This paper endeavours to bridge the existing gap in muscular actuator design for ligament-skeletal-inspired robots,thereby fostering the evolution of these robotic systems.We introduce two novel compliant actuators,na...This paper endeavours to bridge the existing gap in muscular actuator design for ligament-skeletal-inspired robots,thereby fostering the evolution of these robotic systems.We introduce two novel compliant actuators,namely the Internal Torsion Spring Compliant Actuator(ICA)and the External Spring Compliant Actuator(ECA),and present a comparative analysis against the previously conceived Magnet Integrated Soft Actuator(MISA)through computational and experimental results.These actuators,employing a motor-tendon system,emulate biological muscle-like forms,enhancing artificial muscle technology.Then,applications of the proposed actuators in a robotic arm inspired by the human musculoskeletal system are presented.Experiments demonstrate satisfactory power in tasks like lifting dumbbells(peak power:36 W),playing table tennis(end-effector speed:3.2 m/s),and door opening,without compromising biomimetic aesthetics.Compared to other linear stiffness serial elastic actuators(SEAs),ECA and ICA exhibit high power-to-volume(361×10^(3)W/m^(3))and power-to-mass(111.6 W/kg)ratios respectively,endorsing the biomimetic design’s promise in robotic development.展开更多
This paper presents an untethered pneumatic soft robot which can crawl both in horizontal and vertical pipes with different sizes and cross sections.This robot uses modular origami inspired soft-rigid hybrid actuator ...This paper presents an untethered pneumatic soft robot which can crawl both in horizontal and vertical pipes with different sizes and cross sections.This robot uses modular origami inspired soft-rigid hybrid actuator to produce telescoping and anchoring movements powered by vacuum pressure.The introduction of grooves to valley crease significantly lowers the full contraction vacuum pressure and improves the response,allowing the system can be driven by an onboard micro vacuum pump,enabling the possibility of miniaturization,integration,and untethered operation of the robot.A series of crawling experiments in pipes with different sizes and cross sections constructed by acrylic are conducted to validate the crawling performance of the robot.Within square cross-section pipes,the robot can achieve a velocity of 9.4 mm/s in horizontal crawling and 7.7 mm/s in vertical upward crawling.For horizontal crawling in circular pipes,it can reach a velocity of 8.0 mm/s.When fully charged,the robot can crawl for 40 min with a mileage of 16.649 m,which is sufficient for most drainage and industrial pipelines detection tasks.The robot demonstrates excellent endurance and speed performance that exceed most existing untethered soft pipe crawling robots.展开更多
Tendon-driven robots have distinct advantages in high-dynamic performance motion and high-degree-of-freedom manipulation.However,these robots face challenges related to control complexity,intricate tendon drive paths,...Tendon-driven robots have distinct advantages in high-dynamic performance motion and high-degree-of-freedom manipulation.However,these robots face challenges related to control complexity,intricate tendon drive paths,and tendon slackness.In this study,the authors present a novel modular tendon-driven actuator design that integrates a series elastic element.The actuator incorporates a unique magnetic position sensing technology that enables observation of the length and tension of the tendon and features an exceptionally compact design.The modular architecture of the tendon-driven actuator addresses the complexity of tendon drive paths,while the tension observation functionality mitigates slackness issues.The design and modeling of the actuator are described in this paper,and a series of tests are conducted to validate the simulation model and to test the performance of the proposed actuator.The model can be used for training robot control neural networks based on simulation,thereby overcoming the challenges associated with controlling tendon-driven robots.展开更多
Piezoelectric active vibration control holds paramount importance in space structures.An embedded piezoelectric actuator with a sandwich configuration is proposed,which enhances control accuracy by integrating various...Piezoelectric active vibration control holds paramount importance in space structures.An embedded piezoelectric actuator with a sandwich configuration is proposed,which enhances control accuracy by integrating various components.Firstly,the electromechanical coupling characteristics of the actuator are revealed,and the model is established.Secondly,the equivalent model of a cylindrical cantilever beam is investigated as the object,and the feasibility of the vibration control of the actuator is verified by simulation.Finally,the prototype comprised of two actuators,which respectively use the proposed embedded actuators for producing the vibration and suppressing the vibration,is developed,and the measurement system is constructed.Experimental results demonstrate the excellent control efficiency in two orthogonal directions,achieving a minimum vibration amplitude control of 0.00102 mm and a maximum vibration control of-42.74 d B.The integrated structure offers fast response,lightness,adaptability,and high control efficiency,which is conducive to enhancing the vibration control.展开更多
Smart elastomers have attracted great interest due to their excellent adaptability to changing environments and affinity to living organisms,characterized by their ability to undergo programmable deformations or prope...Smart elastomers have attracted great interest due to their excellent adaptability to changing environments and affinity to living organisms,characterized by their ability to undergo programmable deformations or property changes in response to external stimuli(e.g.,heat,light,pH,or electric/magnetic fields).They exhibit huge potential to drive the innovation of soft actuators,robotics,biomedical devices,and wearable electronics.This special issue of Chinese Journal of Polymer Science(CJPS)is dedicated to showcasing cutting-edge advancements in liquid crystal elastomers,hydrogels and the related soft actuators,with a focus on the design,synthesis,characterization,and application of stimuli-responsive soft elastomers and their integration into functional actuation systems.展开更多
The Electro–Hydrostatic Actuator(EHA)is applied to drive the control surface in flightcontrol system of more electric aircraft.In EHA,the Oil-Immersed Motor Pump(OMP)serves asthe core as a power assembly.However,the ...The Electro–Hydrostatic Actuator(EHA)is applied to drive the control surface in flightcontrol system of more electric aircraft.In EHA,the Oil-Immersed Motor Pump(OMP)serves asthe core as a power assembly.However,the compact integration of the OMP presents challenges inefficiently dissipating internal heat,leading to a performance degradation of the EHA due to ele-vated temperatures.Therefore,accurately modeling and predicting the internal thermal dynamicsof the OMP hold considerable significance for monitoring the operational condition of the EHA.In view of this,a modeling method considering cumulative thermal coupling was hereby proposed.Based on the proposed method,the thermal models of the motor and the pump were established,taking into account heat accumulation and transfer.Taking the leakage oil as the heat couplingpoint between the motor and the pump,the dynamic thermal coupling model of the OMP wasdeveloped,with the thermal characteristics of the oil considered.Additionally,the comparativeexperiments were conducted to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed model.The experimentalresults demonstrate that the proposed dynamic thermal coupling model accurately captured thethermal behavior of OMP,outperforming the static thermal parameter model.Overall,thisadvancement is crucial for effectively monitoring the health of EHA and ensuring flight safety.展开更多
