MechatronicsPub Date : 2024-10-03DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103260
Chuanchuan Pan , Zhen Deng , Chao Zeng , Bingwei He , Jianwei Zhang
{"title":"Optimal visual control of tendon-sheath-driven continuum robots with robust Jacobian estimation in confined environments","authors":"Chuanchuan Pan , Zhen Deng , Chao Zeng , Bingwei He , Jianwei Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103260","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103260","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate control of continuum robots in confined environments presents a significant challenge due to the need for a precise kinematic model, which is susceptible to external interference. This paper introduces a model-less optimal visual control (MLOVC) method that enables a tendon-sheath-driven continuum robot (TSDCR) to effectively track visual targets in a confined environment while ensuring stability. The method allows for intraluminal navigation of TSDCRs along narrow lumens. To account for the presence of external outliers, a robust Jacobian estimation method is proposed, wherein improved iterative reweighted least squares with sliding windows are used to online calculate the robot’s Jacobian matrix from sensing data. The estimated Jacobian establishes the motion relationship between the visual feature and the actuation. Furthermore, an optimal visual control method based on quadratic programming (QP) is designed for visual target tracking, while considering the robot’s physical constraint and control constraints. The MLOVC method for visual tracking provides a reliable alternative that does not rely on the precise kinematics of TSDCRs and takes into consideration the impact of outliers. The control stability of the proposed approach is demonstrated through Lyapunov analysis. Simulations and experiments are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the MLOVC method, and the results demonstrate that it enhances tracking performance in terms of accuracy and stability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 103260"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142416525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MechatronicsPub Date : 2024-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103258
Xiaohai Hu , Aparajit Venkatesh , Yusen Wan , Guiliang Zheng , Neel Jawale , Navneet Kaur , Xu Chen , Paul Birkmeyer
{"title":"Learning to detect slip through tactile estimation of the contact force field and its entropy properties","authors":"Xiaohai Hu , Aparajit Venkatesh , Yusen Wan , Guiliang Zheng , Neel Jawale , Navneet Kaur , Xu Chen , Paul Birkmeyer","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103258","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103258","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Slip detection during object grasping and manipulation plays a vital role in object handling. Visual feedback can help devise a strategy for grasping. However, for robotic systems to attain a proficiency comparable to humans, integrating artificial tactile sensing is increasingly essential, especially in consistently handling unfamiliar objects. We introduce a novel physics-informed, data-driven approach to detect slip continuously for control-oriented tasks. Our work leverages the inhomogeneity of tactile sensor readings during slip events to develop distinct features and formulates slip detection as a classification problem. We test multiple data-driven models on 10 common objects under different loading conditions, textures, and materials to evaluate our approach. The resulting best classification algorithm achieves a high average accuracy of 95.61%. Practical application in dynamic robotic manipulation demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed real-time slip detection and prevention.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 103258"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142416524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MechatronicsPub Date : 2024-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103256
Gerd Fuchs , Andreas Kugi , Wolfgang Kemmetmüller
{"title":"Magnetic equivalent circuit modeling of a permanent magnet linear synchronous motor composed of curved segments","authors":"Gerd Fuchs , Andreas Kugi , Wolfgang Kemmetmüller","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103256","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103256","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper advances magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) modeling for permanent magnet linear synchronous motors (PMLSMs) with arbitrarily curved segments. As PMLSMs are increasingly utilized in industrial applications, accurate and computationally efficient modeling techniques are paramount. This research proposes a novel approach that meets these requirements and paves the way for real-time model-based control, observers, and estimation strategies. Existing MEC models for PMLSMs primarily consider straight stator segments, neglecting the impact of the curvature of curved segments commonly used in modern PMLSM designs. The approach proposed in this paper systematically incorporates these effects into the MEC model for PMLSMs to address this limitation. As demonstrated by several validation experiments, a calibration concept based on measurements further enhances the model’s accuracy. Finally, a method for efficiently implementing the proposed MEC model for a whole PMLSM setup significantly reduces the computation time compared to the standard implementation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 103256"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142358146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Understanding friction and superelasticity in tendon-driven continuum robots","authors":"Luca Raimondi, Matteo Russo, Xin Dong, Dragos Axinte","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103241","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103241","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Tendon-driven continuum robots are conventionally modeled with either discrete or differential representations of their shapes, which neglect the physical design of the robot itself. As each segment of these robotic systems is usually realized by alternating compliant elements and rigid disks for tendon routing, these discontinuities cause non-negligible position and orientation errors. Although the factors that cause these curvature errors have often been identified in the mechanical behavior of the compliant element (usually made of superelastic alloys), tendon routing, and friction, no study available in the open literature gives a satisfactory explanation of these phenomena. In this article, a Finite Element (FE) model is proposed in conjunction with a bottom-up approach to study the physical behavior of this class of robots and ultimately to quantify the impact of these factors on the shape of a tendon-driven continuum robot. The model proved capable of approximating the experimental data with good accuracy, showing an average percentage error of 0.80% and a peak percentage error at the maximum curvature of the continuum robot of 1.30%, significantly smaller than the average error of 4.1% and peak error of 13.86% obtained with a conventional model.