Home About us Contact | |||
Robot Arm (robot + arm)
Selected AbstractsDeployable Truss Operation by ETS-VII Robot Arm Using Force Accommodation ControlCOMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 3 2001Masahiro Nohmi An experiment for teleoperating a truss structure has been performed as part of a space robotics mission on Engineering Test Satellite No. 7 (ETS-VII). This article reports the results from truss experiments conducted by means of the ETS-VII robot arm using force accommodation control, which is a specific control law developed for the ETS-VII robot arm. With this control function, the robot arm moves toward the point where the external force becomes the command value, which is sent from the ground. This control technique is useful especially in the case of teleoperation with time delay, since excessive force and torque can be avoided, and in addition, no a priori trajectory information is required. However, the robot arm cannot attain the desired configuration for itself. These characteristics can be used for deployable and assembly truss operation, making full use of merits and avoiding demerits. The effectiveness is confirmed through an ETS-VII onboard experiment. [source] Experiments on stabilizing receding horizon control of a direct drive manipulatorELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATIONS IN JAPAN, Issue 5 2008Yasunori Kawai Abstract In this paper, the application of receding horizon control to a two-link direct drive robot arm is demonstrated. Instead of terminal constraints, a terminal cost on receding horizon control is used to guarantee stability, because of the computational demand. The key idea of this paper is to apply receding horizon control with a terminal cost derived from the energy function of the robot system. The energy function is defined as the control Lyapunov function by considering inverse optimality. In experimental results, stability and performance are compared with respect to the horizon length by applying receding horizon control and inverse optimal control to the robot arm. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn, 91(5): 33,40, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecj.10113 [source] Developments of fuzzy PID controllersEXPERT SYSTEMS, Issue 5 2005H. B. Kazemian Abstract: This paper describes the development and tuning methods for a novel self-organizing fuzzy proportional integral derivative (PID) controller. Before applying fuzzy logic, the PID gains are tuned using a conventional tuning method. At supervisory level, fuzzy logic readjusts the PID gains online. In the first tuning method, fuzzy logic at the supervisory level readjusts the three PID gains during the system operation. In the second tuning method, fuzzy logic only readjusts the proportional PID gain, and the corresponding integral and derivative gains are readjusted using the Ziegler,Nichols tuning method while the system is in operation. For the compositional rule of inferences in the fuzzy PID and the self-organizing fuzzy PID schemes two new approaches are introduced: the min implication function with the mean of maxima defuzzification method, and the max-product implication function with the centre of gravity defuzzification method. The fuzzy PID controller, the self-organizing fuzzy PID controller and the PID controller are all applied to a non-linear revolute-joint robot arm for step input and path tracking experiments using computer simulation. For the step input and path tracking experiments, the novel self-organizing fuzzy PID controller produces a better output response than the fuzzy PID controller; and in turn both controllers exhibit better process output than the PID controller. [source] Decisional autonomy of planetary roversJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 7 2007Félix Ingrand To achieve the ever increasing demand for science return, planetary exploration rovers require more autonomy to successfully perform their missions. Indeed, the communication delays are such that teleoperation is unrealistic. Although the current rovers (such as MER) demonstrate a limited navigation autonomy, and mostly rely on ground mission planning, the next generation (e.g., NASA Mars Science Laboratory and ESA Exomars) will have to regularly achieve long range autonomous navigation tasks. However, fully autonomous long range navigation in partially known planetary-like terrains is still an open challenge for robotics. Navigating hundreds of meters without any human intervention requires the robot to be able to build adequate representations of its environment, to plan and execute trajectories according to the kind of terrain traversed, to control its motions, and to localize itself as it moves. All these activities have to be planned, scheduled, and performed according to the rover context, and controlled so that the mission is correctly fulfilled. To achieve these objectives, we have developed a temporal planner and an execution controller, which exhibit plan repair and replanning capabilities. The planner is in charge of producing plans composed of actions for navigation, science activities (moving and operating instruments), communication with Earth and with an orbiter or a lander, while managing resources (power, memory, etc.) and respecting temporal constraints (communication visibility windows, rendezvous, etc.). High level actions also need to be refined and their execution temporally and logically controlled. Finally, in such critical applications, we believe it is important to deploy a component that protects the system against dangerous or even fatal situations resulting from unexpected interactions between subsystems (e.g., move the robot while the robot arm is unstowed) and/or software components (e.g., take and store a picture in a buffer while the previous one is still being processed). In this article we review the aforementioned capabilities, which have been developed, tested, and evaluated on board our rovers (Lama and Dala). After an overview of the architecture design principle adopted, we summarize the perception, localization, and motion generation functions required by autonomous navigation, and their integration and concurrent operation in a global architecture. We then detail the decisional components: a high level temporal planner that produces the robot activity plan on board, and temporal and procedural execution controllers. We show how some failures or execution delays are being taken care of with online local repair, or replanning. