• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.513-518
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• 2016

The piezoelectric actuating device is known for its large power density and simple structure. It can generate a larger force than a conventional actuator and has also wide bandwidth with fast response in a compact size. To control the piezoelectric actuator, we need an analog signal conditioning circuit as well as digital microcontrollers. Conventional microcontrollers are not equipped with an analog part and need digital-to-analog converters, which makes the system bulky compared with the small size of piezoelectric devices. To overcome these weaknesses, we are developing a single-chip controller that can handle analog and digital signals simultaneously using mixed-signal FPGA technology. This gives more flexibility than traditional fixed-function microcontrollers, and the control speed can be increased greatly due to the parallel processing characteristics of the FPGA. In this paper, we developed a floating-point multiplier, PWM generator, 80-kHz power control loop, and 1-kHz position feedback control loop using a single mixed-signal FPGA. It takes only 50 ns for single floating-point multiplication. The PWM generator gives two outputs to control the charging and discharging of the high-voltage output capacitor. Through experimentation and simulation, it is demonstrated that the designed control loops work properly in a real environment.

• Journal of the KSME
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.554-562
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• 1992

수치제어(NC : numerical control) 기술은 공장자동화를 위한 중요 기술이다. 우리 산업현장에 공장 자동화가 확장되면서 NC 공작기계, 산업용 로봇, 삼차원 좌표측정기 등의 사용이 매우 증 가되고 있다. 이러한 수치제어용 기계에서는 자동 위치제어를 위하여 길이변위와 회전각도 감 지용 센서인 NC 엔코더가 매우 중요한 부품이다. NC 엔코더에는 선형 엔코더(NC-스케일)와 회전 엔코더가 있으며, 각각 직선운동과 회전운동을 제어하기 위해서 필요한 자동화 부품이다. 그림 1에서는 CNC 위치제어 시스템에서 정확한 위치로 이동을 목표로하여 서보 제어할 때 기 계축의 위치를 감지하는 센서가 NC 엔코더임을 보여주고 있다. 선형 엔코더는 직선운동의 변 위를 감지하며 NC-스케일 이라고도 말한다. 우리나라에서는 아직 엔코더 제작기술을 개발하지 못하여 전량수입에 의존하고 있다. 이러한 NC 엔코더의 수요는 해외 시장뿐만 아니라 국내시 장에서도 급격히 증가되고 있으며 국산화 개발이 시급하다. 이 글에서는 엔코더의 종류별 작동 원리를 설명하고 또한 NC-스케일 제조기술을 개발하기 위하여 실험하였던 결과를 정리하고자 한다.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.409-415
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• 2021

Medical waste management is becoming increasingly important, specifically in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, as hospitals, clinics, quarantine centers, and medical research institutes are generating tons of medical waste every day. Previously, a traditional incineration process was utilized for managing medical waste, but the lack of landfill sites, and accompanying environmental concerns endanger public health. Consequently, an innovative sterilization shredding system was developed to resolve this problem. In this research, we focused on the design and numerical analysis of a shredding system for hazardous and infectious medical waste, to establish its operational performance. The shredding machine's components were modeled in a CAD application, and finite element analysis (FEA) was conducted using ABAQUS software. Static, fatigue, and dynamic loading conditions were used to analyze the structural stability of the cutting blade. The blade geometry proved to be effective based on the cutting force applied to shred medical waste. The dynamic stability of the structure was verified using modal analysis. Furthermore, an S-N curve was generated using a high cycle fatigue study, to predict the expected life of the cutting blade. Resultantly, an appropriate shredder system was devised to link with a sterilization unit, which could be beneficial in reducing the volume of medical waste and disposal time, thereof, thus eliminating environmental issues, and potential health hazards.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1-8
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• 2020

Air ducts installed for ventilation inside buildings accumulate contaminants during their service life. Robots are installed to clean the air duct at low cost, but they are still not fully automated and depend on manpower. In this study, an intersection detection algorithm for autonomous driving was applied to an air duct cleaning robot. Autonomous driving of the robot was achieved by calculating the distance and angle between the extracted point and the center point through the intersection detection algorithm from the camera image mounted on the robot. The training data consisted of CAD images of the duct interior as well as the cross-point coordinates and angles between the two boundary lines. The deep learning-based CNN model was applied as a detection algorithm. For training, the cross-point coordinates were obtained from CAD images. The accuracy was determined based on the differences in the actual and predicted areas and distances. A cleaning robot prototype was designed, consisting of a frame, a Raspberry Pi computer, a control unit and a drive unit. The algorithm was validated by video imagery of the robot in operation. The algorithm can be applied to vehicles operating in similar environments.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 2017.04a
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• pp.53-53
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• 2017

