Degree-of-Freedom Analysis and Structural Synthesis of a Class of Host–Parasite Multi-Loop Mechanisms

The method of analyzing the mechanism in series, parallel and hybrid modes can no longer meet the requirements of analyzing multi-loop mechanisms (MLMs), especially multi-loop mechanisms with passive degrees of freedom(P-DOFs).This study presents an approach to analyzing sub-degree-of-freedom (sub-DOF) relations in a class of MLMs with P-DOFs (P-DOFs) as well as structurally synthesizing these mechanisms. First,the DOFs of mechanisms with P-DOFs are decomposed and combined,and two methods—multi-loop serial connection and multi-loop stacking—are formulated to establish MLMs with P-DOFs.Second, a DOF space (DOF-S) model is generated.Host–parasite (H–P) MLMs are proposed, and various types of parasitism are analyzed. Finally, various DOF distribution patterns in H–P MLMs are analyzed based on real-world examples. The results show the following. H–P mechanisms are a class of MLMs with P-DOFs. For an H–P mechanism, its DOFs can be longitudinally and centrally, transversely and centrally, or comprehensively optimally distributed in the DOF-S by selecting a suitable type of parasitism. The H–P-type palletizing robot prototype developed in this study is able to self-balance. This demonstrates that the comprehensive optimization of DOF distribution is effective. This study enriches the theoretical knowledge on MLMs, which are extensively applied in fields such as aerospace, industrial robotics, and numerical-control machine tools.

Improvement of the design method of thermal networks: serial connection of heat exchangers

The mathematical model of the system is considered consisting of a series connection of three heating devices. A system of equations based on the energy conservation law is constructed, which turns out to be incomplete. It is shown that, given the known requirements for the system, expressed only in the efficiency of the system, the formalization of design often becomes insoluble. The system of equations is supplemented with expressions in accordance with the hypothesis of the proportionality of the amount of energy in an element and is presented in matrix form. The design task is reduced to determining the elements of the matrix by the value of the determinants. Analysis of the mathematical model made it possible to obtain an expression for the efficiency of the system as a function of energy exchange in its elements. This made it possible to obtain solutions for flows and their relationships in the elements of the system. In addition, the efficiency of inter-network and intra-network energy exchange has been determined, which satisfy the principles of equilibrium and minimum uncertainty in the values of the average parameters of the system. As an application, one of the main parameters, NTU, is considered, which determines the area of heat exchange with the external environment and the mass and dimensional characteristics of the heat exchange system. Models of direct and opposite switching on of flows with variations of flows and the value of the surface of devices when meeting the requirements for the efficiency of the system are considered. The results of comparing the design process with the iterative calculation method are presented and the advantages of the proposed approach are shown

Modeling Battery Connections in the Electronic Lab

The paper deals with the modeling of the processes of charge-discharge of battery assemblies taking into account their degradation. The results of simulating the cyclic operation of battery assemblies in the Electronics Workbench electronic laboratory are presented, possible schemes of inclusion are given, and options for re-switching batteries during operation are considered as well as connecting additional elements to extend the life of the connection. The simulation took into account the presence of one defective battery in the assembly. The operation of the assembly with a defective battery and a reference battery was compared. As a result of the analysis of parallel-serial and serial-parallel battery connections, the first one is considered preferable. For an assembly with a parallel-serial connection, the time parameters of operation remained almost unchanged, but the differences in the voltages of the defective and other batteries changed more than twice as compared with a serial-parallel connection. The changes in charge, voltage and current of assemblies with a degraded battery and a reference battery are analyzed. Timing diagrams are shown for batteries connected in parallel and in series with defective batteries. Power losses in a defective battery are reduced by choosing a parallel-series assembly, while switching a connection from a serial-parallel connection to a parallel-series one does not lead to compensation for the degradation of battery parameters. Changing the switching time intervals in a wide range does not contribute to increasing the capacity of a defective battery. Degradation of battery parameters leads to sharper surges in voltage, charge and current. The additional power recharge of the defective battery maintains the performance of the entire assembly. Recharge can be performed by connecting in parallel a defective additional battery or a capacitor, which is equivalent to replacing a degraded battery with a new one.