Actuator faults can be critical in turbofan engines as they can lead to stall,surge,loss of thrust and failure of speed control.Thus,fault diagnosis of gas turbine actuators has attracted considerable attention,from b...Actuator faults can be critical in turbofan engines as they can lead to stall,surge,loss of thrust and failure of speed control.Thus,fault diagnosis of gas turbine actuators has attracted considerable attention,from both academia and industry.However,the extensive literature that exists on this topic does not address identifying the severity of actuator faults and focuses mainly on actuator fault detection and isolation.In addition,previous studies of actuator fault identification have not dealt with multiple concurrent faults in real time,especially when these are accompanied by sudden failures under dynamic conditions.This study develops component-level models for fault identification in four typical actuators used in high-bypass ratio turbofan engines under both dynamic and steady-state conditions and these are then integrated with the engine performance model developed by the authors.The research results reported here present a novel method of quantifying actuator faults using dynamic effect compensation.The maximum error for each actuator is less than0.06%and 0.07%,with average computational time of less than 0.0058 s and 0.0086 s for steady-state and transient cases,respectively.These results confirm that the proposed method can accurately and efficiently identify concurrent actuator fault for an engine operating under either transient or steady-state conditions,even in the case of a sudden malfunction.The research results emonstrate the potential benefit to emergency response capabilities by introducing this method of monitoring the health of aero engines.展开更多
To prepare a conductive polymer actuator with decent performance,a self-built experimental platform for the preparation of polypyrrole film is employed.One of the essential goals is to examine the mechanical character...To prepare a conductive polymer actuator with decent performance,a self-built experimental platform for the preparation of polypyrrole film is employed.One of the essential goals is to examine the mechanical characteristics of the actuator in the presence of various combinations of process parameters,combined with the orthogonal test method of"four factors and three levels".The bending and sensing characteristics of actuators of various sizes are methodically examined using a self-made bending polypyrrole actuator.The functional relationship between the bending displacement and the output voltage signal is established by studying the characteristics of the actuator sensor subjected to various degrees of bending.The experimental results reveal that the bending displacement of the actuator tip almost exhibits a linear variation as a function of length and width.When the voltage reaches 0.8 V,the bending speed of the actuator tends to be stable.Finally,the mechanical properties of the self-assembled polypyrrole actuator are verified by the design and fabrication of the microgripper.展开更多
Piezoelectric actuators are widely utilized in positioning systems to realize nano-scale resolution. However, the backward motion always generates for some piezoelectric actuators, which reduces the working efficiency...Piezoelectric actuators are widely utilized in positioning systems to realize nano-scale resolution. However, the backward motion always generates for some piezoelectric actuators, which reduces the working efficiency. Bionic motions have already been employed in the field of piezoelectric actuators to realize better performance. By imitating the movement form of seals, seal type piezoelectric actuator is capable to realize large operating strokes easily. Nevertheless, the conventional seal type piezoelectric actuator has a complicated structure and control system, which limits further applications. Hence, an improved bionic piezoelectric actuator is proposed to realize a long motion stroke and eliminate backward movement with a simplified structure and control method in this study. The composition and motion principle of the designed actuator are discussed, and the performance is investigated with simulations and experiments. Results confirm that the presented actuator effectively realizes the linear movement that has a large working stroke stably without backward motion. The smallest stepping displacement ΔL is 0.2 μm under 1 Hz and 50 V. The largest motion speed is 900 μm/s with 900 Hz and 120 V. The largest vertical and horizontal load are 250 g and 12 g, respectively. This work shows that the improved bionic piezoelectric actuator is feasible for eliminating backward motion and has a great working ability.展开更多
Dynamic positioning systems(DPS)on marine vessels exhibit actuator redundancy,with more actuators than degrees of freedom.A control allocation unit is employed to address this redundancy.Practical systems often featur...Dynamic positioning systems(DPS)on marine vessels exhibit actuator redundancy,with more actuators than degrees of freedom.A control allocation unit is employed to address this redundancy.Practical systems often feature time-varying elements in the effectiveness matrix due to factors such as changing operating conditions,nonlinearity,and disturbances.Additionally,not all thrusters require engagement at each step to counteract disturbances and maintain position.Control efforts can be generated by selecting some thrusters based on their instant effectiveness,while others can remain on standby.Therefore,introducing a control allocation method that calculates the effectiveness matrix online and selects the most efficient thrusters could be effective.This paper introduces a fault-tolerant control allocation strategy for DPS with a varying effectiveness matrix.Specifically,the investigation focuses on a case study featuring eight azimuth thrusters used on a drilling rig.At each time step,the effective matrix is calculated online,followed by the selection of the four most effective thrusters based on the actuator effectiveness index,with the four serving as backups in case of a fault.The proposed strategy has been validated through simulation results,demonstrating advantages such as robustness against changes in the effectiveness matrix and reduced energy usage by the thrusters.展开更多
This paper addresses the tracking control problem of a class of multiple-input–multiple-output nonlinear systems subject to actuator faults.Achieving a balance between input saturation and performance constraints,rat...This paper addresses the tracking control problem of a class of multiple-input–multiple-output nonlinear systems subject to actuator faults.Achieving a balance between input saturation and performance constraints,rather than conducting isolated analyses,especially in the presence of frequently encountered unknown actuator faults,becomes an interesting yet challenging problem.First,to enhance the tracking performance,Tunnel Prescribed Performance(TPP)is proposed to provide narrow tunnel-shape constraints instead of the common over-relaxed trumpet-shape performance constraints.A pair of non-negative signals produced by an auxiliary system is then integrated into TPP,resulting in Saturation-tolerant Prescribed Performance(SPP)with flexible performance boundaries that account for input saturation situations.Namely,SPP can appropriately relax TPP when needed and decrease the conservatism of control design.With the help of SPP,our developed Saturation-tolerant Prescribed Control(SPC)guarantees finite-time convergence while satisfying both input saturation and performance constraints,even under serious actuator faults.Simulations are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed SPC.展开更多
