Mechanical Structure Of Robot Research Articles

Power Transmission Line Broken Strand Repair Robot and Visual Control Method

This paper proposes a design of machine vision based broken strand repair robot on power transmission line. Through the analysis of the task and process of repairing the broken strands, the design scheme of the broken strand repair robot mechanical structure based on the clamp block repair method is proposed. Aiming at the disadvantages of traditional visual detection methods under the influence of complex object background and strong light, a visual inspection method based on deep learning is proposed to identify the conductor, vibration damper and broken strand, and automatically locate the bifurcation point of the broken strand. Using visual measurement and control technology, control the operation manipulator to straighten, reset, reinforce and repair the forked aluminum wire. Developed a robot experimental prototype, the experimental results verify the feasibility of the robot structure design and the effectiveness of the visual control algorithm.

Design and Motion Analysis of a Magnetic Climbing Robot Applied to Ship Shell Plate

The manufacture, maintenance and inspection of a ship involve a series of works on the ship shell plate, which were always seen as harmful for human operators and time-consuming work. The shipping industry is looking to replace manual work with automation equipment. A magnetic climbing robot that can omnidirectionally move on ship shell plate was presented in this paper. This article summarized the mechanical structure, control system, kinematic model, and autonomy of robot. The mechanical structure of the robot was inspired by bionics and adopted a wheel-leg hybrid locomotion system. In the control system of this robot, industrial control computer (IPC) was adopted as the core controller and brushless direct current servomotor was chosen as the actuating station. Finally, the motion analysis of the designed robot was performed. The results of the analysis show that the magnetic climbing robot adapted to the ship curved shell plate and crossed obstacles.

Inverse Kinematic Simulation of Industrial Robotic Manipulators Using RecurDyn and Matlab with Experiment Verification

The simulation and application of industrial robots has developed very quickly in recent decades. Along with the development of computer science, a lot of softwares to perform dynamic simulation have been created. The results of simulation can be used for layout evaluation, kinematic, dynamic study, off-line programming to avoid obstacle and for design mechanical structure of robots. A co-simulation of 2R industrial robots have been performed by Recurdyn and Matlab. The input parameters are executed under Matlab, and then exported to Recurdyn environment. Kinematic parameters will be executed by RecurDyn then exported to Matlab. The main tasks of this paper are performing 2R robotic manipulator kinematic simulation in two postures with the same trajectory and the same time. Thus, the result of simulation can be compared with theories. Finally, a real 2R robot model was used to verify the trajectory with CAE simulation.

Operation Motion Planning and Principle Prototype Design of Four-Wheel-Driven Mobile Robot for High-Voltage Double-Split Transmission Lines

In response to the problems of high labor intensity, high risk, and poor reliability of artificial live working, a four-wheel-driven spacer bar replacement mobile operation robot has been designed and developed in this paper, and the corresponding kinematic and dynamics model have been established, based on the established double models, the kinematics and dynamics numerical analysis can be realized through INVENTOR and ADAMS, respectively, based on the established kinematics and dynamics models . The results show that the simulation value of the robot joint displacement, velocity, acceleration, and joint force can be able to meet the requirements of kinematic and dynamic constraints during the robot operation. The robot prototype can meet the requirement of dual-split robot working space and the operation joint force control, which not only extend the robot adaptability to the multisplit lines heterogeneous operation environment but also provide an important theoretical technical support for the exploit of the robot physical prototype. Through the robot kinematics and dynamics analysis, the robot mechanical structure parameters and electrical control parameters have been effectively optimized. The weight and cost of the robot have been reduced by 12% and 15% compared to the existed studies. Finally, the robot principle prototype mobile platform has been developed, and the correctness of robot kinematics and dynamics simulation analysis has been verified through the robot principle prototype mobile platform.

Development of Multifunctional Greenhouse Agricultural Robot

This paper developed a multifunctional greenhouse agriculture robot. Firstly, combining the advantages of wheel-tracked type and gantry frame type structure, the robot mechanical structure is designed, which includes three-axis motion mechanism, robot mobile platform and end-effectors. Secondly, the electrical design is completed. Raspberry Pi is selected as the main control due to powerful function, low cost and rich information and circuit design software Fritzing is used for robot hardware modeling. Multi-axis control algorithm for stepping motor is proposed. Finally, the robot prototype system is developed and each function is verified by experiments. The results show that the designed robot can not only be applied to many stages of greenhouse planting growth, complete data collection and perform farming tasks, but also has the advantages of high efficiency and low cost. It is easy to be popularized and applied in Greenhouse.

