Strong Dynamic Coupling Research Articles

Path planning of 6-DOF free-floating space robotic manipulators using reinforcement learning

This paper presents a study on path planning for 6-DOF free-floating space robotic manipulators using Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient-based Reinforcement Learning. The focus is the development of a novel reward function tailored to address critical requirements for efficient and effective manipulation in space. These requirements include accurate pose alignment between the end-effector and the target, collision avoidance with both the target and other links of the manipulator, smoothing of joint velocities, adaptability to strong dynamic coupling between the manipulator and its base spacecraft due to high manipulator-spacecraft mass ratio, and resilience to noise in the state observations. Uniquely, the proposed reward function employs quaternions for orientation control to reduce pose misalignments and dynamic singularities, as opposed to traditional Euler angles. Our findings demonstrate that the Reinforcement Learning algorithm, when guided by this new reward function that integrates these enhancements and constraints, not only achieves the desired path planning objectives more efficiently but also exhibits faster convergence. Furthermore, the Reinforcement Learning successfully manages significant dynamic coupling effects caused by a high mass ratio between the robotic manipulator and the base spacecraft. Even under the challenge of noisy state observations, the trained agent successfully completes the path planning task, proving the Reinforcement Learning's applicability to real-space mission designs where the noise in observation is inevitable. The study highlights the critical role of reward function design in the Reinforcement Learning training process and its consequential impact on the solution quality, providing a solid foundation for future advancements in free-floating space robotic missions.

RNA-induced Allosteric Coupling Drives Viral Capsid Assembly

Understanding the mechanisms by which single-stranded RNA viruses regulate capsid assembly around their RNA genomes has become increasingly important for the development of both antiviral treatments and drug delivery systems. In this study, we investigate the effects of RNA-induced allostery in a single-stranded RNA virus—Levivirus bacteriophage MS2 assembly—using the computational methods of the Dynamic Flexibility Index and the Dynamic Coupling Index. We demonstrate that not only does asymmetric binding of RNA to a symmetric MS2 coat protein dimer increase the flexibility of the distant FG-loop, inducing a conformational change to an asymmetric dimer, but also RNA binding reorganizes long-distance communications, making all the other positions extremely sensitive to the fluctuation of the ordered FG-loop. Additionally, we find that a point mutation in the FG-loop, W82R, leads to the loss of this asymmetry in communications, likely being a leading cause for assembly-deficient dimers. Lastly, this dominant communication that enhances its dynamic coupling with all the distal positions is not only a property of the dimer but is also exhibited by all the observed capsid intermediates. This strong dynamic coupling allows for unidirectional signal transduction that drives the formation of the experimentally observed capsid intermediates and fully assembled capsid. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Chain position optimization of a 4UPS−UPU parallel mechanism considering dynamic coupling effects

The strong dynamic coupling effects among kinematic chains are not beneficial to the control of parallel mechanisms. This paper deals with the chain position optimization of a 4UPS−UPU parallel mechanism to reduce dynamic coupling effects among kinematic chains. Using the kinematic model, the Jacobian matrix is derived, and a method is proposed to transform it into a non-dimensional form and being independent of scaling factors. A singularity index is formulated based on the normalized determinant of the modified Jacobian matrix, guiding the optimization of chain positions at the base platform. Subsequently, the dynamic model is derived by using the principle of virtual work and a novel dynamic coupling index is proposed by taking both the inertia and centrifugal terms in the dynamic model into account. The neural network is then employed to enhance the calculation efficiency of the dynamic coupling index. Finally, the chain positions at the moving platform are optimized using Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm. This optimization process significantly reduces the dynamic coupling effects among kinematic chains in the parallel mechanism, thereby conferring advantageous benefits to its overall control.

Parameters identification and trajectory optimization of free-floating space robots

There is a strong dynamic coupling between the base of free-floating space robot and the space manipulator. In order to reduce the interference of the movement of the space manipulator on the robot's base, the trajectory of the space manipulator needs to be optimized. In this paper, the joint path of space manipulators is optimized by using the pseudo-spectral method to reduce the impact of the arm movement on the base. For space robots, parameters identification is the premise of trajectory planning. A parameters identification method is proposed, which only needs to measure the base's angular speed. Numerical simulation results verify the validity of the proposed method. The attitude angle of floating base returns to the initial state after maneuvers of space manipulators.