Developing flexible actuators with high transport efficiency is of great significance for the emerging applications of micro-robots in various industrial and biomedical environments.Despite recent advancements have en...Developing flexible actuators with high transport efficiency is of great significance for the emerging applications of micro-robots in various industrial and biomedical environments.Despite recent advancements have enabled soft materials to achieve complex functionalities unattainable by traditional rigid robots,achieving high-speed transport performance for solid particles remains a significant challenge.Magnetic materials,as an integral component of scientific applications,have demonstrated substantial potential in areas such as biological imaging,catalysis,and energy storage.Inspired by the flexible,soft,and elastic microciliary structures of many organisms,a soft actuator decorated with magnetic microcilia was reported.This soft magnetic microciliary actuator achieves high speed(50 mm s^(-1))transport of solid microspheres by means of magnetic field regulate their surface morphology.Overcoming the limitations of prior studies in which the speed of motion was constrained to a few millimeters per second due to hysteresis effects,this work represents a significant advancement in the emerging field of biomimetic flexible actuators and holds promise in various applications.展开更多
Soft actuators are inherently flexible and compliant,traits that enhance their adaptability to diverse environments and tasks.However,their low structural stiffness can lead to unpredictable and uncontrollable complex...Soft actuators are inherently flexible and compliant,traits that enhance their adaptability to diverse environments and tasks.However,their low structural stiffness can lead to unpredictable and uncontrollable complex deformations when substantial force is required,compromising their load-bearing capacity.This work proposes a novel method that uses gecko setae-inspired adhesives as interlayer films to construct a layer jamming structure to adjust the stiffness of soft actuators.The mechanical behavior of a single tilted microcylinder was analyzed using the energy method to determine the adhesion force of the adhesives.The gecko-inspired adhesive was designed under the guidance of the adhesion force model.Testing under various loads and directions revealed that the tilted characteristic of microcylinders can enhance the adhesion force in its grasping direction.The adhesive demonstrated excellent adhesion performance compared to other typical adhesives.A tunable stiffness actuator using gecko setae-inspired adhesives(TSAGA),was developed with these adhesives serving as interlayer films.The stiffness model of TSAGA was derived by analyzing its axial compression force.The results of stiffness test indicate that the adhesives serve as interlayer films can adjust the stiffness in response to applied load.TSAGA was compared with other typical soft actuators in order to evaluate the stiffness performance,and the results indicate that TSAGA exhibits the highest stiffness and the widest tunable stiffness range.This demonstrates the superior performance of the setae-inspired adhesives as interlayer films in terms of stiffness adjustment.展开更多
With the advancement of more electric aircraft(MEA)technology,the application of electro-hydrostatic actuators(EHAs)in aircraft actuation systems has become increasingly prevalent.This paper focuses on the modeling an...With the advancement of more electric aircraft(MEA)technology,the application of electro-hydrostatic actuators(EHAs)in aircraft actuation systems has become increasingly prevalent.This paper focuses on the modeling and mode switching analysis of EHA used in the primary flight control actuation systems of large aircraft,addressing the challenges associated with mode switching.First,we analyze the functional architecture and operational characteristics of multi-mode EHA,and sumarize the operating modes and implementation methods.Based on the EHA system architecture,we then develop a theoretical mathematical model and a simulation model.Using the simulation model,we analyze the performance of the EHA during normal operation.Finally,the performance of the EHA during mode switching under various functional switching scenarios is investigated.The results indicate that the EHA meets the performance requirements in terms of accuracy,bandwidth,and load capacity.Additionally,the hydraulic cylinder operates smoothly during the EHA mode switching,and the response time for switching between different modes is less than the specified threshold.These findings validate the system performance of multi-mode EHA,which helps to improve the reliability of EHA and the safety of aircraft flight control systems.展开更多
Soft underwater swimming robots driven by smart materials show unique advantages in ocean exploration,such as low noise,high flexibility and good environmental interaction ability.The dielectric elastomer(DE),as a new...Soft underwater swimming robots driven by smart materials show unique advantages in ocean exploration,such as low noise,high flexibility and good environmental interaction ability.The dielectric elastomer(DE),as a new kind of soft intelligent material,has the characteristics of a low elastic modulus,large deformation range,high energy density and fast response speed.DE actuator(DEA)drive systems use the deformation characteristics of dielectric materials to drive the mechanical system,which has become a research hotspot in the field of soft robots.In this paper,a tubular actuator based on DEs is designed and its performance is studied.Firstly,the structure and driving process of a DEA are described,and a tubular DEA is designed.Studying the elongation ratio of the DEA pre-stretching shows that when the axial elongation ratio is 3 times and the circumferential elongation ratio is 4 times,the maximum deformation effect can be obtained under voltage excitation.At a voltage of 6.0 k V,a single pipe section DEA achieves a bending angle of 25.9°and a driving force of 73.8 m N.Secondly,the effect of the DEA series on the bending angle and response characteristics is studied.The experimental results show that the maximum bending angle of the three joint actuators in series can reach 59.3°under6.0 k V voltage,which significantly improves the overall bending performance.In addition,the truncation frequency of the drive module after the series is increased to 0.62 Hz,showing better frequency response capability.The excellent performance of the pipe joint actuator in its bending angle,response characteristic and driving force is verified.展开更多