Walking Assist Robot: A Novel Non-Contact Abnormal Gait Recognition Approach Based on Extended Set Membership Filter

This work develops intelligent walking assist robot and gait rehabilitation robot for people with walking disabilities, where distinguishing of abnormal gait is crucial during safe human-robot interaction. Although vision sensors and wearable inertial devices are widely used in fall detection system, shielding of robot mechanical structure brings instability for visual detection method, and utilizing a large number of wearable sensors brings discomfort and complexity for users. Meanwhile, the frequent drag-to-drop gait has never been considered, which is a kind of intermittent state between normal state and fall. It's a major challenge to achieve an abnormal gait recognition system with high stability and good comfort. In this paper, a novel non-contact gait recognition method is proposed, which can identify fall and drag-to-drop gait in a stable and comfortable way. Leg movement data is obtained by a built-in-robot camera, which accurately describes gait law through contrast test and error analysis. New-type ESMF algorithm is proposed to evaluate knee angle precisely and resolve the issue of marker point loss effectively. The comprehensive experiments have shown that this innovative approach calculates accurately knee angle in the walking process so as to recognize the phenomenon of drag-to-drop gait and fall. Additionally, this method having a sound theoretical basis and higher stability solves the issue of marker point loss, which could be applied to a walker with a similar structure for elderly and disabled in a comfortable way.

The communication and stability evaluation of amphibious spherical robots

This paper aims to improve the collaboration ability and stability of amphibious spherical robots (ASRs). According to our previous researches, robots have no communication or control stability module. This study designed a new torque gyro control stability and an artificial electronic communication module devoted to allowing the robot to both move on land and underwater, which used a gyro sensor to design a closed-loop control module to perform terrestrial locomotion efficiently. Regarding the spherical robot mechanical structure and dynamic model, the robot communication module is designed, and the physical robot is set up to complete specific experiments. In addition, it is necessary to analyze the underwater and land motion to evaluate the performance of the robot stability motion and communication module, which includes the gait stability and velocity, and predicts the effects of the key parameters, such as electrode distance and emitter current of the amphibious spherical robot when it moves in underwater or on land. We also characterize communicate performance of the robots in still water with obstacles and natural water conditions.

POLIBOT – POwer Lines Inspection RoBOT

PurposeSeveral studies have aimed to develop robotic systems which move in transmission lines. Until this moment, all of them have a high weight and cost associated with the equipment and reduced battery autonomy time. In this context, this paper aims to propose the POLIBOT (POwer Lines Inspection roBOT) with low cost and weight, enabling the movement over the lines and an easier installation and remove.Design/methodology/approachThe designed robot uses the Profiles Manufacturing Methodology (PMM). The construction of the robot mechanical structure uses modularized aluminum parts built through square profiles. Thus, it’s possible a drastic reduction in production time as well as cost reduction and weight when comparing this method with other manufacturing processes like foundry, for example. For hardware and software systems, the use of free and open source software causes a significant reduction in cost and project execution time. The benefits of using open source systems are immeasurable, both from academic and industrial applications.FindingsThe POLIBOT platform is one solution to the problem of inspection in power lines. With this robot, more lines are maintained with lower time. In its constructive aspect, the robotic mechanism is designed using principles of bioengineering. The use of this principle was successful, considering that obstacle transposition is performed with stability and low energy consumption.Research limitations/implicationsThe suggestion for future researches is to replace the battery for solar energy and construction in polymeric material to avoid high magnetic fields.Practical implicationsThe commercial application is evident because manual inspections are inefficient, very expensive and dangerous. Thus, it is growing the number of researches that develop mechatronics systems for this kind of inspection.Social implicationsThe impact is the reduction of accidents because the present procedure requires precision of movements, where the pilot and electrical technician are close to high electrical and magnetic fields. In addition, for some tasks, the worker has to walk on the line to reach some important points. Thus, those tasks involve high risk of death.Originality/valueThe PMM methodology represents an innovation to the state of the art because others robotic mechanisms proposed for inspection tasks present total structure mass between 50 and 100 kg and POLIBOT has only 9 kg. Other fact is its price for implementation as this robot used the robot operating system (ROS) framework, what dispense the use of licenses. Other important features are that the robot performs the tasks autonomously, which reduces errors introduced by the operator and its low manufacturing cost as compared with other projects.

A Two-Wheeled Mobile Non-Inverted-Pendulum Robot

The two-wheeled mobile non-inverted-pendulum (NIP) robot which is the topic of this paper is a new prototype of a two-wheeled mobile pendulum robot with two internal devices. The pendulum contains the control devices; it is not inverted and free to oscillate. The robot actuation mode is insured by the potential energy of the internal devices. It has two actuators and the free oscillation of the pendulum is mechanically controlled. The robot mechanical structure, the kinematics, the dynamics are given.