Adaptive and intelligent control of a dual-arm space robot for target manipulation during the post-capture phase

Dual-arm space robots provide a promising solution for efficiently and flexibly completing complex on-orbit servicing tasks. However, their effectiveness is often hindered by strong dynamic coupling between the robotic arms and the satellite base in the microgravity environment. In this paper, both robotic arms are used as task arms, and a system model that considers the closed-loop constraint formed after a dual-arm space robot captures a target is established. On this basis, two types of control strategies, namely self-tuning control strategy (STC) and radial basis function neural network control strategy (RBF) are proposed for trajectory tracking of the target transferred or detumbled by the robot arms in the presence of system uncertainty or external disturbances. The control methods are verified and compared against the traditional computed torque control strategy (CTC) in terms of control accuracy and system robustness through simulation. The results demonstrate the excellent robustness of both RBF and STC strategies. RBF outperforms the other strategies in terms of control accuracy, while STC proves to be the most energy-efficient.

Adaptive Control of Mini Space Robot Based on Linear Separation of Inertial Parameters

Space robots exhibit a strong dynamic coupling between the manipulator and the base spacecraft, with this phenomenon being particularly pronounced in mini space robots. The uncertainty surrounding the inertial parameters of space robots often renders dynamics-based controllers ineffective, and identifying these parameters in an on-orbit environment poses significant challenges. In this paper, we propose an adaptive controller for dynamic approximation that is specifically designed for mini space robots. This controller employs a linear separation of inertial parameters and utilizes recursive least-squares and Lyapunov methods to update the inertial parameter vectors. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of this adaptive controller in enabling mini space robots to accurately track predefined trajectories. Additionally, we compare the effects of the two parameter update methods on the controller stability under varying prior inertial parameter errors. The proposed inertial parameter separation adaptive controller significantly approximates the dynamics of mini space robots and facilitates precise on-orbit control, thereby offering considerable potential for advancing space exploration, satellite missions, and robotic operations.

A Knee-Guided Evolutionary Computation Design for Motor Performance Limitations of a Class of Robot With Strong Nonlinear Dynamic Coupling

Robots for high-speed manipulation require to produce motions beyond the performance limitations set by the traditional approaches. Recent results integrate the properties associated with dynamic coupling driving and structural mechanics to compute optimal smooth arm motions; however, when accelerating the convergence speed of potential solutions, those approaches cannot avoid premature convergence. In this article, we propose an autonomous motion planning method at the torque level for a class of robots considering multiple conflicting performance metrics. Specifically, we focus on the hyper dynamic manipulation of a golf swing robot using a knee-guided multiobjective optimization algorithm. Compared with traditional planning methods in position or velocity level, it can study motor performance limitations with strong nonlinear dynamic coupling beyond the motion limits designed by the manufacturers. First, the robot’s joint torque is approximated by the B-spline method using the solution at each iteration. Then, we transform the motion planning problem into a multiobjective optimization problem with soft constraints of torque limits and hard constraints of joint stops, and develop a knee-guided evolutionary algorithm to find the optimization solution with the quality tradeoffs between the scale of parameters and metrics. Finally, we conduct the simulation to demonstrate the dynamics performance of the golf swing robot. The results indicate that our approach can generate superior dynamics performance beyond limits with low energy consumption and high precision.

Self-Alignment Capability Analysis and Self-Attraction Dipole Solution of Spacecraft Electromagnetic Docking

Spacecraft electromagnetic docking has many potential advantages, such as no propellant consumption and plume contamination, while providing high-precision, continuous, reversible, synchronous, and noncontacting control capabilities. With these advantages, there are strong dynamic nonlinearity and coupling, which are not friendly to controller design. Electromagnetic actuation has capabilities of force/torque symmetry and self-alignment, which could be exploited not only to simplify the controller but also to reduce the demand of relative motion measurement and improve control precision. In this paper, based on the theoretical derivation of nonlinear relative motion dynamic models, the magnetic force/torque symmetries and the self-alignment capability are analyzed, and then the self-attraction magnetic dipoles are solved. In addition, several numerical simulation cases are given to verify these capabilities and dipole solutions.

