• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.395-401
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• 2017

In this paper, we introduce a robot-assisted medical diagnostic system that enables remote ultrasound (US) imaging to be applied to the conventional telemedicine, which has been possible only with interviewing or a visual exam. In particular, a master-slave robot system is developed that ultrasonic diagnosis specialist can control the position and orientation of US probe in the remote place. The slave robot is designed to be compact, lightweight, and hand-held so that it can easily transfer to the remote healthcare center. Moreover, 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) probe motion is possible by the robot design based on Stewart platform. The master device is also based on a similar structure of the slave robot. To connect master and slave system in the wide area network (WAN) environment, a hardware CODEC was developed. In this paper, we introduce the detail of each component and the results of the recent experiments conducted in the remote sites by the developed robotic ultrasound imaging system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2011

A mathematical model of slip-in booster separation dynamics is described. A longitudinal 3-DOF(degree of freedom) 2-body dynamic model is developed to simulate the separation dynamics. Aerodynamic models of the missile and the exposed area of booster are built. And, gas generator pushing the booster out and internal channel pressure drop are modelled. To simulate the model, it is assumed that the missile can maintain the 1g level-fight condition during the separation. With this assumption, the interaction forces between missile and booster through the separation phases: phase 0: initial, phase 1: linear translation, and phase 2: free flight motion are defined. Using the simulation, missile flight conditions for slip-in booster`s safe separation, which can be represented by Mach vs. height envelope, are suggested.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2004

This study deals with free vibrations of laminated composite structures with a channel section using finite element method. In this paper, the mixed finite element method using Lagrangian and Hermite interpolation functions is adopted and a high-order plate theory is used to analyze laminated composite non-prismatic folded plates with a channel section more accurately for free vibration. The theory accounts for parabolic distribution of the transverse shear stress and requires no shear correction factors supposed in the first-order plate theory. An 32×32 matrix is assembled to transform the system element matrices from the local to global coordinates using a coordinate transformation matrix, in which an eighth drilling degree of freedom (DOF) per node is appended to the existing 7-DOF system. The results in this study are compared with those of available literatures for the conventional and first-order plate theory. Sample studies are carried out for various layup configurations and length-thickness ratio, and geometric shapes of plates. The significance of the high-order plate theory in analyzing complex composite structures with a channel section is enunciated in this paper.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.104-111
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• 2014

In this paper, we deal with robotic automation for assembling car brake modules. A car brake module is comprises of a torque member, two brake pads, and two pad liners. In the assembly process, brake pads and pad liners are needed to be inserted in a torque member. If we use a typical robotic hand for the assembly, task time takes too long. So, we propose two methods. The first method is to use an end effector that has five grippers capable of gripping five assembly parts. In the first method we attached the implemented end effector to a conventional 6 degrees of freedom industrial manipulator and performed the bake module assembly task. Experimental results show that the task time is remarkably reduced. The brake module assembly task needs the robot to change its orientation frequently, so, in the second method, we added one degree of freedom to the end effector that is used in the first method. By attaching it to a conventional 6 degrees of freedom industrial manipulator, we composed a 7 degrees of freedom redundant manipulator. A redundant manipulator has the advantage of flexible manipulation so the robot can change its orientation easily and can perform assembly task very fast. Experimental results show that the second method dramatically reduce whole task time for brake module assembly.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.503-509
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• 2015

In this paper, we designed and tested an ankle joint mechanism for a gait rehabilitation robot. Gait rehabilitation programs are designed to improve the natural leg motion of patients who have lost their walking capabilities by accident or disease. Strengthening the muscles of the lower-limbs and stimulation of the nervous system corresponding to walking helps patients to walk again using gait assistive devices. It is an obvious requirement that the rehabilitation system's motion should be similar to and as natural as the normal gait. However, the system being used for gait rehabilitation does not pay much attention to ankle joints, which play an important role in correct walking as the motion of the ankle should reflect the movement of the center of gravity (COG) of the body. Consequently, we have designed an ankle mechanism that ensures the safety of the patient as well as efficient gait training. Also, even patients with low leg muscle strength are able to operate the ankle joint due to the direct-drive mechanism without a reducer. This safety feature prevents any possible adverse load on the human ankle. The additional degree of freedom for the roll motion achieves a gait pattern which is similar to the normal gait and with a greater degree of comfort.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.2797-2820
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• 2015

