A rotary pneumatic actuator for the actuation of the exoskeleton knee joint

Rotary pneumatic actuators that are made out of linear one are always best suited for exoskeleton joint actuation due to its inherent power to weight ratio. This work is a modified version of knee actuation system that has already been developed and major modifications are made in order to make it more suitable for human wearing and also to reduce its bulkiness and complexity. The considered actuator system is a rotary actuator where a pulley converts the linear motion of the standard pneumatic piston into the rotary motion. To prove the capability of the actuator, its performance characteristics such as torque and power produced are compared to the required torque and power at the knee joint of the exoskeleton in swing phase and are found to be excellent. The two-way analysis of variance（ANOVA）is performed to find the effect of the throat area valve on knee angle. The ANOVA shows the significant effect of the throat area variation on the knee angle flexion made by the proposed actuator. A relationship between the throat area of flow control valve, that is connected to the exit port of the direction control valve, and angular displacement of the knee joint has been formulated. This relationship can be used to design a control system to regulate the mass flow rate of air at the exit and hence the angular velocity of the knee joint can be controlled.

STRATEGY FOR DIESEL ROTARY ENGINE WITH COMMON RAIL INJECTION SYSTEM

A direct injection low compression ratios diesel rotary engine is designed and studied to find the appropriate application of the electronic controlled high pressure common rail injection system. Current development focuses on the applied fuel injection and ignition strategies, especially concerning the combustion configurations of injectors, ignition source, and combustion chamber. The prototype engine, equipped with Bosch common rail system and high performance electronic control unit （ECU）, is designed correspondingly. Studies show that the integration of a common rail injection system and the main and pilot duel injectors configurations, assisted with glow plug ignition device and flexible ECU, represents a promising approach to improve the potential of the low compression ratios diesel rotary engine. Currently the engine can run at 6 kr · min^-1 steadily and the power is about 68 kW/（4 kr ·min^- 1）.

Vibration Frequency Characteristic Study of Two-stage Excitation Valve Used in Vibration Experiment System

To satisfy the demands of higher frequency and amplitude in hydraulic vibration experiment system,the two-stage excitation valve is presented,and a mathematical model of two-stage excitation valve is established after analyzing the working principle of two-stage excitation valve,then the influence of relevant parameters on the displacement of main spool of two-stage excitation valve is studied by using Matlab/Simulink to calculate and analyze.The results show that the displacement of main spool will be smaller with bigger diameter and more secondary valve ports.When the reversing frequency is higher and the oil supply pressure is lower as well as the axial guide width of valve ports is smaller,the maximum displacement of main spool is smaller.The new two-stage excitation valve is easy to adjust reversing frequency and flow.The high frequency can be achieved by improving the rotation speed of servo motor and adding the number of secondary valve ports;the large flow can be realized by increasing the axial guide width of secondary valve ports and oil supply pressure.The result of this study is of guiding significance for designing the rotary valve for the achievement of higher reversing frequency and larger flow.