Kinematic Optimization of Bionic Shoulder Driven by Pneumatic Muscle Actuators Based on Particle Swarm Optimization

A bionic shoulder joint with three degree-of-freedom(DOF)driven by pneumatic muscle actuator is proposed and its corresponding kinematic model is established.The bionic shoulder is optimized by particle swam optimization(PSO)with the fitness standards that the requirements of rotation indexes are met and the fluctuation of motion is kept in the lowest resolution in a pneumatic muscle actuator range.Simulation considering rotation indexes only(first simulation)is compared with the one considering both rotation indexes and motion resolution(second simulation)subsequently.Mounting position of the pneumatic muscle actuators in bionic shoulder is optimized after initializing the same condition in simulations.Results show that the fluctuations of parameters are consistent,and the parameters of the first simulation have good convergence than those of the second one.With the increase of stretch rate of the pneumatic muscle actuator,the needed length of fixed link in the center of static platform decreases in optimization.

QUADRATIC OPTIMIZATION METHOD AND ITS APPLICATION ON OPTIMIZING MECHANISM PARAMETER

In order that the mechanism designed meets the requirements of kinematics with optimal dynamics behaviors, a quadratic optimization method is proposed based on the different characteristics of kinematic and dynamic optimization. This method includes two steps of optimization, that is, kinematic and dynamic optimization. Meanwhile, it uses the results of the kinematic optimization as the constraint equations of dynamic optimization. This method is used in the parameters optimization of transplanting mechanism with elliptic planetary gears of high-speed rice seedling transplanter with remarkable significance. The parameters spectrum, which meets to the kinematic requirements, is obtained through visualized human-computer interactions in the kinematics optimization, and the optimal parameters are obtained based on improved genetic algorithm in dynamic optimization. In the dynamic optimization, the objective function is chosen as the optimal＇ dynamic behavior and the constraint equations are from the results of the kinematic optimization, This method is suitable for multi-objective optimization when both the kinematic and dynamic performances act as objective functions.

Research Development on Fish Swimming

Fishes have learned how to achieve outstanding swimming performance through the evolution of hundreds of millions of years,which can provide bio-inspiration for robotic fish design.The premise of designing an excellent robotic fish include fully understanding of fish locomotion mechanism and grasp of the advanced control strategy in robot domain.In this paper,the research development on fish swimming is presented,aiming to offer a reference for the later research.First,the research methods including experimental methods and simulation methods are detailed.Then the current research directions including fish locomotion mechanism,structure and function research and bionic robotic fish are outlined.Fish locomotion mechanism is discussed from three views:macroscopic view to find a unified principle,microscopic view to include muscle activity and intermediate view to study the behaviors of single fish and fish school.Structure and function research is mainly concentrated from three aspects:fin research,lateral line system and body stiffness.Bionic robotic fish research focuses on actuation,materials and motion control.The paper concludes with the future trend that curvature control,machine learning and multiple robotic fish system will play a more important role in this field.Overall,the intensive and comprehensive research on fish swimming will decrease the gap between robotic fish and real fish and contribute to the broad application prospect of robotic fish.

Optimum Kinematic Design of the 4R 2-DOF Parallel Mechanism

This paper analyzes the kinematic optimization design of the 4R 2-DOF parallel mechanism taking into account the force transmissibility. Three indices are introduced to reflect the force transmissibility. Based on these indices and their performance charts, the optimization design process with respect to the workspace is presented in detail. The results show that the designed mechanism is not only far from every singularity but also has good force transmissibility in its workspace. These kinematic optimization indices can be extended to other parallel mechanisms.