionally Graded Material (FGM) plates. The Third order Shear Deformation Theory (TSDT) is used to develop the proposed model. In this contribution, the formulation is written without any homogenization technique as the rule of mixture. The Hamilton principle is used to establish the resulting equations of motion. For spatial discretization based on Finite Element Method (FEM), a quadratic element with four and eight nodes is adopted using seven degrees of freedom per node. An implicit algorithm is used for solving the obtained problem. To study the accuracy and the performance of the proposed approach, we present comparisons with literature and laminate composite modeling results for vibration natural frequencies. Otherwise, we examine the influence of the exponent of the volume fraction which reacts the plates "P-FGM" and "S-FGM". In addition, we study the influence of the thickness on "E-FGM" plates.

The Influence of Biaxial Mean Stresses on the Failure of Tubes by Fatigue

1961 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. L. Cox ◽  
N. B. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Mild Steel ◽  
Test Piece ◽  
Fatigue Cracks ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Axial Direction ◽  
Gas Pressure ◽  
Modes Of Failure ◽  
Explosive Failure ◽  
Bending Stresses

SummaryThin-walled tubes, in. in diameter, of three hard aluminium alloys and of mild steel have been tested in fatigue under three systems of alternating stresses while subjected to biaxial mean tensions imposed by means of internal pressure. In fatigue under direct or bending stresses the hoop tension in the walls of the aluminium alloy tubes did not seriously reduce the fatigue endurance, but it did markedly affect the mode and rate of crack propagation; cracks initially transverse to the tube axis tended to develop very rapidly in the axial direction. This tendency was present under both fluid and gas pressure, and under gas pressure the cracks propagated so fast that the test piece was often blown to pieces before the gas pressure fell by leakage through the cracks. The gradual taper in wall thickness along the fillets joining the test section to the enlarged ends offered no barrier to propagation of the axial cracks and the whole test piece, including its enlarged ends, was often shattered. Propagation of the axial cracks was preventible by sufficiently reducing the fillet radius, or by a ring glued on. Under alternating torsion, both endurance and mode of failure were affected by internal gas pressure. The initial fatigue crack, either circumferential or axial, often extended over a length comparable with the diameter of the tube, except under low ranges of shear stress when the crack length was sometimes very short. At each end the cracks forked in a characteristic manner and under moderate gas pressure the portions of tHe wall between the prongs of the fork were blown outwards. Under high pressure explosive failure and fragmentation often occurred. Mild steel under alternating torsion with internal gas pressure exhibited the same modes of failure, and two or more fatigue cracks were often formed simultaneously. Under high hoop tension, cracks propagated rapidly and one test piece, after two million cycles endurance, failed by exploding. However, no mild steel test piece was fragmented. A tentative explanation is offered of the reason why, in tubes of small diameter, rather short fatigue cracks may be expected to lead to fast fracture under the static loading. Attention is drawn to the inference that the initial fatigue crack itself must develop very quickly to considerable length.

Study of the Stiffness Matrix of Preloaded Duplex Angular Contact Ball Bearings

2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengye Lin ◽  
Shuyun Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Stiffness Matrix ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Ball Bearing ◽  
Ball Bearings ◽  
Fixed Position ◽  
Angular Contact Ball Bearing ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Radial Stiffness ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Stiffness Characteristics

This paper studies the stiffness characteristics of preloaded duplex angular contact ball bearings. First, a five degrees-of-freedom (5DOF) quasi-static model of the preloaded duplex angular contact ball bearing is established based on the Jones bearing model. Three bearing configurations (face-to-face, back-to-back, and tandem arrangements) and two preload mechanisms (constant pressure preload and fixed position preload) are included in the proposed model. Subsequently, the five-dimensional stiffness matrix of the preloaded duplex angular contact ball bearing is derived analytically. Then, an experimental setup is developed to measure the radial stiffness and the angular stiffness of duplex angular contact ball bearings. The simulated results match well with those from experiments, which prove the validity of the proposed model. Finally, the effects of bearing configuration, preload mechanism, and unloaded contact angle on the angular stiffness and the cross-coupling are studied systematically.