연구목적: 국내 과일 산업의 한 단계 도약과 대외 경쟁력을 높이기 위해서는 수확작업의 기계화가 시급함. 이 연구는 국내외 과일 수확 기계화 현황과 문제점을 분석하고, 향후 수확작업 기계화 방향을 제시하고자 수행 수확기계 실용화 현황 및 고찰 (국내) 과일을 직접 수확이 아닌 수확 작업을 보조해주는 고지 작업기(수동형, 모터 진동형)와 고소 작업차가 대부분임. 수동형은 사과 감 등을 수확하지만, 작업능률이 낮고 작업자가 쉽게 피로하여 장시간 작업이 불가능하므로 실질적인 대안이 되지 못함. 진동형은 자체 동력을 이용하여 나무에 진동을 가하여 주로 대추 매실 등 소과류 수확에 이용되고, 수확능률은 우수하나 충격 손상이 많아 개선이 요구됨. 고소작업차는 동력원에 따라 충전식과 엔진식으로 구분되고, 충전식은 엔진식에 비해 진동 소음이 적어 쾌적하지만, 작업시간이 배터리 용량에 제한을 받음. 또한 작업대 작동방식에 따라 리프트형과 붐형으로 구분함. 리프트형은 리프트를 이용하여 작업대를 상하로 구동하는 방식으로 높은 위치의 과실 수확이 어렵고, 작업대 넓이 만큼의 작업 공간(과수간의 거리)이 필요함. 붐형은 필요한 곳으로 접근성이 우수하나 무거운 무게를 지탱하기 어렵기 때문에 본체를 무겁게 하거나 수시로 수확된 과일을 하차시켜야 함. (국외) 수확 후 가공되는 과일류와 포도 올리브 오렌지 매실 등 소과류 수확이 기계화되었지만, 사과 복숭아 등 신선과일은 아직도 외국의 값싼 노동자들에 의존하여 수확되고 있음. 현재 실용화된 수확 기계는 진동식 수확기계와 터널식 수확기계가 대표적임. 진동식은 집게형의 부착기를 나무 줄기에 고정한 후 트랙터 동력원으로 나무에 진동을 가하여 수확하고, 올리브 대추 등과 같은 소과류와 과피가 두꺼운 오렌지 등에 적용되고, 수확 작업능률이 매우 높으나 과일의 낙하 상처를 피할 수 없는 단점이 있음. 터널형은 규격화(과수 크기 및 형태, 재식거리)된 과수원에 잘 적응하도록 설계 제작되어, 과수 위를 지나가면서 내부에 설치된 진동장치와 컨테이너로 과일을 수확하고, 와인용 포도 수확기가 대표적임. 기계수확이 가능하도록 과수원 조성단계에서부터 재배양식(과수 좌우 및 전후 거리)을 기계의 제원(바퀴 간격, 작업부 간격 등)에 맞추어 재배함. 과일 수확로봇에 관한 연구는 활발하고 일부에서 실증시험단계에 있음. 결론: 구체적인 추진방향을 제시하면, 단기적으로는 과일 수확작업자의 작업편이성과 노동강도를 줄일 수 있도록 소형 저가 범용성이 우수한 보조기구/기계의 보급을 확대하고, 중장기적으로는 수확기계/수확로봇 개발을 위한 연구개발비 투자를 늘리는 동시에, 기계/로봇이 과수원에 잘 적응할 수 있도록 수형 재식거리 등 재배양식의 표준화가 추진되어야 함.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.39B no.7
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• pp.479-490
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• 2014

