Dynamics and control of variable geometry truss manipulator

Variable geometry truss manipulator （VGTM） has potential to work in the future space applications, of which a dynamic model is important to dynamic analysis and control of the system. In this paper, an approach is presented to model the dynamic equations of a VGTM by independent variables, which consists of two double-octahedral truss units and a 3-revolute-prismatic-spherical （3-RPS） parallel manipulator. In this ap- proach, the kinematic recursive relations of two adjacent bodies and geometric constrains are used to deduce the kinematic equations of the VGTM, and Jourdain＇s velocity varia- tion principle is adopted to establish the dynamic equations of the system. The validity of the proposed dynamic model is verified by comparison of numerical simulations with the software ADAMS. Besides, an active controller for trajectory tracking of the system is designed by the computed torque method. The effectiveness of the controller is numer- ically proved.

Trajectory Tracking of a Planer Parallel Manipulator by Using Computed Force Control Method

Despite small workspace, parallel manipulators have some advantages over their serial counterparts in terms of higher speed, acceleration, rigidity, accuracy, manufacturing cost and payload. Accordingly, this type of manipulators can be used in many applications such as in high-speed machine tools, tuning machine for feeding, sensitive cutting, assembly and packaging. This paper presents a special type of planar parallel manipulator with three degrees of freedom. It is constructed as a variable geometry truss generally known planar Stewart platform. The reachable and orientation workspaces are obtained for this manipulator. The inverse kinematic analysis is solved for the trajectory tracking according to the redundancy and joint limit avoidance. Then, the dynamics model of the manipulator is established by using Virtual Work method. The simulations are performed to follow the given planar trajectories by using the dynamic equations of the variable geometry truss manipulator and computed force control method. In computed force control method, the feedback gain matrices for PD control are tuned with fixed matrices by trail end error and variable ones by means of optimization with genetic algorithm.

Two-tier control structure design methodology applied to heat exchanger networks

Because of its paramount importance in the successful industrial control strategy of a given heat exchanger network(HEN),the control structure designs for providing appropriate manipulated variable(MV)and controlled variable pairings have received considerable attention.However,quite frequently HENs with such control structures face the problem of hard constraints,typically holding the HENs at less controlled operating space.So both the MV pairings and the above control pairings should be considered to design a control structure.This paper investigates the systematic incorporation of the two pairings,and presents a methodology for designing such two-tier control structure.This is developed based on the sequential strategy,coupling an indirect-tier with direct-tier control structure design,wherein the intention is realized in the former stage and the latter is implemented for further optimization.The MV identification and pairing are achieved through variations in heat load of heat exchangers to design the indirect-tier control structure.Then the direct-tier control structure is followed the relative gain array pairing rules.With the proposed methodology,on the one hand,it generates an explicit connection between the MV pairings and the HEN configuration,and the quantitative interaction measure is improved to avoid the multiple solutions to break the relationship among all the control pairings into individuals;on the other hand,a two-tier control structure reveals control potentials and control system design requirements,this may avoid complex and economically unfavourable control and HEN structures.The application of proposed framework is illustrated with two cases involving the dynamic simulation analysis,the quantitative assessment and the random test.

Controlling Tendons to Modulate Stiffness of a Planar-to-Spatial Tendon-Driven Continuum Manipulator Under External Uncertain Forces

Continuum manipulators(CM)are soft and flexible manipulators with large numbers of degrees of freedom and can perform complex tasks in an unstructured environment.However,their deformability and compliance can deviate distal tip under uncertain external interactions.To address this challenge,a novel tension-based control scheme has been proposed to modulate the stiffness of a tendon-driven CM,reducing the tip position errors caused by uncertain external forces.To minimize the tip position error,a virtual spring is positioned between the deviated and the desired tip positions.The proposed algorithm corrects the manipulator deviated tip position,improving tension distribution and stiffness profile,resulting in higher stiffness and better performance.The corresponding task space stiffness and condition numbers are also computed under different cases,indicating the effectiveness of the tension control scheme in modulating the manipulator's stiffness.Experimental validation conducted on an in-house developed prototype confirms the practical feasibility of the proposed approach.