scholarly journals Implementation of Soft-Lithography Techniques for Fabrication of Bio-Inspired Multi-Layer Dielectric Elastomer Actuators with Interdigitated Mechanically Compliant Electrodes

Actuators ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mert Corbaci ◽  
Wayne Walter ◽  
Kathleen Lamkin-Kennard
Keyword(s):  
Soft Lithography ◽  
Skeletal Muscles ◽  
Actuation Voltage ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Industrial Robots ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer Actuators ◽  
Soft Actuators

Advancements in software engineering have enabled the robotics industry to transition from the use of giant industrial robots to more friendly humanoid robots. Soft robotics is one of the key elements needed to advance the transition process by providing a safer way for robots to interact with the environment. Electroactive polymers (EAPs) are one of the best candidate materials for the next generation of soft robotic actuators and artificial muscles. Lightweight dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) provide optimal properties such as high elasticity, rapid response rates, mechanical robustness and compliance. However, for DEAs to become widely used as artificial muscles or soft actuators, there are current limitations, such as high actuation voltage requirements, control of actuation direction, and scaling, that need to be addressed. The authors’ approach to overcome the drawbacks of conventional DEAs is inspired by the natural skeletal muscles. Instead of fabricating a large DEA device, smaller sub-units can be fabricated and bundled together to form larger actuators, similar to the way myofibrils form myocytes in skeletal muscles. The current study presents a novel fabrication approach, utilizing soft lithography and other microfabrication techniques, to allow fabrication of multilayer stacked DEA structures, composed of hundreds of micro-sized DEA units.

Atmospheric TIG Arc Diagnostics with a Low Disturbance Electrostatic Probe

2013 ◽  
Vol 652-654 ◽  
pp. 2239-2243
Author(s):  
Yuan Bo Li ◽  
Liang Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Current Density ◽  
Longitudinal Direction ◽  
Axial Direction ◽  
Half Width ◽  
Arc Plasma ◽  
Plasma Diagnostic ◽  
Saturation Current ◽  
Sweeping Motion ◽  
Saturation Current Density ◽  
Electrostatic Probe

The use of electrostatic probe is available and simple in atmospheric TIG arc plasma diagnostic. Usually electrostatic probe takes disturbance in arc plasma due to sweeping motion. A low disturbance electrostatic probe was developed. This probe consisted of aluminum wire and moved through arc plasma along probe’s longitudinal direction to avoid sweeping motion. And the signal collected by this probe required Abel inversion to convert into the value per 1 mm probe length. With the application of the low disturbance probe in biased condition, ion saturation current density in various sections along the axial direction of TIG arc was obtained. The result shows that half width and peak value of ion saturation current density increase with the enhance of arc current; the radius of current-carrying area can be estimated by the half width of ion saturation current density; along the axial direction of TIG arc, the radius of current-carrying area change to the minimum near cathode.

Analytical Model for Rockfall Protection Galleries - a Blind Prediction of Test Results and Conclusion

2011 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 722-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristian Schellenberg ◽  
Norimitsu Kishi ◽  
Hisashi Kon-No
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Blind Prediction ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Input Parameters ◽  
Scale Test ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Protective Structures ◽  
Cushion Layer

A system of multiple degrees of freedom composed out of three masses and three springs has been presented in 2008 for analyzing rockfall impacts on protective structures covered by a cushion layer. The model has then been used for a blind prediction of a large-scale test carried out in Sapporo, Japan, in November 2009. The test results showed substantial deviations from the blind predictions, which led to a deeper evaluation of the model input parameters showing a significant influence of the modeling properties for the cushion layer on the overall results. The cushion properties include also assumptions for the loading geometry and the definition of the parameters can be challenging. This paper introduces the test setup and the selected parameters in the proposed model for the blind prediction. After comparison with the test results, adjustments in the input parameters in order to match the test results have been evaluated. Conclusions for the application of the model as well as for further model improvements are drawn.

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