In this paper,a nonlinear control approach for an unstable networked plant in the presence of actuator and sensor limitations using robust right coprime factorization is proposed.The actuator is limited by upper and l...In this paper,a nonlinear control approach for an unstable networked plant in the presence of actuator and sensor limitations using robust right coprime factorization is proposed.The actuator is limited by upper and lower constraints and the sensor in the feedback loop is subjected to network-induced unknown time-varying delay and noise.With this nonlinear control method,we first employ right coprime factorization based on isomorphism and operator theory to factorize the plant,so that bounded input bounded output(BIBO)stability can be guaranteed.Next,continuous-time generalized predictive control(CGPC)is utilized for the unstable operator of the right coprime factorized plant to guarantee inner stability and enables the closed-loop dynamics of the system with predictive characteristics.Meanwhile,a second-Do F(degrees of freedom)switched controller that satisfies a perturbed Bezout identity and a robustness condition is designed.By using the CGPC controller that possesses predictive behavior and the second-Do F switched stabilizer,the overall stability of the plant subjected to actuator limitations is guaranteed.To address sensor limitations that exist in networked plants in the form of delay and noise which often cause system performance degradation,we implement an identity operator definition in the feedback loop to compensate for these adverse effects.Further,a pre-operator is designed to ensure that the plant output tracks the reference input.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed design scheme is demonstrated by simulations.展开更多
In this study,we consider a single-link flexible manipulator in the presence of an unknown Bouc-Wen type of hysteresis and intermittent actuator faults.First,an inverse hysteresis dynamics model is introduced,and then...In this study,we consider a single-link flexible manipulator in the presence of an unknown Bouc-Wen type of hysteresis and intermittent actuator faults.First,an inverse hysteresis dynamics model is introduced,and then the control input is divided into an expected input and an error compensator.Second,a novel adaptive neural network-based control scheme is proposed to cancel the unknown input hysteresis.Subsequently,by modifying the adaptive laws and local control laws,a fault-tolerant control strategy is applied to address uncertain intermittent actuator faults in a flexible manipulator system.Through the direct Lyapunov theory,the proposed scheme allows the state errors to asymptotically converge to a specified interval.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed scheme is verified through numerical simulations and experiments.展开更多
Hydraulic-electric systems are widely utilized in various applications.However,over time,these systems may encounter random faults such as loose cables,ambient environmental noise,or sensor aging,leading to inaccurate...Hydraulic-electric systems are widely utilized in various applications.However,over time,these systems may encounter random faults such as loose cables,ambient environmental noise,or sensor aging,leading to inaccurate sensor readings.These faults may result in system instability or compromise safety.In this paper,we propose a fault compensation control system to mitigate the effects of sensor faults and ensure system safety.Specifically,we utilize the pressure sensor within the system to implement the control process and evaluate performance based on the piston position.First,we develop a mathematical model to identify optimal parameters for the fault estimation model based on the Lyapunov stability principle.Next,we design an unknown input observer that estimates the state vector and detects pressure sensor faults using a linear matrix inequality optimization algorithm.The estimated pressure faults are incorporated into the fault compensation control system to counteract their effects via a fault residual coefficient.The discrepancy between the feedback state and the estimated state determines this coefficient.We assess the piston position’s performance through pressure control to evaluate the proposed model’s effectiveness.Finally,the system simulation results are analyzed to validate the efficiency of the proposed model.When a pressure sensor fault occurs,the proposed approach effectively minimizes position control errors,enhancing overall system stability.When a pressure sensor fault occurs,the proposed model compensates for the fault to mitigate the impact of pressure problem,thereby enhancing the position control quality of the EHA system.The fault compensation method ensures over 90%system performance,with its effectiveness becoming more evident under pressure sensor faults.展开更多
An advanced Actuator Surface Method(ASM)coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)is developed and applied to the complex unsteady aerodynamic simulation of helicopter.By introducing an improved three-dimensional ...An advanced Actuator Surface Method(ASM)coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)is developed and applied to the complex unsteady aerodynamic simulation of helicopter.By introducing an improved three-dimensional anisotropic Gaussian kernel,this method effectively addresses the severe aerodynamic load fluctuations commonly associated with traditional Virtual Blade Method(VBM)due to turbulent flow around blade elements.To manage the issues of regional shape and grid cell quantity variations caused by virtual blade sweeping,a universal hybrid grid generation strategy is established without body-fitted and disk interpolation grids,which enhances the computational stability at both blade elements and blade edges.Aerodynamic numerical simulations of helicopter are performed using this method,focusing on rotor/fuselage interaction dominated by rotor wake motion and fuselage blockage effects,Blade-Vortex Interaction(BVI)induced by tip vortices,and maneuvering flights involving collective pitch ramp increases.The results indicate that the advanced ASM demonstrates reliability and robustness in the simulation of complex unsteady flow fields around helicopter.Under similar computational accuracy,the advanced ASM improves computational efficiency by nearly 40 times compared to the oversetgrid-based full Blade-Resolved(B-R)method,and by 6 times compared to the VBM.It shows significant advantages when applied to complex full-aircraft interaction and maneuvering flight conditions that require substantial computational resources.展开更多
By combining with an improved model on engraving process,a two-phase flow interior ballistic model has been proposed to accurately predict the flow and energy conversion behaviors of pyrotechnic actuators.Using comput...By combining with an improved model on engraving process,a two-phase flow interior ballistic model has been proposed to accurately predict the flow and energy conversion behaviors of pyrotechnic actuators.Using computational fluid dynamics(CFD),the two-phase flow and piston engraving characteristics of a pyrotechnic actuator are investigated.Initially,the current model was utilized to examine the intricate,multi-dimensional flow,and energy conversion characteristics of the propellant grains and combustion gas within the pyrotechnic actuator chamber.It was discovered that the combustion gas on the wall's constant transition from potential to kinetic energy,along with the combined effect of the propellant motion,are what create the pressure oscillation within the chamber.Additionally,a numerical analysis was conducted to determine the impact of various parameters on the pressure oscillation and piston motion,including pyrotechnic charge,pyrotechnic particle size,and chamber structural dimension.The findings show that decreasing the pyrotechnic charge will lower the terminal velocity,while increasing and decreasing the pyrotechnic particle size will reduce the pressure oscillation in the chamber.The pyrotechnic particle size has minimal bearing on the terminal velocity.The results of this investigation offer a trustworthy forecasting instrument for comprehending and creating pyrotechnic actuator designs.展开更多
基金research project funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)under Grant 91948302 and Grant 52021003Research England fund at NERIC.