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"104 ","pages":"Article 103241"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957415824001065/pdfft?md5=7183d1ac1de5f156425285c5e712bf58&pid=1-s2.0-S0957415824001065-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142151828","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MechatronicsPub Date : 2024-08-30DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103239
Fadl Abdellatif , Ali J. Alrasheed , Amjad Felemban , Ahmed Al Brahim , Hesham Jifri , Mohamed Abdelkader , Shehab Ahmed , Jeff S. Shamma
{"title":"FalconScan: A hybrid UAV-crawler system for NDT inspection of elevated pipes in industrial plants","authors":"Fadl Abdellatif , Ali J. Alrasheed , Amjad Felemban , Ahmed Al Brahim , Hesham Jifri , Mohamed Abdelkader , Shehab Ahmed , Jeff S. Shamma","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103239","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103239","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Periodic non-destructive testing (NDT) of pipes and tanks is vital in industrial plants, such as Oil & Gas facilities, to proactively detect defects and corrosion before leaks and forced shutdowns occur. This paper presents a hybrid system, consisting of a UAV and a crawler, which enables detailed contact-based inspection of elevated pipes, in pursuit of eliminating the need for dangerous scaffolding and manual inspection to improve safety and reduce cost. Similar to avian animals, the UAV autonomously perches on the pipe to conserve energy. A small inspection crawling robot is carried by the UAV, and is subsequently released onto the pipe’s surface to inspect its health. The crawler uses magnetic wheels for agile mobility and houses an ultrasonic testing (UT) sensor to thoroughly scan the pipe and detect wall thinning, which is a precursor for leaks. Finally, the crawler re-docks with the UAV, which in turn detaches from the pipe to fly back home or inspect another pipe. The multi-robot system is designed for and tested on pipe diameters as small as 8 in.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"103 ","pages":"Article 103239"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142094899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MechatronicsPub Date : 2024-08-28DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103249
Yue Cao, Zhen Zhang
{"title":"A robust design of time-varying internal model principle-based control for ultra-precision tracking in a direct-drive servo stage","authors":"Yue Cao, Zhen Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103249","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103249","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper proposes a robust design of the time-varying internal model principle-based control (TV-IMPC) for tracking sophisticated references generated by linear time-varying (LTV) autonomous systems. The existing TV-IMPC design usually requires a complete knowledge of the plant I/O (input/output) model, leading to the lack of structural robustness. To tackle this issue, we, in this paper, design a gray-box extended state observer (ESO) to estimate and compensate unknown model uncertainties and external disturbances. By means of the ESO feedback, the plant model is kept as nominal, and hence the structural robustness is achieved for the time-varying internal model. It is shown that the proposed design has bounded ESO estimation errors, which can be further adjusted by modifying the corresponding control gains. To stabilize the ESO-based TV-IMPC, a time-varying stabilizer is developed by employing Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). Extensive simulation and experimental studies are conducted on a direct-drive servo stage to validate the proposed robust TV-IMPC with ultra-precision tracking performance (<span><math><mrow><mo>∼</mo><mn>60</mn><mspace></mspace><mi>nm</mi></mrow></math></span> RMSE out of <span><math><mrow><mo>±</mo><mn>80</mn><mspace></mspace><mi>mm</mi></mrow></math></span> stroke).</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"103 ","pages":"Article 103249"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142088297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MechatronicsPub Date : 2024-08-23DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103248
Xin Liu , Shuhuan Wen , Yaohua Hu , Fei Han , Hong Zhang , Hamid Reza Karimi
{"title":"An active SLAM with multi-sensor fusion for snake robots based on deep reinforcement learning","authors":"Xin Liu , Shuhuan Wen , Yaohua Hu , Fei Han , Hong Zhang , Hamid Reza Karimi","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103248","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103248","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Snake-like robots can imitate the movement patterns of animals in nature and enter the space that traditional robots cannot enter, which adapt to environments that humans cannot reach, and expand the field of human exploration. However, it is often challenging to realize autonomous navigation and simultaneously avoid obstacles under an unknown environment, that is, active SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). This paper proposes an autonomous obstacle avoidance method combined with SLAM based on deep reinforcement learning for a wheeled snake robot by using a multi-sensor. Firstly, we design a modular wheeled snake robot structure with lightweight materials based on orthogonal joints and build a three-dimensional model of a snake robot in Gazebo. Secondly, the SLAM based on two-dimensional LiDAR and IMU is used to realize autonomous navigation under an unknown environment and detect obstacles. At the same time, a Deep Q-Learning-based path planning method of the snake robot is proposed to realize obstacles avoidance during navigation. Finally, simulation studies and experiments show that the designed snake-like robot can realize effective path planning and environmental mapping in environments with obstacles. The proposed active SLAM algorithm improves the success rate of snake-like robot path planning, has better obstacle avoidance ability for obstacles, and reduces the number of collisions compared with the traditional A* and the sampling-based RRT* algorithms.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"103 ","pages":"Article 103248"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142050119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MechatronicsPub Date : 2024-08-15DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103238
