• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1994.07a
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• pp.103-105
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• 1994

A novel structure of a lineal microactuator has been designed and analyzed. The proposed structure can overcome serious problems from which conventional linear microactuators suffer, primarily due to the moving principle that is the repetition of attachment and detachment of the moving part to the fixed part. According to the calculated results, the proposed microactuator can generate force of a few mN and the moving sled of 13 cm/min under the condition of 100 volts and the frequency of 1.4 kHz.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06b
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• pp.271-276
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• 2001

Conventional clonoscope is semiflexible tube that should be manipulated by operator for inspection and treatment. Therefore, it sometimes causes pain for the patient and even perforation to the wall of colon if a surgeon is not well trained. For safe colonoscopy, self-propelling robots with inchworm locomotion are studied. But, inchworm locomotion has some problems in adaptiveness to the variation of colon diameter. In this paper, we propose novel locomotive mechanism which can move in the colon without any external assistance. It has several cams that have constant phase difference each other and located along the centerline of the mechanism. This mechanism could realize the robotic endoscope which has continuous and smooth thrust force.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.719-720
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• 2009

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.143-144
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• 2007

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.270-270
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• 2003

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.770-771
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• 2010

• Composites Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.52-57
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• 2015

Soft morphing robotics making use of smart material and based on biomimetic principles are capable of continuous locomotion in harmony with its environment. Since these robots do not use traditional mechanical components, they can be built to be light weight and capable of a diverse range of locomotion. This paper illustrates a flexible smart phone robot made of smart soft composite (SSC) with inchworm-like locomotion capable of two-way linear motion. Since rigid components are embedded within the robot, bending actuators with embedded rigid segments were investigated in order to obtain the maximum bending curvature. To verify the results, a simple mechanical model of this actuator was built and compared with experimental data. After that, the flexible robot was implemented as part of a smart phone robot where the rigid components of the phone were embedded within the matrix. Then, experiments were conducted to test the smart phone robot actuation force under different deflections to verify its load carrying capability. After that, the communication between the smart phone and robot controller was implemented and a corresponding phone application was developed. The locomotion of the smart phone robot actuated through an independent controller was also tested.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.195-196
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• 2007

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.10b
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• pp.38-40
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• 2005

Microdrive with high precision and light mass enough to install on mouse head was fabricated for recording the reliable signal of neuron cell to understand the brain study. The proposed microdrive has three H-form PZT actuators and its guide structure. The microdrive operation principle is based on the well known inchworm principle. The synchronization of three PZT actuators is able to produce the linear motion along the guide structure. Our proposed microdrive has a precise accuracy of about 100nm and a long stroke of about 5mm. The electrode which is used for the recording of the action potential of the neuron cell was fixed at one of PZT actuators. The proposed microdrive was suited to acquisition of signals from in vivo extra-cellular single-unit recoding. On the condition of the anesthetized mouse, the single-unit signals could be recorded by using the proposed microdrive. In addition, applying the PZT microdrive to an alert mouse, we try to implant it on a mouse brain skull to explore single neuron firing.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.789-795
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• 2010

For the reliable clamping of a robotic colonoscope inside the colon, we propose a clamping module consisting of six legs at the front and a trigger at the rear. In addition, a pneumatic-line based locomotive mechanism, which was developed previously for in-pipe inspection, is adopted to reduce the friction force between the pneumatic lines and the locomotion environment. In order to evaluate locomotion performance, a robot with a diameter of 15 mm and a length of 110.250 mm is used. Based on control signal from LabVIEW, it is tested in acrylic pipe and pig's colon. The proposed robot is able to move in the curved path which has a radius of over 25 mm. The speed of the robot is 33 mm/s in a straight path and 12.1 mm/s on a vertical path. The proposed robot, which has one pneumatic line and two clamping modules, conclusively shows reliable locomotion performance under in vitro condition.