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] A cross-coupling controller using an H, scheme and its application to a two-axis direct-drive robotJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 10 2002Ren-Wu Fang A cross-coupling controller (CCC) using an H, control scheme has been proposed to reduce the contouring error for a two-axis, direct-drive robot in tracking linear and circular contours effectively. Under the consideration that contour-tracking performance is a primary target over point-to-point tracking performance in a trajectory-tracking task, a CCC has been associated with joint controllers to reduce the contouring error by coordinating the motion of a two-axis robot arm. Contouring performance can thus be improved significantly. Furthermore, the proposed CCC design, which is a typical Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) system with linear time varying (LTV) characteristics, has been verified as being internally stable. A USM (ultrasonic motor)-driven, two-axis, direct-drive robot is utilized to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed scheme. Several experiments under various operating conditions are performed to validate its efficacy, and the results showed that the proposed scheme can reduce the contouring error significantly. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] A robot-assisted study of intrinsic muscle regulation on proximal interphalangeal joint stiffness by varying metacarpophalangeal joint positionJOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH, Issue 3 2006Zong-Ming Li Abstract The tightness of intrinsic hand muscles is a common cause of finger joint stiffness. The purposes of this study were to develop a robot-assisted methodology to obtain torque,angle data of a finger joint, and to investigate the regulation of the intrinsic muscles on finger joint stiffness. Our robot system features the integration of a low payload robot arm, a controller, and a force/torque transducer. The system provided highly reproducible torque,angle curves. Torque,angle data of the proximal interphalangeal joint with the metacarpophalangeal joint at 0 and 60 degrees were obtained from eight asymptomatic hands. The torque,angle curve shifted with the position of the metacarpophalangeal joint. As the metacarpophalangeal joint flexion angle changed from 60 to 0 degrees, the equilibrium of the proximal interphalangeal joint increased more than 20 degrees, and joint stiffness increased more than 50%. The dependence of the stiffness of the proximal interphalangeal joint on metacarpophalangeal joint position supports the regulatory role of the intrinsic muscles on finger joint mechanics. This regulatory mechanics is likely amplified in hands with intrinsic muscle tightness, justifying the commonly used Bunnell Intrinsic Tightness Test. © 2005 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 24:407,415, 2006 [source] Nonlinear Modeling and Tracking Control of a Hydraulic Rotary Vane ActuatorPROCEEDINGS IN APPLIED MATHEMATICS & MECHANICS, Issue 1 2005Frank Heidtmann Rotary vane actuators as rotational drives provide rotational movements directly because they are constructed as a joint and actuator in one. So it is possible to pass on the disadvantageous transmission kinematics used with the so far usual differential cylinders at the arms of large manipulators. However, the use of hydraulic rotary vane actuators is associated with high internal oil leakage and/or high friction. Therefore, a nonlinear dynamic model for such an actuator, driving a rigid robot arm, as well as its nonlinear control are derived. To achieve tracking control a model based control law is set up using fundamental linear differential equations for the tracking error. The control law is implemented and tested on a testbed, the produced experimental results are presented. The same control algorithm can also be used to realize nonlinear disturbance attenuation for hydraulic rotary vane actuators via tracking control. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Flexible system for simulating and tele-operating robots through the internetJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 3 2005F. A. Candelas Simulation and teleoperation tools offer many advantages for the training or learning of technological subjects, such as flexibility in time-tables and student access to expensive and limited equipment. In this paper, we present a new system for simulating and tele-operating robot arms through the Internet, which allows many users to simulate and test positioning commands for a robot by means of a virtual environment, as well as execute the validated commands in a real remote robot of the same characteristics. The main feature of the system is its flexibility in managing different robots or including new robot models and equipment. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] |