New Concept for Design and Control of 4 Axis Robot Using the Additive Manufacturing Technology

This work introduces a new concept for designing and manufacturing an industrial robot by using modern production techniques and a 3D modelling software. The most important requirements of this project were to build a customized, lightweight and low cost robot, capable to fulfil many industrial working tasks such as palletizing mobile telephone covers. For designing and optimizing the mechanical structure of the palletizing robot a SolidWorks- software was used. Integrating motion simulation tools in SolidWorks intensely reduces the engineering time for finding the optimal mechanical structure of the robot according to the industrial task. The robot parts are produced by using the additive manufacturing technology- powder material PA 2200. For solving the forward and inverse kinematics of the robot, the Software tool SimMechanics from MathWorks was used. This environment provided by the software enables building a human machine interface in order to store and program the robot targets. This project additionally shows the new benefited experience about mechanical structure of robots using the powder material PA 2200. Furthermore the advantages and disadvantages of this concept will be comprehensively explained.

Force Sensing to Control a Bio-Inspired Walking Robot

This paper presents the configuration for a bio-inspired walking robot to be used as a development experimental platform in order to validate control architectures. Basing on direct exploitation of the properties of a robot's mechanical structure, an approach for achieving force sensing is presented. During the robot's (electronic and mechanical) developmental phase, we were able to determinate knots with increases levels of tension and compression, in order to send signals to the strain gauges and to indirectly measure contact forces between the legs and the terrain. This study allowed us to theoretically allocate a group of strain gauges on the optimal positions in the mechanical structure so that they can accomplish the dynamic control of the robot.

Design and Field Test of a Rover Robot for Antarctic Based on Renewable Energy

Design a rover robot for scientific mission in Antarctic based on renewable energy. Analysis and design the robot's mechanical structure, motion drive, control power system based on specific terrain, surface condition, temperature, wind speed in Antarctic. Wind energy is chosen by more balanced distribution of timeline, vertical axis wind turbine that is fit the structure requirement of the rover. Wheel drive mode and in-hub motor are chosen for higher power efficiency. Design the variable differential linkage for higher trafficability stationarity. The rover does the field test in Zhongshan Station in Antarctic, the results shows that the rover can move on different ground surface condition near Zhongshan Station, the trafficability for obstacle meets requirements, the renewable energy system can provide continuous power supply for the rover. But the results also show that the steering mode, energy capture efficiency, control mode are not meet the requirements of the environment, further research and test is needed.

Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL) Simulation Used for Testing Actuation System of a 2-DOF Parallel Robot

This paper focuses on the subject of Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulations from mechatronic systems design perspective. HIL is a real-time simulation where real subsystem parts of a complex engineering system are coupled together with the numerical models of the remaining subsystems to form its complete representation. In a HIL simulation there are three main components: simulated components, dedicated hardware systems and real components. An impediment in using this method is the high cost of necessary hardware. The paper presents an economical alternative to existing dedicated hardware systems by using the development board FiO Std. Using this board, a HIL simulation aimed at analyzing the control and actuation system of a 2-DOF parallel robot is presented in this paper. The HIL simulation includes two models: a target model (running on FiO Std board) and a host model (running on MATLAB/Simulink). The dynamic model of the robot mechanical structure (simulated part) is implemented in host model and then coupled together with two servo-motors (real parts) through target model to form a complete representation of the studied system.

Parametric Optimization Design on Mine Carrier Robot

To a virtual prototype technology for tools，to a movement stationary of the carrier robot for goal, studied on the parametric optimization method based on virtual prototype technology. The paper designed the carrier robot mechanical structure and established the robot parameterization model in Solid Works, divided the robot into twelve rigid bodies, sixteen hinges and two elementary forces. Transferred the rigid bodies models into Universal Mechanism, added the bound hinges and the elementary forces, set the track irregularity model and path model. By computer simulations technology, took the wheelbase for example, introduced the selection method of the best value. The method can be applied to make certain the other parameters of the robot.

Co-evolution of Morphology and Control of a Wearable Robot for Human Locomotion Assistance Exploiting Variable Impedance Actuators

The basic idea underlying this research is that the performances of wearable robots (WR) might be improved by optimizing the dynamics of the system comprised of the robot and the human body wearing it. This problem is not amenable to analytical investigations, and it asks for suitable numerical techniques able to simultaneously account for both robot mechanical structure dynamics and control laws. This paper presents on-going research efforts oriented to demonstrate a novel methodology for the design of an active lower limbs orthosis.

