Search results

Aims to describe design, prototyping and characteristics of a pole climbing/manipulating robot with ability of passing bends and branches of the pole.

Introducing a hybrid (parallel/serial) four degree of freedom (DOF) mechanism as the main part of the robot and also introduces a unique gripper design for pole climbing robots.

Finds that a robot, with the ability of climbing and manipulating on poles with bends and branches, needs at least 4 DOFs. Also an electrical cylinder is a good option for climbing robots and has some advantages over pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders.

The robot is semi‐industrial size. Design and manufacturing of an industrial size robot are a good suggestion for future works.

With some changes on the gripper module and the last tool module, the robot is able to do some service works like pipe testing, pipe/pole cleaning, light bulb changing in highways etc.

Design and manufacturing of a pole‐climbing and manipulating robot with minimum DOFs for construction and service works.

Field robots can surmount or avoid some obstacles when operating on rough ground. However, cable-climbing robots can only surmount obstacles because their moving path is completely restricted along the cables. This paper aims to analyse the dynamic obstacle-surmounting models for the driving and driven wheels of the climbing mechanism, and design a mechanical structure for a bilateral-wheeled cable-climbing robot to improve the obstacle crossing capability.

A mechanical structure of the bilateral-wheeled cable-climbing robot is designed in this paper. Then, the kinematic and dynamic obstacle-surmounting of the driven and driving wheels are investigated through static-dynamic analysis and Lagrangian mechanical analysis, respectively. The climbing and obstacle-surmounting experiments are carried out to improve the obstacle crossing capability. The required motion curve, speed and driving moment of the robot during obstacle-surmounting are generated from the experiments results.

The presented method offers a solution for dynamic obstacle-surmounting analysis of a bilateral-wheeled cable-climbing robot. The simulation, laboratory testing and field experimental results prove that the climbing capability of the robot is near-constant on cables with diameters between 60 and 205 mm.

The dynamic analysis method presented in this paper is found to be applicable to rod structures with large obstacles and improved the stability of the robot at high altitude. Simulations and experiments are also conducted for performance evaluation.

The purpose of this paper aims to investigate the adaptive impedance control and its optimized PSO algorithm for force tracking of a dual-arm cooperative robot. Because the dual-arm robot is directly in contact with external environment, controlling the mutual force between robot and external environment is of great importance. Besides, a high compliance of the robot should be guaranteed.

An impedance control based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is designed to track the mutual force and achieve compliance control of the robot end.

The experimental results show that the impedance control coefficients can be automatically tuned converged by PSO algorithm.

The system can reach a steady state within 0.03 s with overshoot convergence, and the force fluctuation range at the steady state decreases to about ±0.08 N even under the force mutation condition.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and development of a novel series-parallel robot, which aims to climb on the transmission tower.

This study introduces a hybrid robot, which consists of adsorption and two 3-degree of freedom (DOF) translation parallel legs connected by a body linkage. The DOF of the legs ensures that the robot can move on the climbing plane, also contribute to a compact design of the robot. An electromagnet is used to adsorb onto the transmission tower, simplifying the overall structure. Based on the robot design, this paper further defines its climbing gait and adopt the 6th B-spline curves for climbing trajectory planning under different working environments.

The developed prototype that implements the design of the robot, which was used in simulation and experiments, showing that the robot is capable of climbing in the test environments with the planned climbing gait.

The hybrid robot is able to climb under varying degrees of inclinations and cross the obstacles, and the magnetic attraction can ensure stable climbing.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a variable impedance control method of finger exoskeleton for hand rehabilitation using the contact forces between the finger and the exoskeleton, making the output trajectory of finger exoskeleton comply with the natural flexion-extension (NFE) trajectory accurately and adaptively.

This paper presents a variable impedance control method based on fuzzy neural network (FNN). The impedance control system sets the contact forces and joint angles collected by sensors as input. Then it uses the offline-trained FNN system to acquire the impedance parameters in real time, thus realizing tracking the NFE trajectory. K-means clustering method is applied to construct FNN, which can obtain the number of fuzzy rules automatically.

The results of simulations and experiments both show that the finger exoskeleton has an accurate output trajectory and an adaptive performance on three subjects with different physiological parameters. The variable impedance control system can drive the finger exoskeleton to comply with the NFE trajectory accurately and adaptively using the continuously changing contact forces.

The finger is regarded as a part of the control system to get the contact forces between finger and exoskeleton, and the impedance parameters can be updated in real time to make the output trajectory comply with the NFE trajectory accurately and adaptively during the rehabilitation.

