An Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC)-Driven Linear Peristaltic Microfluidic Pump

Microfluidic devices and micro-pumps are increasingly necessitated in many fields ranging from untethered soft robots, to pharmaceutical and biomedical technology. While realization of such devices is limited by miniaturization constraints of conventional actuators, these restrictions can be resolved by using smart material transducers...

A MUltidimensional Compliant Decoupled Actuator (MUCDA) for pelvic support during gait

Series Elastic Actuation decouples actuator inertia from the interaction ports and is thus advantageous for force-controlled devices. Parallel or even passive compliance can fulfill a complementary role by compensating for gravitational or periodic inertial forces or by providing passive guidance. Here, these concepts are combined in an...

Towards teleoperation with human-like dynamics: Human use of elastic tools

Variable stiffness actuators undergo lower peak force in contacts compared to their rigid counterparts, and are thus safer for human-robot interaction. Furthermore, they can store energy in their elastic element and can release it later to achieve human-like dynamic movements. However, it is not clear how to integrate them in teleoperator...

Communication schemes for centralized and decentralized event-triggered control systems

Energy constraint long-range wireless sensor/actuator-based solutions are theoretically the perfect choice to support the next generation of city-scale cyber-physical systems. Traditional systems adopt periodic control which increases network congestion and actuations while burdens the energy consumption. Recent control theory studies...

Synthesis of local control for a robotic manipulator joint

The objective of the study is the synthesis of an algorithm for the automatic control of an electromechanical actuator in the rotational joint of a multi-link, robotic manipulator. Control performance is assessed in terms of ability of the controlled joint to follow a commanded joint angle, or a commanded joint angular rate. Part One of the...