MECHANISM DESIGN AND MOTION ANALYSIS OF A SPHERICAL MOBILE ROBOT

A new spherical mobile robot BHQ-1 is designed. The spherical robot is driven by two internally mounted motors that induce the ball to move straight and turn around on a fiat surface. A dynamic model of the robot is developed with Lagrange method and factors affecting the driving torque of two motors are analyzed. The relationship between the turning radius of the robot and the length of two links is discussed in order to optimize its mechanism design. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the good controllability and motion performance of BHQ-1.

Optimal Design of a 3-Leg 6-DOF Parallel Manipulator for a Specific Workspace

Researchers seldom study optimum design of a six-degree-of-freedom（DOF） parallel manipulator with three legs based upon the given workspace.An optimal design method of a novel three-leg six-DOF parallel manipulator（TLPM） is presented.The mechanical structure of this robot is introduced,with this structure the kinematic constrain equations is decoupled.Analytical solutions of the forward kinematics are worked out,one configuration of this robot,including position and orientation of the end-effector are graphically displayed.Then,on the basis of several extreme positions of the kinematic performances,the task workspace is given.An algorithm of optimal designing is introduced to find the smallest dimensional parameters of the proposed robot.Examples illustrate the design results,and a design stability index is introduced,which ensures that the robot remains a safe distance from the boundary of sits actual workspace.Finally,one prototype of the robot is developed based on this method.This method can easily find appropriate kinematic parameters that can size a robot having the smallest workspace enclosing a predefined task workspace.It improves the design efficiency,ensures that the robot has a small mechanical size possesses a large given workspace volume,and meets the lightweight design requirements.

DESIGN OF RECONFIGURABLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS WITH STRONGLY COUPLED NATURE

Today＇s manufacturing cnvironmem forces manufacturing companies to make as many product variations as possible at affordable costs within a short time. Mass customisation is one of most important technologies for companies to achieve their objectives. Efforts to mass customisation should be made on two aspects： （1） To modularize products and make them as less differences as possible; （2） To design manufacturing resources and make them provide as many processes variations as possible. This paper reports our recent work on aspect （2）, i.e. how to design a reconfignrable manufacturing system （RMS） so that it can be competent to accomplish various processes optimally; Reconfignrable robot system （RRS） is taken as an example. RMS design involves architecture design and configuration design, and configuration design is further divided in design analysis and design synthesis. Axiomatic design theory （ADT） is applied to architecture design, the features and issues of RRS configuration design are discussed, automatic modelling method is developed for design analysis, and concurrent design methodology is presented for design synthesis.

Research and Application of Artificial Intelligence in Electric Guitar Performance

The article explores the application of artificial intelligence technology in electric guitar playing.It delves into the advantages of artificial intelligence and its seamless integration into electric guitar performance.Additionally,it investigates the application of artificial intelligence technology through an intelligent playing robot.The research aims to offer substantial support for the advancement of artificial intelligence in electric guitar performance.

Design issues for human-machine platform interface in cable-based parallel manipulators for physiotherapy applications

We outline problems and potential solutions for feasible human-machine interfaces using cable-based parallel manipulators for physiotherapy applications.From an engineering perspective,we discuss the design constraints related to acceptance by patients and physiotherapist users.To date,most designs have focused on mobile platforms that are designed to be operated as an end-effector connected to human limbs for direct patient interaction.Some specific examples are illustrated from the authors' experience with prototypes available at Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics (LARM),Italy.

Design framework for robotic surgery wards at hospitals:Computational implementation

Robotic surgery is one of the most recent technologies in healthcare building field.Due to the design complexity of Robotic surgery wards,computational implementations are being developed to either measure the effect of inserting advanced technologies as Electronic medical recorders and tele surgery,or evaluate design alternatives on healthcare building.This paper presents a design framework that responds to the need for coordinating design phases for Robotic Surgery Wards(RSWs)computationally.This proposed design framework for RSWs can generate functional RSW alternatives and more than one solution for each alternative.The framework has been structured based on the main architectural considerations of RSWs which are geom etric and topological,the economic considerations,specific developed pools for shape and corridor patterns,and the theory of,fShape Grammars"has been utilized to compute the framework to generate a vast number of design alternatives.Accordingly,a computational implementation has been established to assist designers in early design stages.Numerical validation for the applications of the developed framework and implementation has been conducted by using reference examples of RSWs.The main finding in this paper is providing healthcare building designers with a computational implementation that generates RSW alternative computationally based on specific shape and cost levels.

Improved approach to quality function deployment based on Pythagorean fuzzy sets and application to assembly robot design evaluation

Quality function deployment(QFD)is an effective method that helps companies analyze customer requirements(CRs).These CRs are then turned into product or service characteristics,which are translated to other attributes.With the QFD method,companies could design or improve the quality of products or services close to CRs.To increase the effectiveness of QFD,we propose an improved method based on Pythagorean fuzzy sets(PFSs).We apply an extended method to obtain the group consensus evaluation matrix.We then use a combined weight determining method to integrate former weights to objective weights derived from the evaluation matrix.To determine the exact score of each PFS in the evaluation matrix,we develop an improved score function.Lastly,we apply the proposed method to a case study on assembly robot design evaluation.

Development and Evaluation of a Wearable Lower Limb Rehabilitation Robot

This paper introduces a rigid-flexible coupling wearable exoskeleton robot for lower limb,which is designed in light of gait biomechanics and beneficial for low limb movement disorders by implementing gait training.The rationality of the proposed mechanism is shown with the implementation of the dynamic simulation through MSC ADAMS.For the purposes of lightweight,the exoskeleton mechanism is optimized through finite element analysis.It can be concluded from performance evaluation experiment,the mechanism has certain advantages over existing exoskeleton robots,namely,comfortable,lightweight,low cost,which can be utilized for rehabilitation training in medical institutions or as a daily-walking ancillary equipment for patients.

Experimental investigations on the strategies of fighting crickets Velarifictorus micado to manipulate air resistance

Fighting crickets,one species of flightless insects optimally chosen by nature for millions of years,have evolved to fairly smooth and streamlined body surfaces.This article tries to answer the question how the insects manipulate air resistance when travelling through air after take-off without using their wings and meanwhile keep a high efficiency.We found that fighting crickets,Velarifictorus micado,performed two types of movements through air:stable and unstable.The two types both have a high moving efficiency.For the stable type,the moving efficiency is larger than 95%.As a typical example,focusing on the stable type,we firstly predicted each component of aerodynamic drag applied on the crickets and analysed the drag contributions to the initial kinetic energy dissipation.Further investigation revealed the mechanisms of the efficiently moving strategy against air resistance for the insects.The results show that the crickets can spin their hind legs to adjust body posture,thereby changing(increasing or decreasing)the air drag acting on the body to raise the efficiency during aerial movements.This work may advance the understanding of the significance of hind legs to insects’evolution and provide inspiration for future robot or micro aerial vehicle designs.