Because of the increased use of robots in the industry, it has become inevitable for humans and robots to be able to work together. Therefore, human security has become the primary noncompromising factor of joint human and robot operations. For this reason, the purpose of this study was to develop a safe human-robot interaction software based on vision and touch.

The software consists of three modules. Firstly, the vision module has two tasks: to determine whether there is a human presence and to measure the distance between the robot and the human within the robot’s working space using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and depth sensors. Secondly, the touch detection module perceives whether or not a human physically touches the robot within the same work environment using robot axis torques, wavelet packet decomposition algorithm and CNN. Lastly, the robot’s operating speed is adjusted according to hazard levels came from vision and touch module using the robot’s control module.

The developed software was tested with an industrial robot manipulator and successful results were obtained with minimal error.

The success of the developed algorithm was demonstrated in the current study and the algorithm can be used in other industrial robots for safety.

In this study, a new and practical safety algorithm is proposed and the health of people working with industrial robots is guaranteed.

Relatively few studies have examined the perspectives of informal learning facilitators who play key roles in cultivating an equitable learning environment for nondominant youth and families in making and tinkering spaces. This study aims to foreground the perspectives of facilitators and highlight the complexities and tensions that influence their equity work.

Interviews were conducted with facilitators of making and tinkering spaces across three informal learning organizations: a museum, a public library system and a network of community technology centers. This study then used a framework that examined equity along dimensions of access to what, for whom, based on whose values and toward what ends to analyze both the explicit and implicit conceptions of equity that surfaced in these interviews.

Across organizations, this study identified similarities and differences in facilitators’ conceptualizations of equity that were influenced by their different contexts and had implications for practice at each organization. Highlighting the complexity of enacting equity in practice, this study found moments when dimensions of equity came together in resonant ways, while other moments showed how dimensions can be in tension with each other.

The complexity that facilitators must navigate to enact equity in their practice emphasizes the need for professional development and support for facilitators to deepen their conceptions and practices around equity beyond access – not just skill building in making and tinkering.

This study recognizes the important role that facilitators play in enabling equity-oriented participation in making and tinkering spaces and contributes the “on the ground” perspectives of facilitators to highlight the complexity and tensions of enacting equity in practice.

A new form of learning space has emerged across the world, marking a shift from Do-It-Yourself to Do-It-Together. This space, generically known as a makerspace, is located in accessible and affordable venues, both within communities and serving communities. It offers a resource that allows people to discover their latent capabilities through exploration, experimentation and iteration, alongside the knowledge openly shared by those around them. The underlying rationale is found in the work of John Dewey, notably Democracy and Education (D&E, 1916). This chapter examines this newer form of space to gain insight into what it implies for learning and education. It commences with a reflection of salient aspects of Dewey’s D&E (1916) and how this informs understanding on what is desirable in a learning space. This is followed by a reflection upon research on makerspaces to establish how they can be conceptualized. A case study provides rich insights into characteristics, ethos and practices, while acknowledging that each space is unique and not representative of them all. Nevertheless, it foregrounds the essence of what defines a makerspace. The chapter closes with discussion of the implications and what may be concluded.

Whatever has transpired between the publication of Dewey’s D&E (1916) and the present, his vision of the empowered individual clearly manifests in the makerspace. It allows individuals to break free from the limitations of the formal educational system and, as part of a social learning community, discover their potential in new, natural, non-linear and often unexpected ways. Further, and perhaps only just beginning to be understood, is its wider potential to ignite alternative approaches on how to contribute to society and catalysing new directions for the future of work. With increasing research insights alongside broadened awareness of the possibilities, individuals can gain the capability to design and build for their future – that is only limited by their capacity to imagine it.

Corporates have recently invested in company-owned makerspaces with the goal to skim the potential of makerspaces as innovation driver. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the first framework describing elements and the innovation-related impact on users of corporate makerspaces (CMSs).

The CMS framework is based on a critical review of 116 scientific articles on makerspaces and the embedding of the review findings into the corporate context.

A prototyping infrastructure, a community infrastructure and facilitators are proposed to be key elements of CMSs. Further, CMSs are suggested to have an impact on ideation, concept iteration during the innovation process and collaboration of its users.

The framework on CMSs is based on a critical review of makerspace literature and not on empirical research data.

This paper sheds light on key elements and the expected innovation-related impact of a CMS on the users and thus contains useful information for corporate innovation management on how to plan, build and implement a CMS.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first review of makerspace literature with focus on their elements and innovation-related impact. Additionally, the review provides the first academic definition of the growing phenomenon of CMSs and describes elements and the innovation-related impact of CMSs on its users in companies, which paves the way for further research on CMSs.