• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.147-152
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• 2016

Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) undergo changes in shape and hardness when heated or cooled, and do so with great force. Since wire-type SMAs contract in length when heated and pull with a surprisingly large force and move silently, they can be used as actuactors which replace motors. These SMA actuators can be heated directly with electricity and can be used to create a wide range of motions. This paper presents the mechanical design and control for a three fingered, six degree-of-freedom robotic hand actuated by SMA actuators. Each finger has two joints and each joint is actuated with two tendons in the antagonistic manner. In order to create the sufficient force to make the smooth motion, the tendon is composed of two SMA actuators in parallel. For controlling the current to heat the SMA actuators, PWM drivers are used. In experiments, the antagonistic interaction of fingers are evaluated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.1164-1176
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• 1996

A magnetically levitated micro-positioner is implemented to avoid mechanical friction and increase precision. Since magnetic levitation system is inherently unstable, most concern is focused on a magnetic circuit design to increase the system dynamic stability. For this, the proposed levitation system is constructed by using an antagonistic structure which permits a simple design and robust stability. From the dynamic equations of motion, it is verified that the proposed magnetically levitated system is decoupled in 6 degree-of-freedom motion. Experimental results are presented in terms of time response and accuracy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.891-894
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• 2005

This paper describes a human finger model driven by shape memory alloy(SMA) wires. The finger model has three joints that are similar to human finger. Each joint is actuated with two wires in the antagonistic manner and six wires are used to actuate three finger joint. In order to obtain the desirable finger motion, the diameters of the SMA wires are designed with different diameters by considering the required actuating force and response time. The rotary sensors are used to measure the angle positions of the joints and PWM control using PID algorithm is used to achieve desired angle positions of the finger joints. After estimating the control performance of each finger joint for the desired angle position, the antagonistic motion control of the finger model is experimentally evaluated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.643-658
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• 2014

This paper presents the design, modelling and, simulation and experimental results of a shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator based critical motion control application. Dynamic performance of SMA and its ability in replacing servo motor is studied for which the famous open loop unstable balancing ball and beam system direct driven by antagonistic SMA is designed and developed. Simulation uses the mathematical model of ball and beam structure derived from the first principles and model estimated for the SMA actuator by system identification. A PID based cascade control system consisting of two loops is designed and control of ball trajectory for various target positions with settling time as control parameter is verified experimentally. The results demonstrate the performance of SMA for a complicated i.e., under actuated, highly nonlinear unstable system, and thereby it's dynamic behaviour. Control strategies bring out the effectiveness of the actuator and its possible application to much more complex applications such as in aerospace control and robotics.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.68-79
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• 1997

A six DOF fine manipulator based on magnetic levitation is developed. Since most of magnetic levitation system are inherently unstable, a proposed magnetically levitated fine manipulator is implemented by use of an antagonistic structure to increase stability. From mathematical modeling and experiment, the equations of motion are derived. In addition, a six DOF sensing system is implemented by use of three 2-axis PSD sensors. A model reference-$H_{\infty}$ controller is applied to the system for the position control, In application of the fine manipulator, a wafer probing system is proposed to identify nonfunctional circuts. The probing system requires compliance to avoid destruction of DUT(device under test). A feedfor- ward-PD controllers are presented by the terms of the position accuracy, the settling time and the force accuracy.y.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.846-855
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• 1994

An effective stiffness, analogous to that of a wound spring, can be created by antagonistic redundant actuation of general closed-chain mechanisms. The qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the effective stiffness are investigated through a Four-bar mechanism, and a load distribution method is introduced which simultaneously guarantees the required system motion and the effective stiffness of the Four-bar mechanism. Furthermore, a simulation is performed to understand the inter-relationship among the effective stiffness, the Four-bar geometry, and the actuation effort. Based on this analysis, the Four-bar synthesis problem for effective stiffness generation is discussed.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.675-682
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• 2009

Instead of direct driving like BLDC, the induction principle is adopted as a driving one for planar stage. The stage composed of four linear induction motors put in square type is activated by two-axial forces; low-frequency attractive force and thrust force of the linear induction motors. Here, the modified vector control whose new inputs are q-axis current and dc current biased to three phase current instead of d-axis current or flux current is applied extensively to overall motion of the stage. For the developed system, the precision step test and the constant velocity test are tried to guarantee its feasibility for TFT-LCD pattern inspection. However, to exclude a discontinuity due to phase shift and minimize a force ripple synchronized with the command frequency, the initial system is revised to the antagonistic structure over the full degree of freedom. Concretely describing, the porous air bearings guide an air-gapping of the stage up and down and a pair of liner induction motors instead of single motor are activated in the opposite direction each other. The performances of the above systems are compared from trapezoid tracking test and sinusoidal test.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.412-430
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• 2003

Functional stability is dependent on integrated local and global muscle function. Movement dysfunction can present as a local and global problem, though both frequently occur together. To good understand how movement induces pain syndrome, the optimal actions and interaction of the multiple anatomic and functional systems involved in motion must be considered. Minor alterations in the precision of movement cause microtrauma and, if allowed to continue, will cause macrotrauma and pain. These alteration of the movement result in the development of compensatory movement and movement impairment. Muscle that become tight tend to pull the body segment to which they are attached, creating postural deviation. The antagonistic muscles may become weak and allow postural deviations due to lack of balanced support. Both hypertonic and inhibited muscles will cause an alteration of the distribution of pressure over the joint(s) that they cross and, thus, may not only result from muscle dysfunction, but produce joint dysfunction as well. Alteration of the shoulder posture and movement dysfunction may sometimes result in compression of neurovascular structures in the shoulder and arm. There is a clear link between reduced proprioceptive input, altered motor unit recruitment and the neurovascular compression. This report start with understanding of the impaired alignment, movement patterns and neuromuscular compression of the shoulder girdle by movement impairment to approach method of the movement dysfunction.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.419-424
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• 2017

Twisted string actuators (TSAs) are tendon-driven actuators that provide high transmission ratios. Twisting a string reduces the length of the string and generates a linear motion of the actuators. In particular, TSAs have characteristic properties (compliance) that are advantageous for operations that need to interact with the external environment. This compliance has the advantage of being robust to disturbance in force control, but it is disadvantageous for precise control because the modeling is inaccurate. In fact, many previous studies have covered the TSA model, but the model is still inadequate to be applied to actual robot control. In this paper, we introduce a modified variable radius model of TASs and experimentally demonstrate that the modified variable radius model is correct compared to the conventional variable radius string model. In addition, the elastic characteristics of the TSAs are discussed along with the experimental results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.771-782
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• 2017

This paper describes the development of a wearable robot to assist ankle power for the elderly. Previously developed wearable robots have generally used motors and gears to assist muscle power during walking. However, the combination of motor and reduction gear is heavy and has limitations on the simultaneous control of stiffness and torque due to the friction of the gear reducer unlike human muscles. Therefore, in this study, Mckibben pneumatic muscle, which is lighter, safer, and more powerful than an electric motor with gear, was used to assist ankle joint. Antagonistic actuation using a pair of pneumatic muscles assisted the power of the soleus muscles and tibialis anterior muscles used for the pitching motion of the ankle joint, and the model parameters of the antagonistic actuator were experimentally derived using a muscle test platform. To recognize the wearer's walking intention, foot load and ankle torque were calculated by measuring the pressure and the center of pressure of the foot using force and linear displacement sensors, and the stiffness and the torque of the pneumatic muscle joint were then controlled by the calculated ankle torque and foot load. Finally, the performance of the developed ankle power assistive robot was experimentally verified by measuring EMG signals during walking experiments on a treadmill.