On tangent geometry and generalised continuum with defects

This paper introduces tools on fibre geometry towards the framework of mechanics of microstructured continuum. The material is modelled by an appropriate bundle for which the associated connection and metric are induced from the Euclidean space by a smooth transformation represented by a fibre morphism from the bundle to Euclidean space. Furthermore, the general kinematic structure of the theory includes macroscopic and microscopic fields in a multiscaled approach, including large transformation. Defects appear in this geometrical point of view by an induced curvature, torsion and non-metricity tensor in the induced geometry. Special attention is given to transport along a finite path in order to extend the standard infinitesimal analysis of torsion and curvature to a macroscopical point of view. Both theoretical and numerical analysis may be handled without additional difficulties. Accordingly, several examples of transformation involving the distribution of material defects are exhibited and analysed.

Modal Kinematic Analysis of a Parallel Kinematic Robot with Low-Stiffness Transmissions

Several industrial robotic applications that require high speed or high stiffness-to-inertia ratios use parallel kinematic robots. In the cases where the critical point of the application is the speed, the compliance of the main mechanical transmissions placed between the actuators and the parallel kinematic structure can be significantly higher than that of the parallel kinematic structure itself. This paper deals with this kind of system, where the overall performance depends on the maximum speed and on the dynamic behavior. Our research proposes a new approach for the investigation of the modes of vibration of the end-effector placed on the robot structure for a system where the transmission’s compliance is not negligible in relation to the flexibility of the parallel kinematic structure. The approach considers the kinematic and dynamic coupling due to the parallel kinematic structure, the system’s mass distribution and the transmission’s stiffness. In the literature, several papers deal with the dynamic vibration analysis of parallel robots. Some of these also consider the transmissions between the motors and the actuated joints. However, these works mainly deal with the modal analysis of the robot’s mechanical structure or the displacement analysis of the transmission’s effects on the positioning error of the end-effector. The discussion of the proposed approach takes into consideration a linear delta robot. The results show that the system’s natural frequencies and the directions of the end-effector’s modal displacements strongly depend on its position in the working space.

Age and Not the Preferred Limb Influences the Kinematic Structure of Pointing Movements

In goal-directed movements, effective open-loop control reduces the need for feedback-based corrective submovements. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of hand preference and aging on submovements during single- and two-joint pointing movements. A total of 12 young and 12 older right-handed participants performed pointing movements that involved either elbow extension or a combination of elbow extension and horizontal shoulder flexion with their right and left arms to a target. Kinematics were used to separate the movements into their primary and secondary submovements. The older adults exhibited slower movements, used secondary submovements more often, and produced relatively shorter primary submovements. However, there were no interlimb differences for either age group or for the single- and two-joint movements. These findings indicate that open-loop control is similar between arms but compromised in older compared to younger adults.

Method for assessing the current and additional load on the parallel kinematic structure mechanisms electric drive system

Introduction. The problem of the load on an electric drive system in a parallel kinematic structure is considered. The task of developing a fault-tolerant system that provides performing a given process in case of a failure of one or more drives is described. The work objective is to create a method for estimating the current and additional load on each drive of the mechanism of a parallel kinematic structure. The solution enables to correct the operating mode when performing a given process without compromising serviceable drives.Materials and Methods. Previously, a diagnostic method was developed. It is based on the calculation and analysis of the coefficients of straight lines that approximate the envelopes of the values of the wavelet transform coefficients of electric motor current signals, taking into account the characteristic scales. This makes it possible to determine the current technical condition of the electric motor and find malfunctions. The logical continuation of this approach is the proposed method for assessing the current and additional load. It provides finding the current load on the drive based on the coefficients of the lines approximating the envelopes of the wavelet coefficients of the current signal. To calculate the additional load, the number and location of faulty drives are taken into account.Results. For each scale of the wavelet coefficients, the relative coefficients and the current load on each drive are determined. The possibility of redistributing the load to two adjacent jacks was checked; the behavior of the system in this case was investigated. The load moved by the faulty jack is redistributed to two adjacent jacks in equal shares — 14.76 % each. The total load on the drives is 44.28 %, which is safe for the servo. The load on the drive of the fourth jack does not change (29.52 %). The drives have a sufficient safety margin. It is established that all three operating modes are acceptable for the studied servo drive, and they do not cause dynamic overloads and premature failure.Discussion and Conclusions. The experimental studies on the method of assessing the current and additional load have shown its adequacy and high efficiency. It was found that when the drives were disconnected from one of the racks of the mechanism, the system performed a load redistribution on the drives. Thus, it was possible to avoid their dynamic overloads and premature failure. This means that the solution is able to ensure the reliable functioning of the complex at the time of renovation work.

