• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.17 no.10
• /
• pp.1006-1013
• /
• 2011

In this paper, we propose an optimal posture control law for an unmanned bicycle by deriving linear bicycle model from fully nonlinear differential equations. We calculate each equilibrium point of a bicycle under any given turning radius and angular speed of rear wheel. There is only one equilibrium point when a bicycle goes straight, while there are a lot of equilibrium points in case of turning. We present an optimal equilibrium point which makes the leaning input minimum when a bicycle is turning. As human riders give rolling torque by moving center of gravity of a body, many previous studies use a movable mass to move center of gravity like humans do. Instead we propose a propeller as a new leaning input which generates rolling torque. The propeller thrust input makes bicycle model simpler and removes input magnitude constraint unlike a movable mass. The proposed controller can hold optimal equilibrium points using both steering input and leaning input. The simulation results on linear control for circular motion are demonstrated to show the validity of the proposed approach.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.285-295
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study is to develop a three-wheel riding cultivator for improving the performance of the current four-wheel riding cultivators in the market. Methods: A prototype three-wheel riding cultivator with the rated power of 15.5-kW, a primary hydrostatic and a two-speed selective gear transmission shifts, front/rear three-wheel drive, a hydraulic wheel tread adjustment, and the mid-section attachment of the major implements was designed and constructed. Its specifications and basic performance are investigated. Results: The maximum speeds of the prototype at the low and high stages were measured to be approximately 7.31, and 11.29 km/h in forward travel, respectively, and approximately 3.60, and 6.37 km/h in rearward travel, respectively. The minimum ground clearance is shown to be 670 mm. The rotating speeds of the power takeoff (PTO) shaft at the low and high stages are shown to be approximately 795 and 1,140 rpm, respectively. The tread of the rear wheels, the minimum radius of turning, and the maximum lifting height of the parallel link device are measured to be within 1,320-1,720 mm, 2.80 m, and 390 mm, respectively. Approximately 25.3% and 74.7% of the total weight of the prototype are distributed in the front and rear wheels on flat ground, respectively. When the tread of rear wheels increased from 1,320 to 1,720 mm, the left and right static lateral overturning angles increased from $33.4^{\circ}$ to $39.1^{\circ}$ and from $29.0^{\circ}$ to $36.1^{\circ}$, respectively. Conclusions: The prototype three-wheel riding cultivator showed a wide range of travel and PTO speeds, high minimum ground clearance, small minimum radius of turning, and easy control of the rear wheel tread. Further, the easy observation of cultivating operations by mid-mounting the implements can improve quality of work. Therefore, the prototype is expected to contribute to the riding mechanization of cultivating operations for various upland crops in Korea.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.20 no.10
• /
• pp.415-424
• /
• 2019

In this paper, a minimum rotation radius was designed and fabricated to overcome the threshold so that elderly or disabled people who have difficulty moving can move and transfer safely and conveniently in a narrow room. In the indoor environment, where the sedentary culture develops, this study aimed to provide convenience for passengers with fracture diseases, geriatric diseases, and other knee and waist diseases. First, links, seats, armrests, covers, motors, batteries, chargers, controllers, etc. were attached to the frame so that they could be moved and lifted indoors. The product design and structure were designed considering the user's environment and physical characteristics, and IoT functions were added. A driving experiment was performed to confirm the operating performance of the manufactured indoor moving and lifting wheelchair. The performance tests, such as continuous running time, turning radius, maximum actuator load, maximum lift height, sound pressure level, minimum sensing distance of the driving aid sensor, interworking of server and app programs, device compatibility, and duty cycle error rate, were performed. As a result of the test, the built-in wheelchair could achieve the performance test target of each item and operate successfully.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.365-370
• /
• 2012

Most path planning algorithms for a marine robot in the ocean environment have been developed without considering the robot's heading angle. As a result, the robot has a difficulty in following the path correctly. In this paper, we propose a limit-cycle circle set that applies to the $Theta^*$ algorithm. The minimum turning radius of a marine robot is calculated using a limit-cycle circle set, and circles of this radius is used to generate a configuration space of an occupancy grid map. After applying $Theta^*$ to this configuration space, the limit-cycle circle set is also applied to the start and end nodes to find the appropriate path with specified heading angles. The benefit of this algorithm is its fast computation time compared to other 3-D ($x,y,{\theta}$) path planning algorithms, along with the fact that it can be applied to the 3-D kinematic state of the robot. We simulate the proposed algorithm and compare it with 3-D $A^*$ and 3-D $A^*$ with post smoothing algorithms.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
• /
• 2011.10a
• /
• pp.51-56
• /
• 2011