A lower extremity exoskeleton is a robot device that attaches to the lower limbs of the human body to augment or assist with the walking ability of the wearer. In order to improve the wearer's walking ability, the robot senses the wearer's walking locomotion and classifies it into a gait-phase state, after which it drives the appropriate robot motions for each state using its actuators. This paper presents a method by which the robot senses the wearer's locomotion along with a novel classification algorithm which classifies the sensed data as a gait-phase state. The robot determines its control mode using this gait-phase information. If erroneous information is delivered, the robot will fail to improve the walking ability or will bring some discomfort to the wearer. Therefore, it is necessary for the algorithm constantly to classify the correct gait-phase information. However, our device for sensing a human's locomotion has very sensitive characteristics sufficient for it to detect small movements. With only simple logic like a threshold-based classification, it is difficult to deliver the correct information continually. In order to overcome this and provide correct information in a timely manner, a probabilistic gait-phase classification algorithm is proposed. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm offers excellent accuracy.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.617-624
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• 2015

This paper describes the development of a wearable robot to assist the elbow muscle for use by elderly workers in aging societies. Various previously developed wearable robots have drawbacks in terms of their price, portability, and slow recognition of the wearer's intention. In this paper, emphasis is placed on the following features to minimize these drawbacks. The first feature is that an actuator is attached only at the elbow joint that withstands the highest moment during arm motion to reduce the weight, volume, and price of the robot and increase its practicality. The second is that operation of the wearable robot is divided into two modes, a tracking mode and a muscle strengthening mode, and the robot can automatically switch between these modes by analyzing the wearer's intention through the brachial muscle strength measuring device developed in this study. The assistive performance of the developed wearable robot is experimentally verified by motion tracking experiments without an external load and muscle strengthening experiments with an external load. During the muscle strengthening experiments, the power of the muscle of the upper arm is measured by a commercial electromyography (EMG) sensor. Motion tracking performance at a speed of $120^{\circ}/s$ and muscle assistance of over 60 % were obtained using our robot.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.1163-1170
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• 2010

Landmines are a humanitarian challenge because they indiscriminately kill and maim civilians. Landmines are weapons that cannot distinguish between a soldier and a civilian, and they remain active for decades. As a result, most of the victims of mines are innocent men, women and children. For this purpose, new technologies such as a methode of landmine detection and mobile robots are needed. Our effort is to develop a small mobile robot for landmine detection, to detect landmine and to explore the landmine distinguishable method. In this paper, Specifically we detected landmines using electromagnetic sensors and distinguished metals from M14 antipersonnel mines under the ground using 6 step creativity of the TRIZ. Therefore, we proposed new method of landmine detection using the TRIZ.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.1 s.256
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• pp.36-42
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• 2007

This paper presents mechanical design, fabrication and test of a biomimetic fish robot actuated by a unimorph piezoceramic actuator, LIPCA(Lightweight Piezo-Composite curved Actuator.) We have designed a linkage mechanism that can convert bending motion of the LIPCA into the caudal fin movement. This linkage system consists of a rack-pinion system and four-bar linkage. Four types of artificial caudal fins that resemble caudal fin shapes of ostraciiform subcarangiform, carangiform, and thunniform fish, respectively, are attached to the posterior part of the robotic fish. The swimming test under 300 $V_{pp}$ input with 0.6 Hz to 1.2 Hz frequency was conducted to investigate effect of tail beat frequency and shape of caudal fin on the swimming speed of the robotic fish. At the frequency of 0.9 Hz, the maximum swimming speeds of 1.632 cm/s, 1.776 cm/s, 1.612 cm/s and 1.51 cm/s were reached for fish robots with ostraciiform, subcarangiform carangiform and thunniform caudal fins, respectively. The Strouhal number, which means the ratio between unsteady force and inertia force, or a measure of thrust efficiency, was calculated in order to examine thrust performance of the present biomimetic fish robot. The calculated Strouhal numbers show that the present robotic fish does not fall into the performance range of a fast swimming robot.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.57-62
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• 2003

In this study, a robotic manipulator for harvesting cucumber was developed. The objective of this research was to design and to construct a robotic manipulator specifically tailored to harvest cucumber in the greenhouse. The system was consisted of an integrated end-efffctor, an image processing system and a controlling system. Especially, the image processing system detected the quality of cucumber within each plant in order for the computer to furnish harvest instructions to the manipulator. In all tests of cucumber, the success rate for cucumber harvest was 84％ in the greenhouse. End-effector, image processing system and controlling system showed good performance. Based on the results of this research the following recommendations are made for further study. Besides harvesting cucumbers, the oldest leaves, creepers and the youngest small side leaves need to be removed.