文摘This paper endeavours to bridge the existing gap in muscular actuator design for ligament-skeletal-inspired robots,thereby fostering the evolution of these robotic systems.We introduce two novel compliant actuators,namely the Internal Torsion Spring Compliant Actuator(ICA)and the External Spring Compliant Actuator(ECA),and present a comparative analysis against the previously conceived Magnet Integrated Soft Actuator(MISA)through computational and experimental results.These actuators,employing a motor-tendon system,emulate biological muscle-like forms,enhancing artificial muscle technology.Then,applications of the proposed actuators in a robotic arm inspired by the human musculoskeletal system are presented.Experiments demonstrate satisfactory power in tasks like lifting dumbbells(peak power:36 W),playing table tennis(end-effector speed:3.2 m/s),and door opening,without compromising biomimetic aesthetics.Compared to other linear stiffness serial elastic actuators(SEAs),ECA and ICA exhibit high power-to-volume(361×10^(3)W/m^(3))and power-to-mass(111.6 W/kg)ratios respectively,endorsing the biomimetic design’s promise in robotic development.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant no.52475067.
文摘This paper presents an untethered pneumatic soft robot which can crawl both in horizontal and vertical pipes with different sizes and cross sections.This robot uses modular origami inspired soft-rigid hybrid actuator to produce telescoping and anchoring movements powered by vacuum pressure.The introduction of grooves to valley crease significantly lowers the full contraction vacuum pressure and improves the response,allowing the system can be driven by an onboard micro vacuum pump,enabling the possibility of miniaturization,integration,and untethered operation of the robot.A series of crawling experiments in pipes with different sizes and cross sections constructed by acrylic are conducted to validate the crawling performance of the robot.Within square cross-section pipes,the robot can achieve a velocity of 9.4 mm/s in horizontal crawling and 7.7 mm/s in vertical upward crawling.For horizontal crawling in circular pipes,it can reach a velocity of 8.0 mm/s.When fully charged,the robot can crawl for 40 min with a mileage of 16.649 m,which is sufficient for most drainage and industrial pipelines detection tasks.The robot demonstrates excellent endurance and speed performance that exceed most existing untethered soft pipe crawling robots.
基金supported in part by the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant 2024YFB4707900the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 91948302 and Grant 52021003.
文摘Tendon-driven robots have distinct advantages in high-dynamic performance motion and high-degree-of-freedom manipulation.However,these robots face challenges related to control complexity,intricate tendon drive paths,and tendon slackness.In this study,the authors present a novel modular tendon-driven actuator design that integrates a series elastic element.The actuator incorporates a unique magnetic position sensing technology that enables observation of the length and tension of the tendon and features an exceptionally compact design.The modular architecture of the tendon-driven actuator addresses the complexity of tendon drive paths,while the tension observation functionality mitigates slackness issues.The design and modeling of the actuator are described in this paper,and a series of tests are conducted to validate the simulation model and to test the performance of the proposed actuator.The model can be used for training robot control neural networks based on simulation,thereby overcoming the challenges associated with controlling tendon-driven robots.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52275022,52175015 and U2037603)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province,China(Nos.BK20222011 and BK20230093)the State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control for Aerospace Structures,China(No.MCAS-S-0223G01)。
文摘Piezoelectric active vibration control holds paramount importance in space structures.An embedded piezoelectric actuator with a sandwich configuration is proposed,which enhances control accuracy by integrating various components.Firstly,the electromechanical coupling characteristics of the actuator are revealed,and the model is established.Secondly,the equivalent model of a cylindrical cantilever beam is investigated as the object,and the feasibility of the vibration control of the actuator is verified by simulation.Finally,the prototype comprised of two actuators,which respectively use the proposed embedded actuators for producing the vibration and suppressing the vibration,is developed,and the measurement system is constructed.Experimental results demonstrate the excellent control efficiency in two orthogonal directions,achieving a minimum vibration amplitude control of 0.00102 mm and a maximum vibration control of-42.74 d B.The integrated structure offers fast response,lightness,adaptability,and high control efficiency,which is conducive to enhancing the vibration control.
文摘Smart elastomers have attracted great interest due to their excellent adaptability to changing environments and affinity to living organisms,characterized by their ability to undergo programmable deformations or property changes in response to external stimuli(e.g.,heat,light,pH,or electric/magnetic fields).They exhibit huge potential to drive the innovation of soft actuators,robotics,biomedical devices,and wearable electronics.This special issue of Chinese Journal of Polymer Science(CJPS)is dedicated to showcasing cutting-edge advancements in liquid crystal elastomers,hydrogels and the related soft actuators,with a focus on the design,synthesis,characterization,and application of stimuli-responsive soft elastomers and their integration into functional actuation systems.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2021YFB2011300)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.52275044,U2233212)。
文摘The Electro–Hydrostatic Actuator(EHA)is applied to drive the control surface in flightcontrol system of more electric aircraft.In EHA,the Oil-Immersed Motor Pump(OMP)serves asthe core as a power assembly.However,the compact integration of the OMP presents challenges inefficiently dissipating internal heat,leading to a performance degradation of the EHA due to ele-vated temperatures.Therefore,accurately modeling and predicting the internal thermal dynamicsof the OMP hold considerable significance for monitoring the operational condition of the EHA.In view of this,a modeling method considering cumulative thermal coupling was hereby proposed.Based on the proposed method,the thermal models of the motor and the pump were established,taking into account heat accumulation and transfer.Taking the leakage oil as the heat couplingpoint between the motor and the pump,the dynamic thermal coupling model of the OMP wasdeveloped,with the thermal characteristics of the oil considered.Additionally,the comparativeexperiments were conducted to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed model.The experimentalresults demonstrate that the proposed dynamic thermal coupling model accurately captured thethermal behavior of OMP,outperforming the static thermal parameter model.Overall,thisadvancement is crucial for effectively monitoring the health of EHA and ensuring flight safety.