Unmanned Aerial Transportation System With Flexible Connection Between the Quadrotor and the Payload: Modeling, Controller Design, and Experimental Validation

Aerial delivery is becoming a reality due to the development of microelectronics and communication technology. Most existing methods for cable-suspended transportation systems utilize fixed-length cable to connect the unmanned aerial vehicle quadrotor and the payload. Such aerial transportation systems present underactuated property, which is caused by the indirectly controllable payload motion and the underactuation of the quadrotor itself. In practical applications, payload hoisting and lowering motion independent of the quadrotor altitude will further expand the application scope in such areas as limited space crossing and offshore sample collection. To realize the aforementioned objectives, a flexible connection between the quadrotor and the payload is realized by mounting an actuator beneath the fuselage. Suffering from strong nonlinearity and complex dynamic coupling, the control problem becomes extremely challenging and more cumbersome, as the system’s degree of freedom (DOF) increases. To deal with these problems, in this article, a nonlinear control approach is presented by energy-based analysis, which achieves simultaneous quadrotor positioning, payload swing elimination and hoisting <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">/</b> lowering. Lyapunov techniques and LaSalle’s Invariance theorem are utilized to prove the asymptotic convergence of the equilibrium point. Finally, a series of hardware experiments are conducted on a self-built aerial transportation platform. As far as we know, this article provides the first mechanism and control solution for payload hoisting/lowering independent of the quadrotor altitude.

Non-linear effects of natural and anthropogenic drivers on ecosystem services: Integrating thresholds into conservation planning

Ecosystem services (ESs) have been widely used for ecological protection and land spatial planning. Natural and anthropogenic drivers exhibit a strong dynamic coupling relationship with ESs. However, current ESs-related research focused on mapping the ESs spatially or investing the trade-offs and synergies relationship between ES, ignoring the nonlinear response of ESs to natural and anthropogenic drivers. Here we aimed to investigate the nonlinear effect of 14 potential drivers (8 natural and 6 anthropogenic) on the total value of six typical ESs (ESV). Taking Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration (BTH) in China as an example, we established 14 constrain lines and identified critical thresholds through the restricted cubic splines (RCS) regression. We found strong non-linear impacts of natural and anthropogenic drivers on ESV and critical thresholds existed among all the 14 constrain lines. The RCS plots showed that the overall ESV was kept at a high level before or after certain thresholds (e.g., altitude >687 m, slope >13.4°, NDVI >0.7, distance from water <31.2 km, etc.). We categorized these threshold combinations and found the potentially high ES delivery areas were mainly distributed in the Yanshan Mountian, accounting for approximately 5% of the total BTH region. These critical thresholds offer a new method to delineate conservation and restoration priority areas.

On the behavior of thermospheric O1D 630.0 nm dayglow emission during counter electrojet events

This study presents the response of thermospheric O1D 630.0 nm dayglow emission to the variability associated with equatorial Counter Electrojet (CEJ) events. The analysis based on the data from a meridian scanning Dayglow Photometer, Digital Ionosonde and Proton Precession Magnetometer over Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E, 0.5°dip lat.), indicates that the O1D 630.0 nm emission behave distinctly different during the CEJ events compared to that on normal days. It has been observed that O1D 630.0 nm emission shows enhancement during the negative excursion of the ΔH, followed by an unusual depletion during the peak CEJ time. The observed variability was found to be more pronounced in a latitudinal region of ±3° centered at around the dip equator. In addition, the emission intensities also exhibit the presence of enhanced short period oscillations of periodicity 20–30 min during the CEJ events. Analysis of the data from the collocated ionosonde revealed that the F-region electron density showed enhancement during the early phase of the CEJ and a decrease during the peak CEJ. Further, the simulation studies using a Quasi 2 dimensional ionospheric model showed that the modified plasma fountain during the CEJ can alter the plasma density at the emission centroid. The study reveals a strong dynamical coupling between the E and F-region of the dip equatorial ionosphere.

Free-Energy Landscape Analysis of Protein-Ligand Binding: The Case of Human Glutathione Transferase A1

Glutathione transferases (GSTs) are a superfamily of enzymes which have in common the ability to catalyze the nucleophilic addition of the thiol group of reduced glutathione (GSH) onto electrophilic and hydrophobic substrates. This conjugation reaction, which occurs spontaneously but is dramatically accelerated by the enzyme, protects cells against damages caused by harmful molecules. With some exceptions, GSTs are catalytically active as homodimers, with monomers generally constituted of 200 to 250 residues organized into two subdomains. The first is the N-terminal subdomain, which contains an active site named G site, where GSH is hosted in catalytic conformation and which is generally highly conserved among GSTs. The second subdomain, hydrophobic, which binds the substrate counterpart (H site), can vary from one GST to another, resulting in structures able to recognize different substrates. In the present work, we performed all-atom molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent of human GSTA1 in its APO form, bound to GSH ligand and bound to GS-conjugated ligand. From MD, two probes were analyzed to (i) decipher the local conformational changes induced by the presence of the ligand and (ii) map the communication pathways involved in the ligand-binding process. These two local probes are, first, coarse-grained angles (θ,γ), representing the local conformation of the protein main chain and, second, dihedral angles χ representing the local conformation of the amino-acid side chains. From the local probes time series, effective free-energy landscapes along the amino-acid sequence were analyzed and compared between the three different forms of GSTA1. This methodology allowed us to extract a network of 33 key residues, some of them being located in the experimentally well-known binding sites G and H of GSTA1 and others being located as far as 30Å from the original binding sites. Finally, the collective motions associated with the network of key residues were established, showing a strong dynamical coupling between residues Gly14-Arg15 and Gln54-Val55, both in the same binding site (intrasite) but also between binding sites of each monomer (intersites).

