Well-conditioned configurations of fault-tolerant manipulators

Fault-tolerant motion of redundant manipulators can be obtained by joint velocity reconfiguration. For fault-tolerant manipulators, it is beneficial to determine the configurations that can tolerate the locked-joint failures with a minimum relative joint velocity jump, because the manipulator can rapidly reconfigure itself to tolerate the fault. This paper uses the properties of the condition numbers to introduce those optimal configurations for serial manipulators. The relationship between the manipulator’s locked-joint failures and the condition number of the Jacobian matrix is indicated by using a matrix perturbation methodology. Then, it is observed that the condition number provides an upper bound of the required relative joint velocity change for recovering the faults which leads to define the optimal fault-tolerant configuration from the minimization of the condition number. The optimization problem to obtain the minimum condition number is converted to three standard Eigen value optimization problems. A solution is for selected optimization problem is presented. Finally, in order to obtain the optimal fault-tolerant configuration, the proposed method is applied to a 4-DoF planar manipulator.     

Castor oil-based polyurethane coatings containing benzyl triethanol ammonium chloride: synthesis,characterization, and biological properties

In the present work, benzyl triethanol ammonium chloride (BTEAC) was employed as a reactive bactericidal additive for preparing of polyurethane coatings. In this regard, castor oil as a renewable resource-based polyol, polyethylene glycol (PEG1000), and BTEAC were reacted with toluene diisocyanate. Physical, mechanical, and thermal characteristics as well as biocompatibility and antibacterial properties of polyurethanes were evaluated. The prepared polyurethanes showed two-phase structure with soft and hard segments glass transition temperature transitions in the range of 18–70 and 85–153 °C, respectively. Initial modulus and tensile strength were improved for coatings with higher BTEAC content, while elongation at break and thermal stability were decreased. Hydrophilicity of coatings was increased for polyurethanes based on higher content of BTEAC and PEG1000. Polyurethanes with higher BTEAC content showed better cytocompatibility for mouse L929 fibroblast cells. Moreover, coatings with higher hydrophilicity and BTEAC content displayed superior antibacterial activity against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF EFFECTIVE TIRE CONTACT AREA FOR VARIOUS TREAD PATTERNS

The effective tire-pavement contact area affects the relative damage of asphalt pavement and should be incorporated in both mechanistic and empirical response analyses of pavements. A new machine called ROTOCOM Wheel Tracker (RCWT) was designed and fabricated to capture the effective tire contact area apart from slab compacting, and conducting simulative laboratory wheel tracking tests. The main focus of this paper is laboratory measurement of effective tire contact areas for various tread patterns. Seven tire treads were selected for the footprint image analyses at five tire loads and four tire inflation pressures. An image processing MATLAB-based program was coded to calculate the contact areas of the 280 imprints obtained from both sides of the RCWT. Factorial analysis indicated significant effects of tire tread, tire load, and inflation pressure on the resulting contact area. Comparison between effective and traditional contact areas indicated that the current pavement design procedure with traditional circular contact area extremely overestimates the actual tire-pavement contact area up to 92%.     

Efficient repairing effect of PEG based tri-block copolymer on mechanically damaged PC12 cells and isolated spinal cord

Membrane sealing effects of polymersomes made of tri-block copolymer, PEG-co-FA/SC-co-PEG, (PFSP) were studied on isolated spinal cord strips, PC12 cell lines and artificial bilayer following mechanical impact implemented by aneurism clip, sonication and electric shock, respectively. The homogeneity and size of PFSP, membrane permeability and cell viability were assessed by dynamic light scattering, LDH release and MTT assays. According to the results, the biocompatible, physico-chemical, size, surface charge and amphipathic nature of PFSP polymersome makes it an ideal macromolecule to rapidly reseal damaged membranes of cells in injured spinal cord as well as in culture medium. Compound action potentials recorded from intentionally damaged spinal cord strips incubated with PFSP showed restoration of neural excitability by 82.24 % and conduction velocity by 96.72 % after 5 min that monitored in real time. Thus, they triggered efficient instant and sustained sealing of membrane and reactivation of temporarily inactivated axons. Treatment of ultrasonically damaged PC12 cells by PFSP caused efficient cell membrane repair and led to their increased viability. The optimum effects of PFSP on stabilization and impermeabilizing of the lipid bilayer occurred at the same concentrations applied to the damaged cells and spinal cord fibers and was approved by restoration of membrane conductance and calcein release manifested by NanoDrop technique. The unique physico-chemical characteristics of novel polymersomes introduced here, make them capable to reorganize membrane lipid molecules, reseal the breaches and restore the hydrophobic insulation in spinal cord damaged cells. Thus, they might be considered in the clinical treatment of SCI at early stages.     

Unidirectional growth of pure and L-lysine added ADP crystals from aqueous solution

Pure and L-lysine added ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) crystals were grown in the 〈001〉 direction by Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (S-R) method. The grown crystals were characterized by X-Ray diffractometry (XRD), UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and Vicker’s Microhardness analysis. XRD spectrum of each of the grown crystals proved its crystallinity. The crystals showed good transparency in the entire visible region. FT-IR spectra of the specimens revealed the presence of functional groups in them. The hardness of the pure and L-lysine added ADP crystals were measured and that of the added one was found higher. Meanwhile, it was found that the ADP crystals (pure and L-lysine added) grown by S-R method had higher hardness compared to ADP crystal grown by conventional method.     

Ring Opening of Epoxidized Soybean Oil with Compounds Containing Two Different Functional Groups

Epoxidized vegetable oils are desirable chemicals due to their eco‐friendly characteristics and their being a major source of many green products. Ring opening is one of the ways to convert these epoxidized oils to some new intermediates. The use of mono‐functional amines, alcohols, acid anhydrides and thioethers for epoxy ring opening has been reported in the literature. In this study, thioglycolic acid (TGA) bearing thiol and carboxylic acid as two different functional groups and methyl ester of thioglycolic acid (TGAME) were used. Currently, there is no reported literature describing epoxy ring opening using chemicals bearing two different functional groups simultaneously. In this way, two new polyols were synthesized, one with TGA (polyol 1) and one with TGAME (polyol 2). FTIR and ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR spectroscopy confirmed that the ring was opened by the carboxylic acid group of TGA, and the thiol group was not involved in the ring opening whereas the ring was opened by the thiol group in the case of TGAME.     

Wachstumsmessungen von Kristallen in sauberen und verunreinigten Lösungen: Einzelkristall vs. Kollektiv

Information about crystal growth rates and the influence of impurities are essential for the design of industrial crystallization processes. Here, the influence of trivalent metal ions Fe³⁺ in solution and adsorbed in the crystal on the growth and dissolution rate is investigated. The results clearly show kinetic and thermodynamic effects caused by impurities which have to be taken into account in the equipment design. Furthermore, effects of growth rate dispersion must be excluded by investigation of crystal collectives. Additionally, the crystal growth data should be obtained from real starting solutions.