• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.75-82
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• 2014

For accurate gain tuning of the lab-manufactured six-axis articulated robot RS2 with less noise, in this study, a program routine using dynamic signal analyzer, which is a realization of a controller design algorithm in the frequency domain, is programmed using LabVIEW$^{(R)}$. The contribution of this paper is the proposal of a simulation technique based on SolidWorks$^{(R)}$ and LabVIEW$^{(R)}$ for the gain tuning of a six-axis articulated robot. To realize the simulation, the LabVIEW$^{(R)}$ program used for experimental gain tuning is incorporated in to SolidWorks$^{(R)}$. A comparison shows that the results of simulation-based gain tuning and experimental gain tuning are almost the same within a 5% error bound. On the basis of the comparison, it can be suggested that the simulation-based technique for gain tuning can be applied instead of experimental gain tuning to a six-axis articulated robot by interlocking SolidWorks$^{(R)}$ and LabVIEW$^{(R)}$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.563-569
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• 2012

In the semiconductor and display device production processes, the handling of sensitive objects needs new carrying technology. Floating carrying motion is a practical alternative solution for non-contact handling of parts and substrates. This paper presents a study of through paths inside the air pressure pick-up head to generate the floating motion. The air motion by conceptual designed paths inside the head gradually develops positive pressure and vacuum between narrow objects. Positive pressure occurs through the head tip before discharging outside of the head. Negative pressure is developed by evacuating the inside head bottom as result of the radial flow connecting the vertical through-holes. The numerical analysis was done to figure out the stable levitation caused by the two acting forces between surfaces. In comparing with the standard case that the levitation gap gets 0.7-0.9 mm, it confirms the suggested head characteristics to show floating capacity in accordance with the head size, number of through-hole, and locations of through-hole in succession of conceptual design for a prototype.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.318-324
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• 2014

Recent years have witnessed a growing demand for a wide variety of high-performance industrial robots. In this paper, for accurate gain tuning of a 6-axis articulated industrial robot with reduced noise, a program routine for a dynamic signal analyzer (DSA) using the frequency response method will be programmed using $LabVIEW^{(R)}$. Then, robot transfer functions can be obtained experimentally using the frequency response method with the DSA program. Data from the robot transfer functions are transformed into Bode plots, based on which an optimal gain tuning will be executed. Gain tuning can enhance the response quality of the output signal for a given input signal during real-time control of the robot. The effectiveness of our proposed technique will be verified by implementation with a (lab-manufactured) 6-axis articulated industrial robot (hereinafter called "RS2") and comparison with the zero position gain tuning, as well as other positions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.89-99
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• 2017

This paper describes the development of a thigh wearable robot for power assistance during stair climbing. In the wearable robot developed in this study, high-power BLDC motors and high-capacity harmonic reduction gears are used to effectively assist the thigh muscle during stair climbing. In particular, normal ground and stair are distinguished accurately by using wireless smart shoes, and the stair climbing assistance is performed by activating the actuators at an appropriate time. Impedance of the hip joint was effectively reduced by performing friction compensation of the gears, and a wearing adjustment mechanism was designed to fit the robot to the thigh by conveniently modifying the width and tilting angle of the robot using set collars. Consequently, the performance of the developed thigh wearable robot was verified through stair climbing experiments with EMG measurement.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.50-58
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• 2017

This paper proposes a real-time robotic vision control scheme using the weighting matrix to efficiently process the vision data obtained during robotic movement to a target. This scheme is based on the vision system model that can actively control the camera parameter and robotic position change over previous studies. The vision control algorithm involves parameter estimation, joint angle estimation, and weighting matrix models. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme, this study is divided into two parts: not applying the weighting matrix and applying the weighting matrix to the vision data obtained while the camera is moving towards the target. Finally, the position accuracy of the two cases is compared by performing the slender bar placement task experimentally.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.144-149
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• 2017

There have been lots of interest on service and entertainment robots. To ensure that robots work in harmony with humans, their stability and compactness are some of the key issues. Obviously, robots with fewer wheels occupy a smaller floor area compared to those with more wheels. In addition, robots with fewer wheels, whose posture stabilities are maintained by feedback control, are stable even under larger accelerations and/or higher locations of the center of mass. To facilitate controller design, it is assumed that both pitch and roll dynamics are decoupled. The dynamic equations of motion for the proposed robot are derived from the Euler-Lagrange equation. To obtain the optimal balancing control law, linear quadratic regulator control methods are applied to the linearized dynamic equations. Simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness and performance of the proposed balancing control algorithm for a single-wheeled mobile robot.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.141-147
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• 2015

In this study, a position control algorithm for an omni-directional mobile robot based on Mecanum wheels was introduced and experimentally evaluated. Multiple ultrasonic sensors were installed around the mobile robot to obtain position feedback. Using the distance of the robot from the wall, the position and orientation of the mobile robot were calculated. In accordance with the omni-directional velocity generation mechanism, the velocity kinematics between the Mecanum wheel and the mobile platform were determined. Based on this formulation, a simple and intuitive position control algorithm was suggested. To evaluate the control algorithm, a test bed composed of artificial walls was designed and implemented. While conventional control algorithms based on normal wheels require additional path planning for two-dimensional planar motion, the omni-directional mobile robot using distance sensors was able to directly follow target positions with the simple proposed position feedback algorithm.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.398-402
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• 2014

This paper presents the results of a study on the optimal footpad design for vertical climbing on acrylic surfaces with various curvatures used Taguchi methods. For a climbing robot, the adhesion system plays an important role in the climbing process. Only an appropriate adhesion strength will prevent the robot from falling and allow it to climb normally. Therefore, the footpad is a significant parameter for a climbing robot and should be studied. Taguchi methods were used to obtain a robust optimal design, where the design variables were the flat tacky elastomeric shape, area, thickness, and foam thickness of the footpad. Experiments were conducted using acrylic surfaces with various curvatures. An optimized footpad was selected based on the results of the experiments and analysis, and the stability of the wall-climbing robot was verified.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.374-379
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• 2014

Mobile robots with omni-directional wheels can generate instant omni-directional motion without requiring extra space to change the direction of the body. Therefore, they are capable of moving in an arbitrary direction under any orientation even in narrow aisles or tight areas. In this research, an omni-directional mobile robot based on Mecanum wheels was developed to achieve omni-directionality. A CompactRIO embedded real-time controller and C series motion and I/O modules were employed in the control system design. Ultrasonic sensors installed on the front and lateral sides were utilized to measure the distance between the mobile robot and the side wall of a workspace. Through intensive experiments, a performance evaluation of the mobile robot was conducted to confirm its feasibility for industrial purposes. Mobility, omni-directionality, climbing capacity, and tracking performance of a squared trajectory were selected as performance indices to assess the omni-directional mobile robot.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.327-333
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• 2015

As industrial robots come into wider use, their control techniques are being developed along with enhancements in their performance. Specially, the dynamic performance of a 6-axis articulated industrial robot is greatly changed according to the position and orientation of the robot. This means that the PI parameter tuning of the robot and orientation of the robot. This mconsidering the dynamic characteristics of robot mechanism. In this study, $LabView^{(R)}$ programming was applied to automatically conduct parameter scheduling for various robot motions. Using forward and inverse kinematics of RS2, we can divide the working envelope of RS2 into 24 subspaces. We then conduct the gain-tuning according to each subspace. Finally, we program the actual gain scheduling, in which the optimized gain-tuning for each subspace to be passed should be changed for various robot motions using $LabView^{(R)}$.