Experimental Characterization and Dynamic Modelling of Electrical Cables

&lt;div class="section abstract"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Electric high voltage (HV) cables are commonly used in electrified vehicles. These cables are well known for being potential flanking transmission paths for structure-borne sound in a broad frequency range and must therefore be included in the NVH design process. Although many different layouts exist automotive HV cables fundamentally exhibit a layered structure consisting of a conductive core covered by, in sequence, an isolating sheath, a wire mesh shield to minimize electromagnetic interference and an outer jacket. The conductive core consists of hundreds of thin copper or aluminum wires organized in strands which are wound in a helical pattern. An extensive measurement campaign was carried out to dynamically characterize different cable specimen in terms of multi-degree of freedom transfer impedances. It was shown that although the cable exhibits a direction-dependent Young’s modulus and loss factor suitable results could be obtained by modelling the conductive core using an isotropic multi-layer continuum model. The model was experimentally validated for a test case featuring strong dynamic coupling and showed encouraging results until 2 kHz.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

Formation of matter-wave polaritons in an optical lattice

The polariton, a quasiparticle formed by strong coupling of a photon to a matter excitation, is a fundamental ingredient of emergent photonic quantum systems ranging from semiconductor nanophotonics to circuit quantum electrodynamics. Exploiting the interaction between polaritons has led to the realization of superfluids of light as well as of strongly correlated phases in the microwave domain, with similar efforts underway for microcavity exciton-polaritons. Here, we develop an ultracold-atom analogue of an exciton-polariton system in which interacting polaritonic phases can be studied with full tunability and without dissipation. In our optical-lattice system, the exciton is replaced by an atomic excitation, while an atomic matter wave is substituted for the photon under a strong dynamical coupling. We access the band structure of the matter-wave polariton spectroscopically by coupling the upper and lower polariton branches, and explore polaritonic many-body transport in the superfluid and Mott-insulating regimes, finding quantitative agreement with our theoretical expectations. Our work opens up novel possibilities for studies of polaritonic quantum matter.

Confinement Effects on the Spatially Inhomogeneous Dynamics in Metallic Glass Films.

This work develops the elastically collective nonlinear Langevin equation theory to investigate, for the first time, the glassy dynamics in capped metallic glass thin films. Finite-size effects on the spatial gradient of structural relaxation time and glass transition temperature (Tg) are calculated at different temperatures and vitrification criteria. Molecular dynamics is significantly slowed down near rough solid surfaces, and the dynamics at location far from the interfaces is sped up. In thick films, the mobility gradient normalized by the bulk value obeys the double-exponential form since interference effects between two surfaces are weak. Reducing the film thickness induces a strong dynamic coupling between two surfaces and flattens the relaxation gradient. The normalized gradient of the glass transition temperature is independent of vitrification time scale criterion and can be fitted by a superposition function as the films are not ultrathin. The local fragility is found to remain unchanged with location. This finding suggests that one can use Angell plots of bulk relaxation time and the Tg spatial gradient to characterize glassy dynamics in metallic glass films. Our computational results agree well with experimental data and simulation.

PSO-Based Time Optimal Rapid Orientation for Micro-Nano Space Robot

Simultaneous multi-directional orientation tasks on space robots exhibits strong dynamic coupling between the manipulators and the base-spacecraft, and this phenomenon is more obvious in the micro-nano space robot. Regarding to the highly coupled dynamic system of micro-nano space robot and its nonholonomic constraints, a multi-directional rapid orientation method of micro-nano space robot based on optimization theory is proposed in this paper. Dynamic model of satellite-manipulators cooperative operation micro-nano space robot is established by the combination of virtual manipulator (VM) and Newton-Euler method. Then, taking the acceleration continuous cubic polynomial trajectory planning method and the dynamics-based feedback linearization controller as an example, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) method is used to solve the time and path nodes of the orientation process of the micro-nano space robot. Finally, three typical spatial orientation problems are simulated to verify the feasibility and rapidity of this orientation method, which are simultaneous orientation, assisted orientation and cooperative braking, respectively. Furthermore, the paper presents the structure of the objective function for optimization in different multi-component and multi-objective co-orientation tasks.