Robot-assisted MRI-guided prostatic interventions

SUMMARYThis paper reports on recent progress made toward the development of a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-compatible robot-assisted surgical system for closed-bore image-guided prostatic interventions: thermal ablation, radioactive seed implants (brachytherapy), and biopsy. Each type of intervention will be performed with a different image-guided, robot-based surgical tool mounted on the same MRI-guided robot through a modular trocar. The first stage of this development addresses only laser-based focal ablation. The robot mechanical structure, modular surgical trocar, control architecture, and current stage of performance evaluation in the MRI environment are presented. The robot actuators are ultrasonic motors. A methodology of using such motors in the MRI environment is presented. The robot prototype with surgical ablation tool is undergoing tests on phantoms in the MRI bore. The tests cover MRI compatibility, image visualization, robot accuracy, and thermal mapping. To date, (i) the images are artifact- and noise-free for certain scanning pulse sequences; (ii) the robot tip positioning error is less than 1.2 mm even at positions closer than 0.3 m from the MRI isocenter; (iii) penetration toward the target is image-monitored in near-real time; and (iv) thermal ablation and temperature mapping are achieved using a laser delivered on an optical fiber and MRI, respectively.

Overview of research on agricultural robot in China

As the representation of new concept agricultural machinery, agricultural robots possess great advantages of improving agricultural productivity, enhancing production environment and solving the problem of labor shortage. Therefore, the strategy of application of agricultural robots and precise agriculture to improve the intelligence and information level of agriculture is the inevitable trend for China’s agriculture of twentieth century. Based on the development status of agricultural robots in China, the agricultural robots are categorized and the performances, structures and characteristics of various agricultural robots such as vegetable grafting robot, transplant robot, mowing robot, spraying robot, harvesting robot are amply introduced. It can be seen that vegetable grafting robot, spraying robot and harvesting robot have already been put into production while others are still at experimental stage. At present, there are several problems such as low popularization, great limitations, high cost and low intelligence, which greatly restrict the development of agricultural robot in China. Thus, open agricultural robot system with good expansibility, generality and flexibility shall be developed and adopted to decrease its cost and shorten the development cycle of robot. The mechanical structure of robot should also be designed as simple as possible. Finally, multi-robot system would become another important development direction of agricultural robot in future. Keywords: agricultural robots; robots for facility breeding; robots for field management; robots for harvesting; robots for grading and detecting DOI: 10.3965/j.issn.1934-6344.2008.01.012-021 Citation: Zhang Libin, Yang Qinghua, Bao Guanjun, Wang Yan, Qi Liyong, Gao Feng, et al. Overview of research on agricultural robots in China. Int J Agric & Biol Eng. 2008;1(1): 12

Simulation in robotics

Simulation has been recognized as an important research tool since the beginning of the 20th century. However, the “good times” for simulation started with the development of computers and now the simulation is a powerful visualization, planning, and strategic tool in different areas of research and development. The simulation has also a very important role in robotics. Different tools are used for the analysis of kinematics and dynamics of robotic manipulators, for off-line programming, to design different control algorithms, to design mechanical structure of robots, to design robotic cells and production lines, etc. In the paper an overview of the simulation in robotics is given and some topics like: how simulation makes things easier, advantages and backdraws of the simulation in robotics, virtual and real world, are pointed out. The scope of the lecture is the role of the simulation, simulation in different fields of robotics, integrated environment for dynamic simulation of robot manipulators, the simulation of robot manipulators in MATLAB/Simulink (a case study), and simulation and visualization of robot systems using general dynamic engines and graphic languages.

A Formal-Numerical Approach for Robust In-Workspace Singularity Detection

Singularity is a major problem for parallel robots as in these configurations the robot cannot be controlled, and there may be infinite forces/torques in its joints, possibly leading to its breakdown. Hence, such a configuration must usually be avoided, and certifying the absence of singularity within a prescribed workspace or on a given trajectory is essential for a practical use of this type of robots. Singularity conditions are usually quite complex, and therefore a purely analytical analysis is difficult. We present here an algorithm that combines formal and numerical calculations for detecting singularity or closeness to a singularity within an arbitrary workspace or trajectory. This algorithm has the very important advantage of being able to deal with any robot mechanical structure and to manage uncertainties in the robot control and in the robot modeling.

Methodology for Zero-moment Point Experimental Modeling in the Frequency Domain

Frequency domain methodology is applied to obtain a nominal model for the Zero-Moment Point (ZMP) stability index of a biped robot in an attempt to establish a relationship between the robot trunk trajectories and the stability margin of the contact surface of the foot (or feet) touching the supporting soil. To this end the biped robot trunk is excited with a variable frequency sinusoidal signal around several operating points. These input oscillations generate other output oscillations that can be analyzed with the help of the ZMP measurement system. The proposed ZMP modeling approach not only considers classical rigid body model uncertainties but also non-modelled robot mechanical structure vibration modes. The non-linear ZMP model is obtained following three consecutive stages: Equivalent inverted pendulum dynamics, where saturation and acceleration upper bounds are taken into account, non-modelled inverted pendulum dynamics, including non-linear effects, and low-pass dynamics defining the system cut-off frequency. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated in practice with the SILO2 biped robot prototype, and a simple control strategy is implemented in order to validate experimentally the usefulness of the models developed.