基金support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.52402520)。
文摘Actuator faults can be critical in turbofan engines as they can lead to stall,surge,loss of thrust and failure of speed control.Thus,fault diagnosis of gas turbine actuators has attracted considerable attention,from both academia and industry.However,the extensive literature that exists on this topic does not address identifying the severity of actuator faults and focuses mainly on actuator fault detection and isolation.In addition,previous studies of actuator fault identification have not dealt with multiple concurrent faults in real time,especially when these are accompanied by sudden failures under dynamic conditions.This study develops component-level models for fault identification in four typical actuators used in high-bypass ratio turbofan engines under both dynamic and steady-state conditions and these are then integrated with the engine performance model developed by the authors.The research results reported here present a novel method of quantifying actuator faults using dynamic effect compensation.The maximum error for each actuator is less than0.06%and 0.07%,with average computational time of less than 0.0058 s and 0.0086 s for steady-state and transient cases,respectively.These results confirm that the proposed method can accurately and efficiently identify concurrent actuator fault for an engine operating under either transient or steady-state conditions,even in the case of a sudden malfunction.The research results emonstrate the potential benefit to emergency response capabilities by introducing this method of monitoring the health of aero engines.
基金Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province,Chinal(No.2021JJ60012)。
文摘To prepare a conductive polymer actuator with decent performance,a self-built experimental platform for the preparation of polypyrrole film is employed.One of the essential goals is to examine the mechanical characteristics of the actuator in the presence of various combinations of process parameters,combined with the orthogonal test method of"four factors and three levels".The bending and sensing characteristics of actuators of various sizes are methodically examined using a self-made bending polypyrrole actuator.The functional relationship between the bending displacement and the output voltage signal is established by studying the characteristics of the actuator sensor subjected to various degrees of bending.The experimental results reveal that the bending displacement of the actuator tip almost exhibits a linear variation as a function of length and width.When the voltage reaches 0.8 V,the bending speed of the actuator tends to be stable.Finally,the mechanical properties of the self-assembled polypyrrole actuator are verified by the design and fabrication of the microgripper.
基金supported by The Key Science and Technology Plan Project of Jinhua City,China:2023-3-084,2023-2-011Zhejiang Provincial"Revealing the list and taking command"Project of China KYH06Y22349Open Fund Project of Key Laboratory of CNC Equipment reliability,Ministry of Education JLU-cncr-202407.
文摘Piezoelectric actuators are widely utilized in positioning systems to realize nano-scale resolution. However, the backward motion always generates for some piezoelectric actuators, which reduces the working efficiency. Bionic motions have already been employed in the field of piezoelectric actuators to realize better performance. By imitating the movement form of seals, seal type piezoelectric actuator is capable to realize large operating strokes easily. Nevertheless, the conventional seal type piezoelectric actuator has a complicated structure and control system, which limits further applications. Hence, an improved bionic piezoelectric actuator is proposed to realize a long motion stroke and eliminate backward movement with a simplified structure and control method in this study. The composition and motion principle of the designed actuator are discussed, and the performance is investigated with simulations and experiments. Results confirm that the presented actuator effectively realizes the linear movement that has a large working stroke stably without backward motion. The smallest stepping displacement ΔL is 0.2 μm under 1 Hz and 50 V. The largest motion speed is 900 μm/s with 900 Hz and 120 V. The largest vertical and horizontal load are 250 g and 12 g, respectively. This work shows that the improved bionic piezoelectric actuator is feasible for eliminating backward motion and has a great working ability.
文摘Dynamic positioning systems(DPS)on marine vessels exhibit actuator redundancy,with more actuators than degrees of freedom.A control allocation unit is employed to address this redundancy.Practical systems often feature time-varying elements in the effectiveness matrix due to factors such as changing operating conditions,nonlinearity,and disturbances.Additionally,not all thrusters require engagement at each step to counteract disturbances and maintain position.Control efforts can be generated by selecting some thrusters based on their instant effectiveness,while others can remain on standby.Therefore,introducing a control allocation method that calculates the effectiveness matrix online and selects the most efficient thrusters could be effective.This paper introduces a fault-tolerant control allocation strategy for DPS with a varying effectiveness matrix.Specifically,the investigation focuses on a case study featuring eight azimuth thrusters used on a drilling rig.At each time step,the effective matrix is calculated online,followed by the selection of the four most effective thrusters based on the actuator effectiveness index,with the four serving as backups in case of a fault.The proposed strategy has been validated through simulation results,demonstrating advantages such as robustness against changes in the effectiveness matrix and reduced energy usage by the thrusters.
基金supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore under its AI Singapore Programme(Award Number:[AISG2-GC-2023-007]).