Low magnetic-field induced high temperature dynamic magnetoelectric coupling performances in Z-type Sr3Co2Fe24O41

Magnetic-field induced dynamic magnetoelectric coupling effects and polarization performance of Z-type Sr3Co2Fe24O41 (SCFO) ceramic has been investigated. Results found that SCFO’s transverse tapered magnetic structure can induce electric polarization, and its electric polarization direction will not change under external magnetic effects. First-order dynamic magnetoelectric coupling coefficient (α) and second-order dynamic magnetoelectric coupling coefficient (β) of SCFO exhibited strong response main in magnetic structural phase transition region. The magnetoelectric structural phase transition position appeared in low magnetic field, and the magnetic moment vector and its corresponding electric polarization vector of SCFO exhibited the most unstable state near its equilibrium position, which is beneficial for inducing strong dynamic magnetoelectric coupling response. When the applied magnetic fields to SCFO increased, the magnetic moment stability near the equilibrium position increased, and the dynamic magnetoelectric coupling response decreased. Results showed that the dynamic magnetoelectric coupling response of SCFO can bear T 1 = 370 K high temperature. The dynamic magnetoelectric coupling response induced by low magnetic fields in SCFO contributes to its actual application in next generation magnetoelectric information storage devices.

Adaptive sliding mode control of modular self-reconfigurable spacecraft with time-delay estimation

The reconstruction control of modular self-reconfigurable spacecraft (MSRS) is addressed using an adaptive sliding mode control (ASMC) scheme based on time-delay estimation (TDE) technology. In contrast to the ground, the base of the MSRS is floating when assembled in orbit, resulting in a strong dynamic coupling effect. A TED-based ASMC technique with exponential reaching law is designed to achieve high-precision coordinated control between the spacecraft base and the robotic arm. TDE technology is used by the controller to compensate for coupling terms and uncertainties, while ASMC can augment and improve TDE’s robustness. To suppress TDE errors and eliminate chattering, a new adaptive law is created to modify gain parameters online, ensuring quick dynamic response and high tracking accuracy. The Lyapunov approach shows that the tracking errors are uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB). Finally, the on-orbit assembly process of MSRS is simulated to validate the efficacy of the proposed control scheme. The simulation results show that the proposed control method can accurately complete the target module’s on-orbit assembly, with minimal perturbations to the spacecraft’s attitude. Meanwhile, it has a high level of robustness and can effectively eliminate chattering.

Design of M-G modal space sliding mode control for lower limb exoskeleton robot driven by electrical actuators

Lower limb exoskeleton robot (LLER) can help patients with lower limb paralysis to carry out effective rehabilitation training. However, LLER is a kind of nonlinear system with the strong dynamic coupling between joints and the parameter perturbation following different poses of the robot. They will damage the control performance in the process of trajectory tracking. To solve these problems, a novel control strategy, Mass-Gravity modal space sliding mode control (M-GMSSMC), is proposed. The objective for this paper is to develop a novel decoupling control framework for an electrical actuators driven LLER to track a predefined gait trajectory. The controller design aims to improve trajectory tracking accuracy, reduce dynamic coupling between hip joint and knee joint and weaken the chattering phenomenon of the sliding mode controller. The decoupling condition and the robust stability condition are analyzed in this work. Experimental results validate the correctness of the presented conclusions and show the effectiveness of the proposed M-GMSSMC.

Nonlinear effects and dynamic coupling of floating offshore wind turbines using geometrically-exact blades and momentum-based methods

Nonlinear blade effects and overall dynamic coupling of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are investigated using the latest developments in nonlinear beam theory and multibody dynamics. An aero-hydro-servo-elastic coupled model is developed combining momentum-based beam theory (MBBT) and the momentum cloud method (MCM) based on a multi-time-scale coupling scheme, in which geometrically-exact blades are coupled with a highly-compliant floating platform design that allows large angular motions. Comprehensive simulations are performed and the results are analyzed to demonstrate the importance of nonlinear effects and dynamic coupling of FOWTs. Nonlinear blade dynamics are shown to be critical in assessments of turbine performance and blade fatigue. The highly-compliant floater design is found to be feasible in realistic operating conditions. A strong one-way dynamic coupling is observed from platform motions to blade vibrations. Axi-asymmetric response of the blades is found to induce significant imbalanced aerodynamic loading onto the turbine and the platform.