The measurement of viscoelastic properties of soft tissues has become a research interest with applications in the stiffness estimation of soft tissues, sorting and quality control of postharvest fruit, and fruit ripeness estimation. This paper presents a tactile sensor configuration to estimate the stiffness properties of soft tissues, using fruit as case study. Previous stiffness-measuring tactile sensor models suffer from unstable and infinite sensor outputs due to irregularities and inclination angles of soft tissue surfaces. The proposed configuration introduces two low stiffness springs at the extreme ends of the sensor with one high stiffness spring in-between. This study also presents a closed form mathematical model that considers the maximum inclination angle of the tissue’s (fruit) surface, and a finite element analysis to verify the mathematical model, which yielded stable sensor outputs. A prototype of the proposed configuration was fabricated and tested on kiwifruit samples. The experimental tests revealed that the sensor’s output remained stable, finite, and independent on both the inclination angle of the fruit surface and applied displacement of the sensor. The sensor distinguished between kiwifruit at various stiffness and ripeness levels with an output error ranging between 0.18 % and 3.50 %, and a maximum accuracy of 99.81 %, which is reasonable and competitive compared to previous design concepts.
相似文献The cooperation of humans and robots is ubiquitous in modern systems, while human ability to cooperate has been limitedly investigated in terms of systems theory. A formal model is proposed to describe the human capability for the cooperation based on the finite state automata (FSA) and the affordances theory. Unlike the previous studies focused on conceptual approaches, real and virtual experiments are conducted to investigate human actions in a cooperative system with a human and a robot. A modeling scheme is provided to implement agent-based simulations for the cooperative system using the proposed affordance-based FSA. The developed simulation for the cooperation problem can reproduce the patterns of the actual experiments in terms of affordances and supervisory capability. The modular architecture of the agent-based framework allows establishing open-ended algorithms for action selections with their isolated effects under physical constraints, which need to be revised to deal with human-involved cooperation problems.
相似文献The ability to avoid lane departure has become an important feature for development of driving assistance technology, and the design of lane departure avoidance system (LDAS) which can achieve cooperative control with human driver is still a challenge. This paper presented a new lane departure decision algorithm along with main parameters of the electric power steering (EPS) and electronic stability program (ESP) system’s sensor. During normal situations, steering control based on EPS system was involved to avoid lane departure. However, when the vehicle reached the handling limits, both steering and braking control collaborated together to avoid lane departure based on EPS and ESP systems. Due to the time varying vehicle speed and the uncertainty of tire cornering stiffness, a gain scheduling brake controller was designed based on the energy-to-peak performance indicator, and an upper monitor was designed for activation the braking controller to ensure comfortable ride. Because the relationship between the lane departure degree with a lateral offset in the single- point preview and the driver torque could not be accurately described, a man-machine cooperative control fuzzy observer for the LDAS was designed. In order to accomplish smooth switching for driving mode to ensure ride comfort, a switching criterion was proposed. The proposed method was evaluated via numerical simulation by CarSim/Simulink. A hardware-in-the-loop test platform was set up, and the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy was compared via the driver-in-the-loop experiment. The obtained results show that the proposed man-machine cooperative control strategy not only can return the vehicle to the normal lane effectively, but also realize smooth switching from man-machine cooperative control to driver control.
相似文献The control effect of rotational speed in joints directly affects the motion accuracy of a humanoid manipulator driven by tendon-sheath. The dynamic parameters of the joint have time-varying characteristics due to the posture change of the manipulator. The joint driven by tendon-sheath has a specific torsional stiffness, so flexibility should be considered in the humanoid manipulator’s servo system. The time-varying of the parameters in the servo system and the joint flexibility can cause fluctuation of the output speed. To improve the motion accuracy of the humanoid manipulator, a fuzzy-tuned PI control strategy is used to suppress the instability of the output speed. First, the change law of the inertia on the motor side of the flexible joint is calculated by the dynamics equation of the humanoid manipulator. Next, a mathematical model of the joint is established, and the transfer function from the load speed to the electromagnetic torque is obtained. Furthermore, according to the pole-placement strategy, the fuzzy-tuned PI controller parameters are selected appropriately for the manipulator in different postures. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations and control experiments of the manipulator. The results show that the fuzzy-tuned PI control strategy can significantly reduce the tracking errors and improve the control performance of the manipulator.
相似文献Tendon-driven mechanisms are adopted in remote handling manipulators to reduce the weight of the distal parts of the manipulator while maintaining the handling performance. This study considered several approaches to the design of a gripper system for telemanipulators. According to the requirements of the specified tendon-driven mechanism, the connecting position of the spring system on the gripper mechanism was obtained, and kinematic influence coefficient analysis was performed to select the proper spring stiffness. The results showed that the tension force generated by the selected spring module is relatively constant in the gripper’s motion range; the spring module is advantageous for the semi-automatic gripper motion of servo-based tendon-driven manipulators performed in non-accessible experimental facilities which handles many types of sensitive measuring devices with hazardous materials. The motion performance of the proposed gripper module was comparatively verified with a commercialized gripper system which has similar specifications. Additionally, an eye-in-hand camera was also designed to obtain an active-view through a gripper for efficient teleoperation. This gripper system uses a modular-type camera head that can be changed remotely and a proper camera angle to achieve an intuitive view of the remote site. The designed camera system was tested in a large-scale confined cell facility remotely and verified the practical usability for remote handling manipulators.
相似文献The transverse stiffness and vibration characteristics of discontinuous beams can significantly differ from those of continuous beams given that an abrupt change in stiffness may occur at the interface of the former. In this study, the equations for the deflection curve and vibration frequencies of a simply supported discontinuous beam under axial loads are derived analytically on the basis of boundary, continuity, and deformation compatibility conditions by using equivalent spring models. The equation for the deflection curve is solved using undetermined coefficient methods. The normal function of the transverse vibration equation is obtained by separating variables. The differential equations for the beam that consider moments of inertia, shearing effects, and gyroscopic moments are investigated using the transfer matrix method. The deflection and vibration frequencies of the discontinuous beam are studied under different axial loads and connection spring stiffness. Results show that deflection decreases and vibration frequencies increase exponentially with increasing connection spring stiffness. Moreover, both variables remain steady when connection spring stiffness reaches a considerable value. Lastly, an experimental study is conducted to investigate the vibration characteristics of a discontinuous beam with a curvic coupling, and the results exhibit a good match with the proposed model.
相似文献Wear on the local area of steel wires’ surface is attributed to torsional fretting on the working process of stranded-wire helical spring. A mathematical model to calculate normal contact force and angular displacement amplitude among the wires is established first when the spring is impacted. With the experimental parameters obtained from the model, the torsional fretting test, which stimulates torsional fretting among the wires in the working process of the spring, is realized successfully on a newly developed fretting tester. Torsional fretting behaviors are strongly dependent upon normal contact force, angular displacement amplitude, and number of cycles. There are three basic types of T-θ curves (short for torque), angular displacement curves during the process of torsional fretting, namely, parallelogram, elliptic, and linear T-θ curves. To analyze the damage mechanisms, distribution maps of oxygen in the wear scar of spring wires under different working conditions are revealed. The damage gets slight in the partial slip region, mainly with the abrasive wear and the slight oxidative wear, whereas the wear mechanisms are mainly the abrasive wear, the oxidative wear, and the delamination, accompanied with obvious plastic deformation in the mixed fretting and slip regions.
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