文摘This paper addresses the tracking control problem of a class of multiple-input–multiple-output nonlinear systems subject to actuator faults.Achieving a balance between input saturation and performance constraints,rather than conducting isolated analyses,especially in the presence of frequently encountered unknown actuator faults,becomes an interesting yet challenging problem.First,to enhance the tracking performance,Tunnel Prescribed Performance(TPP)is proposed to provide narrow tunnel-shape constraints instead of the common over-relaxed trumpet-shape performance constraints.A pair of non-negative signals produced by an auxiliary system is then integrated into TPP,resulting in Saturation-tolerant Prescribed Performance(SPP)with flexible performance boundaries that account for input saturation situations.Namely,SPP can appropriately relax TPP when needed and decrease the conservatism of control design.With the help of SPP,our developed Saturation-tolerant Prescribed Control(SPC)guarantees finite-time convergence while satisfying both input saturation and performance constraints,even under serious actuator faults.Simulations are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed SPC.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.22105014 and 52472293)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(Nos.2020M680296 and 2022T150035)+3 种基金the High-level Talent Project of Shenyang Ligong University(Nos.1010147001302)the Special fund of Basic Scientific Research Expenses for Undergraduate Universities in Liaoning Province(Nos.LJ212410144077 and LJ212410144072)Beijing Young Talent Support Program,the 111 Projectthe Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
文摘Developing flexible actuators with high transport efficiency is of great significance for the emerging applications of micro-robots in various industrial and biomedical environments.Despite recent advancements have enabled soft materials to achieve complex functionalities unattainable by traditional rigid robots,achieving high-speed transport performance for solid particles remains a significant challenge.Magnetic materials,as an integral component of scientific applications,have demonstrated substantial potential in areas such as biological imaging,catalysis,and energy storage.Inspired by the flexible,soft,and elastic microciliary structures of many organisms,a soft actuator decorated with magnetic microcilia was reported.This soft magnetic microciliary actuator achieves high speed(50 mm s^(-1))transport of solid microspheres by means of magnetic field regulate their surface morphology.Overcoming the limitations of prior studies in which the speed of motion was constrained to a few millimeters per second due to hysteresis effects,this work represents a significant advancement in the emerging field of biomimetic flexible actuators and holds promise in various applications.
基金supported by Jiangsu Special Project for Frontier Leading Base Technology(Grant Nos.BK20192004)Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities(Grant Nos.B240201190)+3 种基金Changzhou Social Development Science and Technology Support Project(Grant Nos.CE20225037)Changzhou Science and Technology Project(Grant Nos.CM20223014)Suzhou Key Industrial Technology Innovation Forward-Looking Application Research Project(Grant Nos.SYG202143)Changzhou Science and Technology Project(Grant Nos.CJ20241061).
文摘Soft actuators are inherently flexible and compliant,traits that enhance their adaptability to diverse environments and tasks.However,their low structural stiffness can lead to unpredictable and uncontrollable complex deformations when substantial force is required,compromising their load-bearing capacity.This work proposes a novel method that uses gecko setae-inspired adhesives as interlayer films to construct a layer jamming structure to adjust the stiffness of soft actuators.The mechanical behavior of a single tilted microcylinder was analyzed using the energy method to determine the adhesion force of the adhesives.The gecko-inspired adhesive was designed under the guidance of the adhesion force model.Testing under various loads and directions revealed that the tilted characteristic of microcylinders can enhance the adhesion force in its grasping direction.The adhesive demonstrated excellent adhesion performance compared to other typical adhesives.A tunable stiffness actuator using gecko setae-inspired adhesives(TSAGA),was developed with these adhesives serving as interlayer films.The stiffness model of TSAGA was derived by analyzing its axial compression force.The results of stiffness test indicate that the adhesives serve as interlayer films can adjust the stiffness in response to applied load.TSAGA was compared with other typical soft actuators in order to evaluate the stiffness performance,and the results indicate that TSAGA exhibits the highest stiffness and the widest tunable stiffness range.This demonstrates the superior performance of the setae-inspired adhesives as interlayer films in terms of stiffness adjustment.
基金supported by the Chinese Civil Aircraft Project(No.MJ-2017-S49).
文摘With the advancement of more electric aircraft(MEA)technology,the application of electro-hydrostatic actuators(EHAs)in aircraft actuation systems has become increasingly prevalent.This paper focuses on the modeling and mode switching analysis of EHA used in the primary flight control actuation systems of large aircraft,addressing the challenges associated with mode switching.First,we analyze the functional architecture and operational characteristics of multi-mode EHA,and sumarize the operating modes and implementation methods.Based on the EHA system architecture,we then develop a theoretical mathematical model and a simulation model.Using the simulation model,we analyze the performance of the EHA during normal operation.Finally,the performance of the EHA during mode switching under various functional switching scenarios is investigated.The results indicate that the EHA meets the performance requirements in terms of accuracy,bandwidth,and load capacity.Additionally,the hydraulic cylinder operates smoothly during the EHA mode switching,and the response time for switching between different modes is less than the specified threshold.These findings validate the system performance of multi-mode EHA,which helps to improve the reliability of EHA and the safety of aircraft flight control systems.
基金Project supported by the Science and Technology Research Project of Henan Province in China(Grant No.222102220022)。
文摘Soft underwater swimming robots driven by smart materials show unique advantages in ocean exploration,such as low noise,high flexibility and good environmental interaction ability.The dielectric elastomer(DE),as a new kind of soft intelligent material,has the characteristics of a low elastic modulus,large deformation range,high energy density and fast response speed.DE actuator(DEA)drive systems use the deformation characteristics of dielectric materials to drive the mechanical system,which has become a research hotspot in the field of soft robots.In this paper,a tubular actuator based on DEs is designed and its performance is studied.Firstly,the structure and driving process of a DEA are described,and a tubular DEA is designed.Studying the elongation ratio of the DEA pre-stretching shows that when the axial elongation ratio is 3 times and the circumferential elongation ratio is 4 times,the maximum deformation effect can be obtained under voltage excitation.At a voltage of 6.0 k V,a single pipe section DEA achieves a bending angle of 25.9°and a driving force of 73.8 m N.Secondly,the effect of the DEA series on the bending angle and response characteristics is studied.The experimental results show that the maximum bending angle of the three joint actuators in series can reach 59.3°under6.0 k V voltage,which significantly improves the overall bending performance.In addition,the truncation frequency of the drive module after the series is increased to 0.62 Hz,showing better frequency response capability.The excellent performance of the pipe joint actuator in its bending angle,response characteristic and driving force is verified.