Dong Gyu Park , Tae Nam Jung , Jin Gahk Kim , Sang Hun Lee , Eun Su Oh , Dong Hwan Kim
{"title":"DBSCAN and Yolov5 based 3D object detection and its adaptation to a mobile platform","authors":"Dong Gyu Park , Tae Nam Jung , Jin Gahk Kim , Sang Hun Lee , Eun Su Oh , Dong Hwan Kim","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103238","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103238","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study presents a 3D object detection technology for mobile platforms and its application. Rather than an innovative high-performance model, we proposed a “useable” model for the robot industry at the current technology stage by combining various techniques. To reduce computation time, a 2D region proposal was obtained using a RGB image-based CNN model. By applying the DBSCAN clustering technique to the point cloud corresponding to the 2D region proposal, a method of obtaining a 3D region proposal was proposed. This allowed for 3D object detection using an RGB image dataset, which has been widely researched, while reducing the computation load to a level suitable for use in mobile robots. Furthermore, the 3D object detection was integrated into a ROS 2-based mobile platform, which was used to perform pedestrian-safe avoidance tasks and elevator button operation tasks. The performance was confirmed through experiments.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"103 ","pages":"Article 103238"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141990938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MechatronicsPub Date : 2024-08-12DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103236
Lars A.L. Janssen , Rob H.B. Fey , Bart Besselink , Nathan van de Wouw
{"title":"Modular redesign of mechatronic systems: Formulation of module specifications guaranteeing system dynamics specifications","authors":"Lars A.L. Janssen , Rob H.B. Fey , Bart Besselink , Nathan van de Wouw","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103236","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103236","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Complex mechatronic systems are typically composed of interconnected modules, often developed by independent teams. This development process challenges the verification of system specifications before all modules are integrated. To address this challenge, a modular redesign framework is proposed in this paper. Herein, first, allowed changes in the dynamics (represented by frequency response functions (FRFs)) of the redesigned system are defined with respect to the original system model, which already satisfies system specifications. Second, these allowed changes in the overall system dynamics (or system redesign specifications) are automatically translated to dynamics (FRF) specifications on module level that, when satisfied, guarantee overall system dynamics (FRF) specifications. This modularity in specification management supports local analysis and verification of module design changes, enabling design teams to work in parallel without the need to iteratively rebuild the system model to check fulfilment of system FRF specifications. A modular redesign process results that shortens time-to-market and decreases redesign costs. The framework’s effectiveness is demonstrated through three examples of increasing complexity, highlighting its potential to enable modular mechatronic system (re)design.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"103 ","pages":"Article 103236"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957415824001016/pdfft?md5=a0a9e9fccc121d8202126ea20ee38a87&pid=1-s2.0-S0957415824001016-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141964572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MechatronicsPub Date : 2024-08-12DOI: 10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103240
Alberto Giammarino, Juan M. Gandarias, Pietro Balatti, Mattia Leonori, Marta Lorenzini, Arash Ajoudani
{"title":"SUPER-MAN: SUPERnumerary robotic bodies for physical assistance in huMAN–robot conjoined actions","authors":"Alberto Giammarino, Juan M. Gandarias, Pietro Balatti, Mattia Leonori, Marta Lorenzini, Arash Ajoudani","doi":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103240","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mechatronics.2024.103240","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper presents a mobile supernumerary robotic approach to physical assistance in human–robot conjoined actions. The study starts with the description of the SUPER-MAN concept. The idea is to develop and utilize mobile collaborative systems that can follow human loco-manipulation commands to perform industrial tasks through three main components: (i) an admittance-type interface, (ii) a human–robot interaction controller and (iii) a supernumerary robotic body. Next, we present two possible implementations within the framework — from theoretical and hardware perspectives. The first system is called MOCA-MAN, and is composed of a redundant torque-controlled robotic arm and an omni-directional mobile platform. The second one is called Kairos-MAN, formed by a high-payload 6-DoF velocity-controlled robotic arm and an omni-directional mobile platform. The systems share the same admittance interface, through which user wrenches are translated to loco-manipulation commands, generated by whole-body controllers of each system. Besides, a thorough user-study with multiple and cross-gender subjects is presented to reveal the quantitative performance of the two systems in effort demanding and dexterous tasks. Moreover, we provide qualitative results from the NASA-TLX questionnaire to demonstrate the SUPER-MAN approach’s potential and its acceptability from the users’ viewpoint.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49842,"journal":{"name":"Mechatronics","volume":"103 ","pages":"Article 103240"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2024-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141964571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}