Structural Synthesis of Articulated Manipulators with Non-Fractionated or Fractionated Kinematic Chains without Isomorphism

As the kinematic structure of an articulated manipulator affects the characteristics of its motion, rigidity, vibration, and force transmissibility, finding the most suitable kinematic structure for the desired task is important in the conceptual design phase. This paper proposes a systematic method for generating non-isomorphic graphs of articulated manipulators that consist of a fixed base, an end-effector, and a two-degree-of-freedom (DOF) intermediate kinematic chain connecting the two. Based on the analysis of the structural characteristics of articulated manipulators, the conditions that must be satisfied for manipulators to have a desired DOF is identified. Then, isomorphism-free graph generation methods are proposed based on the concepts of the symmetry of a graph, and the number of graphs generated are determined. As a result, 969 graphs of articulated manipulators that have two-DOF non-fractionated intermediate kinematic chains and 33,438 graphs with two-DOF fractionated intermediate kinematic chains are generated, including practical articulated manipulators widely used in industry.

Comparison of Energy Prediction Algorithms for Differential and Skid-Steer Drive Mobile Robots on Different Ground Surfaces

A detailed literature analysis depicts that artificial neural networks are rarely used for the power consumption estimation in the mobile robotics field. Instead, researchers prefer to develop analytical models of investigated robots. This manuscript presents a comparison of mathematical models and non-complex artificial neural networks in energy prediction tasks for differential and skid-steer drive robots which move over various types of surfaces. The results show that both methods could be used interchangeably but AI methods are more universal, do not depend on the kinematic structure of a robot and are tolerant for designers not having a complex knowledge about the system.

An Adaptive Mechatronic Exoskeleton for Force-Controlled Finger Rehabilitation

This paper presents a novel mechatronic exoskeleton architecture for finger rehabilitation. The system consists of an underactuated kinematic structure that enables the exoskeleton to act as an adaptive finger stimulator. The exoskeleton has sensors for motion detection and control. The proposed architecture offers three main advantages. First, the exoskeleton enables accurate quantification of subject-specific finger dynamics. The configuration of the exoskeleton can be fully reconstructed using measurements from three angular position sensors placed on the kinematic structure. In addition, the actuation force acting on the exoskeleton is recorded. Thus, the range of motion (ROM) and the force and torque trajectories of each finger joint can be determined. Second, the adaptive kinematic structure allows the patient to perform various functional tasks. The force control of the exoskeleton acts like a safeguard and limits the maximum possible joint torques during finger movement. Last, the system is compact, lightweight and does not require extensive peripherals. Due to its safety features, it is easy to use in the home. Applicability was tested in three healthy subjects.

Initial Estimation of Kinematic Structure of a Robotic Manipulator as an Input for Its Synthesis

Researchers often deal with the synthesis of the kinematic structure of a robotic manipulator to determine the optimal manipulator for a given task. This approach can lower the cost of the manipulator and allow it to achieve poses that might be unreachable by universal manipulators in an existing constrained environment. Numerical methods are broadly used to find the optimum design but they often require an estimated initial kinematic structure as input, especially if local-optimum-search algorithms are used. This paper presents four different algorithms for such an estimation using the standard Denavit–Hartenberg convention. Two of the algorithms are able to reach a given position and the other two can reach both position and orientation using Bézier splines approximation and vector algebra. The results are demonstrated with three chosen example poses and are evaluated by measuring manipulability and the total link length of the final kinematic structures.