文摘In this paper,a nonlinear control approach for an unstable networked plant in the presence of actuator and sensor limitations using robust right coprime factorization is proposed.The actuator is limited by upper and lower constraints and the sensor in the feedback loop is subjected to network-induced unknown time-varying delay and noise.With this nonlinear control method,we first employ right coprime factorization based on isomorphism and operator theory to factorize the plant,so that bounded input bounded output(BIBO)stability can be guaranteed.Next,continuous-time generalized predictive control(CGPC)is utilized for the unstable operator of the right coprime factorized plant to guarantee inner stability and enables the closed-loop dynamics of the system with predictive characteristics.Meanwhile,a second-Do F(degrees of freedom)switched controller that satisfies a perturbed Bezout identity and a robustness condition is designed.By using the CGPC controller that possesses predictive behavior and the second-Do F switched stabilizer,the overall stability of the plant subjected to actuator limitations is guaranteed.To address sensor limitations that exist in networked plants in the form of delay and noise which often cause system performance degradation,we implement an identity operator definition in the feedback loop to compensate for these adverse effects.Further,a pre-operator is designed to ensure that the plant output tracks the reference input.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed design scheme is demonstrated by simulations.
基金supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFB4706400)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62273112,62073030,62203161)+6 种基金the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(2023B1515120018,2023B1515120019)the Open Project of Xiangjiang Laboratory(23XJ03012)the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province(2024JJ5087)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province(20232BAB212024)the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT,South Korea(IRIS-2023-00207954)the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou,China(2023A03J0120)the Guangzhou University Research Project(RC2023037)
文摘In this study,we consider a single-link flexible manipulator in the presence of an unknown Bouc-Wen type of hysteresis and intermittent actuator faults.First,an inverse hysteresis dynamics model is introduced,and then the control input is divided into an expected input and an error compensator.Second,a novel adaptive neural network-based control scheme is proposed to cancel the unknown input hysteresis.Subsequently,by modifying the adaptive laws and local control laws,a fault-tolerant control strategy is applied to address uncertain intermittent actuator faults in a flexible manipulator system.Through the direct Lyapunov theory,the proposed scheme allows the state errors to asymptotically converge to a specified interval.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed scheme is verified through numerical simulations and experiments.
基金supported by Nguyen Tat Thanh University,Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam,provided with the facilities required to carry out this work.
文摘Hydraulic-electric systems are widely utilized in various applications.However,over time,these systems may encounter random faults such as loose cables,ambient environmental noise,or sensor aging,leading to inaccurate sensor readings.These faults may result in system instability or compromise safety.In this paper,we propose a fault compensation control system to mitigate the effects of sensor faults and ensure system safety.Specifically,we utilize the pressure sensor within the system to implement the control process and evaluate performance based on the piston position.First,we develop a mathematical model to identify optimal parameters for the fault estimation model based on the Lyapunov stability principle.Next,we design an unknown input observer that estimates the state vector and detects pressure sensor faults using a linear matrix inequality optimization algorithm.The estimated pressure faults are incorporated into the fault compensation control system to counteract their effects via a fault residual coefficient.The discrepancy between the feedback state and the estimated state determines this coefficient.We assess the piston position’s performance through pressure control to evaluate the proposed model’s effectiveness.Finally,the system simulation results are analyzed to validate the efficiency of the proposed model.When a pressure sensor fault occurs,the proposed approach effectively minimizes position control errors,enhancing overall system stability.When a pressure sensor fault occurs,the proposed model compensates for the fault to mitigate the impact of pressure problem,thereby enhancing the position control quality of the EHA system.The fault compensation method ensures over 90%system performance,with its effectiveness becoming more evident under pressure sensor faults.
基金co-supported by the Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics(No.RAL202203)the National Key Laboratory Foundation(No.6142202202)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No.2024M754133)。
文摘An advanced Actuator Surface Method(ASM)coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD)is developed and applied to the complex unsteady aerodynamic simulation of helicopter.By introducing an improved three-dimensional anisotropic Gaussian kernel,this method effectively addresses the severe aerodynamic load fluctuations commonly associated with traditional Virtual Blade Method(VBM)due to turbulent flow around blade elements.To manage the issues of regional shape and grid cell quantity variations caused by virtual blade sweeping,a universal hybrid grid generation strategy is established without body-fitted and disk interpolation grids,which enhances the computational stability at both blade elements and blade edges.Aerodynamic numerical simulations of helicopter are performed using this method,focusing on rotor/fuselage interaction dominated by rotor wake motion and fuselage blockage effects,Blade-Vortex Interaction(BVI)induced by tip vortices,and maneuvering flights involving collective pitch ramp increases.The results indicate that the advanced ASM demonstrates reliability and robustness in the simulation of complex unsteady flow fields around helicopter.Under similar computational accuracy,the advanced ASM improves computational efficiency by nearly 40 times compared to the oversetgrid-based full Blade-Resolved(B-R)method,and by 6 times compared to the VBM.It shows significant advantages when applied to complex full-aircraft interaction and maneuvering flight conditions that require substantial computational resources.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11972194).
文摘By combining with an improved model on engraving process,a two-phase flow interior ballistic model has been proposed to accurately predict the flow and energy conversion behaviors of pyrotechnic actuators.Using computational fluid dynamics(CFD),the two-phase flow and piston engraving characteristics of a pyrotechnic actuator are investigated.Initially,the current model was utilized to examine the intricate,multi-dimensional flow,and energy conversion characteristics of the propellant grains and combustion gas within the pyrotechnic actuator chamber.It was discovered that the combustion gas on the wall's constant transition from potential to kinetic energy,along with the combined effect of the propellant motion,are what create the pressure oscillation within the chamber.Additionally,a numerical analysis was conducted to determine the impact of various parameters on the pressure oscillation and piston motion,including pyrotechnic charge,pyrotechnic particle size,and chamber structural dimension.The findings show that decreasing the pyrotechnic charge will lower the terminal velocity,while increasing and decreasing the pyrotechnic particle size will reduce the pressure oscillation in the chamber.The pyrotechnic particle size has minimal bearing on the terminal velocity.The results of this investigation offer a trustworthy forecasting instrument for comprehending and creating pyrotechnic actuator designs.