Properties of Car-Embedded Vibrating Type Piezoelectric Harvesting System

We investigated the harvesting performance of a double piezoelectric generator, which was embedded into the engine block of a small passenger car. The resonance frequency is approximately between 37 and 52 Hz, where the cantilever showed maximum displacement. In reality, the cantilever has a vibrating characteristic, which dramatically reduces displacement, even when the operating frequency deviates slightly from the resonance frequency. To acquire a large mechanical energy-to-electrical energy conversion, a multiple-piezoelectric generator was employed to absorb the energy even when the vibration switched from a resonance to a non-resonance frequency. In this study, a variable mass box was designed and installed in the engine block of a car. The variable mass box consisted of the serial connection of two masses with different weights. The operating frequency deviated from a resonance to a non-resonance frequency within a few hertz (3~4 Hz); the reduction in vibration was lower, leading to a significant acquisition of the resulting power. This is due to the variable matching of the generator, realized by the action of dual mass. This type of generator was installed in the engine block and produced up to 0.038 and 0.357 mW when the engine was operating at 2200 and 3200 rpm, respectively.

Multiple Sensor Interface by the same hardware to USB and serial connection

The Multiple Sensor Interface is a simplistic sensor interface to USB, RS485, GPIO, that allows to make measurements of a variety of sensors based on the variation of inductance, resistance, capacitance, frequency using exactly the same connector and same electronic interface circuit between the sensor and the microcontroler. The same device also provides some additional connectors for small voltage measurement. Any sensors for the measurement of distinct phenomena can be used as long the sensor output is based on inductance, resistance, capacitance, frequency within the measurement range of the device, obtaining a variable precision depending of used sensor. The device is not meant for precision/accuracy measurement, is meant to be a reusable hardware that can be reused for most distinct situations, providing to the user more freedom of sensor selection as well more options for device/system maintenance or reuse.

The Concept of Accuracy Analysis of the Vertical Displacements Gained from the Hydrostatic Levelling Systems’ Measurements

Nowadays, hydrostatic levelling is a widely used method for the vertical displacements’ determinations of objects such as bridges, viaducts, wharfs, tunnels, high buildings, historical buildings, special engineering objects (e.g., synchrotron), sports and entertainment halls. The measurements’ sensors implemented in the hydrostatic levelling systems (HLSs) consist of the reference sensor (RS) and sensors located on the controlled points (CPs). The reference sensor is the one that is placed at the point that (in theoretical assumptions) is not a subject to vertical displacements and the displacements of controlled points are determined according to its height. The hydrostatic levelling rule comes from the Bernoulli’s law. While using the Bernoulli’s principle in hydrostatic levelling, the following components have to be taken into account: atmospheric pressure, force of gravity, density of liquid used in sensors places at CPs. The parameters mentioned above are determined with some mean errors that influence on the accuracy assessment of vertical displacements. In the subject’s literature, there are some works describing the individual accuracy analyses of the components mentioned above. In this paper, the author proposes the concept of comprehensive determination of mean error of vertical displacement (of each CPs), calculated from the mean errors’ values of components dedicated for specific HLS. The formulas of covariances’ matrix were derived and they enable to make the accuracy assessment of the calculations’ results. The author also presented the subject of modelling of vertical displacements’ gained values. The dependences, enabling to conduct the statistic tests of received model’s parameters, were implemented. The conducted tests make it possible to verify the correctness of used theoretical models of the examined object treated as the rigid body. The practical analyses were conducted for two simulated variants of sensors’ connections in HLS. Variant no. I is the sensors’ serial connection. Variant no. II relies on the connection of each CPs with the reference sensor. The calculations’ results show that more detailed value estimations of the vertical displacements can be obtained using variant no. II.