In order to accommodate huge number of antennas in a limited antenna size, a large scale antenna array is expected to have a three dimensional (3D) array structure. By using the Active Antenna Systems (AAS), the weights of the antenna elements arranged vertically could be configured adaptively. Then, a degree of freedom (DOF) in the vertical plane is provided for system design. So the three-dimension MIMO (3D MIMO) could be realized to solve the actual implementation problem of the massive MIMO. However, in 3D massive MIMO systems, the pilot contamination problem studied in 2D massive MIMO systems and the inter-cell interference as well as inter-vertical sector interference in 3D MIMO systems with vertical sectorization exist simultaneously, when the number of antenna is not large enough. This paper investigates the interference management towards the above challenges in 3D massive MIMO systems. Here, vertical sectorization based on vertical beamforming is included in the concerned systems. Firstly, a cooperative joint vertical beams adjustment and pilot assignment scheme is developed to improve the channel estimation precision of the uplink with pilots being reused across the vertical sectors. Secondly, a downlink interference coordination scheme by jointly controlling weight vectors and power of vertical beams is proposed, where the estimated channel state information is used in the optimization modelling, and the performance loss induced by pilot contamination could be compensated in some degree. Simulation results show that the proposed joint optimization algorithm with controllable vertical beams' weight vectors outperforms the method combining downtilts adjustment and power allocation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.41-51
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• 2018

Downwash from helicopter rotor blades and external winds from various maneuvering make an unguided rocket change its trajectory and range. For the prediction of the trajectory and range, it is essential to consider the downwash effect. In this study, an algorithm was developed to calculate 6-Degree-Of-Freedom(6 DOF) forces and moments exerting on the rocket, and total flight trajectory of a 2.75-inch unguided rocket in a helicopter downwash flow field. Using Actuator Disk Model(ADM) analysis result, the algorithm could analyze the entire trajectory in various initial launch condition such as launch angle, launch velocity, and external wind. The algorithm that considered the interference between a fuselage and external winds could predict the trajectory change more precisely than inflow model analysis. Using the developed algorithm, the attitude and trajectory change mechanism by the downwash effect were investigated analyzing the effective angle of attack change and characteristics of pitching stability of the unguided rocket. Also, the trajectory and range changes were analyzed by considering the downwash effect with external winds. As a result, it was concluded that the key factors of the rocket range change were downwash area and magnitude which effect on the rocket, and the secondary factors were the dynamic pressure of the rocket and the interference between a fuselage and external winds. In tailwind case which was much influential on the range characteristics than other wind cases, the range of the rocket rose as increasing the tailwind velocity. However, there was a limit that the range of the rocket did not increase more than the specific tailwind velocity.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.447-456
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• 2010

The application of a reliable motion simulator can contribute effectively in the evaluation of the performance of a vehicle platform in the development stage of a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Therefore, the research on a reliable motion simulator can accelerate the development of UAV and decrease the relevant cost. In this paper, the design factors considered in the preliminary design stage of a 6 degree-of freedom motion simulator are defined and the motion range of the simulator is described on the basis of these design factors. The length, acceleration, and the required thrust of actuators with respect to the motion simulator under development are also predicted. The motion range can be increased and a suitable actuator can be selected and produced by applying these results in the manufacturing process of the motion simulator. Thus, the reliability of the motion simulators can be achieved during the actual design operation of the UAV.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.339-345
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• 2000

This paper deals with the displacement estimation of magnetically suspended simple 1 DOF(degree of freedom) system without the displacement sensor. Inherently electro-magnet for control has two natural feedback loops. One is the transfer function which represents the dependance of the amount of the magnetic flux on the gap displace-ments. The other is the transfer function expressing the properties that the back electromotive force is derived from the time derivative of the magnetic flux. Through these two feedback loops, information about the gap length can be represented by the magnetic flux and the coil current. This means that the gap length can be detected from these two states variables of the electromagnet without a displacements sensor(self-sensing). The displacement can be estimated with the magnetic flux subtracted by the coil current. In this paper we use a balance beam in order to deal with the displacement sensorless estimation of the magnetic bearing system. For the stable estimation of the gap displacements by using the method of self-sensing simple PD controller is used. We first show the mathematical model of the balance beam, and then we show the effectiveness of the current and flux feedback for making stable estimation of the gap displacements for the balance beam. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the current and flux feedback for good estimation of the displacement without using displacement sensor.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.105-119
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• 2015

Structural damage detection using modal strain energy (MSE) is one of the most efficient and reliable structural health monitoring techniques. However, some of the existing MSE methods have been validated for special types of structures such as beams or steel truss bridges which demands improving the available methods. The purpose of this study is to improve an efficient modal strain energy method to detect and quantify the damage in complex structures at early stage of formation. In this paper, a modal strain energy method was mathematically developed and then numerically applied to a fixed-end beam and a three-story frame including single and multiple damage scenarios in absence and presence of up to five per cent noise. For each damage scenario, all mode shapes and natural frequencies of intact structures and the first five mode shapes of assumed damaged structures were obtained using STRAND7. The derived mode shapes of each intact and damaged structure at any damage scenario were then separately used in the improved formulation using MATLAB to detect the location and quantify the severity of damage as compared to those obtained from previous method. It was found that the improved method is more accurate, efficient and convergent than its predecessors. The outcomes of this study can be safely and inexpensively used for structural health monitoring to minimize the loss of lives and property by identifying the unforeseen structural damages.