The train travels on the track and, thus, the rear wheels precisely follow the paths of the front wheels. On the contrary, in the vehicles running on the road like automobiles, buses and trucks, the front wheels try to drag the rear ones toward them and across the inside of the curve. Off-tracking is defined as the radial offset between the path of the centerline of the front axle and the path of the centerline of the following axle. In the case of the bimodal tram with AWS(all wheel steering), the off-tracking decrease but the rear swing-out values increase because of the rear steering at the reverse phase angle. Thus, in order to determine the swept path width, maximum road width at the minimum turning radius, off-tracking and swing-out should be considered for the bimodal tram. In this paper, trajectory simulations were carried out for the various condition such as front steering, front and rear steering and suppression of swing-out to optimize the swept path width.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.98-102
• /
• 2015

This paper proposes an autonomous navigation method for a nonholonomic mobile robot, based on the generalized Voronoi diagram (GVD). We define the look-ahead point for a given motion constraint to determine the direction of motion, which solves the problem of a minimum turning radius for the real nonholonomic mobile robot. This method can be used to direct the robot to explore an unknown environment and construct smooth feedback curves for the nonholonomic robot. As the trajectories can be smoothed, the position of the robot can be stabilized in the plane. The simulation results are presented to verify the performance of the proposed methods for the nonholonomic mobile robot. Furthermore, this approach is worth drawing on the experience of any other mobile robots.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.2019-2028
• /
• 1970

1. Experiments were made for the efficient plowing method by the 4 wheel tractor, the results are as follow; 1) In case of plowing of inner side of the field, the efficient turning method to be the smallest turning time is the $\Omega$-shaped turning method in the turning distance less than 2r (r is the minimum turning radius of the tractor), and also, it is the U-shaped turning method in the turning distance larger than 2r. 2) 2.5r is most efficient in the unit turning section 'w' on plowing of the inner side of the field. 3) In case of plowing of outer side of the field, intermitted plowing method is efficient in case of W>-0.0345 L + 35.84, and also, semi-followed plowing method is efficient in case of W<-0.0345 L + 35.84. 4) The smaller the width of outer side of outer side of the field 'I' is, the higher is the plowing efficiency, and it is estimated that the minimum value 2r is suitable to 'I' in plowing of inner side and outer side of the field. 2. Study on the correlation between the unit field and plowing efficiencies obtained the following results; 1) plowing efficienies increase generally according as length-width ratio L/W and area A increase. 2) Percent of increase of plowing efficiencies decreases generally according as length-width ratio and area enlarge. 3) The limit that change of T is large owing to L/W is 6 for 20 a, 5 for 30 a, 4 for 50 a, 3 for 80 a, less than 2.5 for 100 a, generally, in L/W-T curve. 4) Rate of change of T-A curve is similar to rate of change of $T=A-\frac{2}{3}$ curve in spite of influence of L/W. 5) In case that length-width ratio is more than 3, effects of increase of 10 a area influenced upon plowing efficiencies are as much as effects of about 5 increase of length width ratio without correlation of size of the field. 6) In case that length-width ratio is 2 to 3, effects of increase of 10 a area influenced upon plowing efficiencies are as much as effects of about 4 to 2 increase of length-width ratio without correlation of size of the field, and the effects decrease according as not only length-width ratio decreases but also area increases, generally.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.134-145
• /
• 1996

Since the skid-steer loader is able to work for excavating, lifting and transporting load even at the narrow space, they are widely used in the regular farm and the livestock farm. The skid-steer loader normally adopts the hydrostatic transmission because the power to move the machine backward and forward should be delivered independently on both sides of wheels. Contrast to the mechanical system such as chain and belt transmissions, however, the hydrostatic transmission is less efficient in the use of energy and more difficult in the maintenance. This study was intended to investigate the feasibility of using triangular-type belt clutch and V-belt transmission for the newly developed skid-steer loader in order to overcome the problems stated in the hydrostatic transmission. In the developed triangular-type belt clutch, the centers of driving, driven and idler sheaves are arranged in the triangular shape in a plane, and V-belts were loaded loosely on three sheaves. The power is transmitted by pressing the idler connected to a lever on the loosened V-belt. Contrast to the normal belt clutch using two sheaves, the newly developed belt clutch has the characteristics of small contact-angle of the driving sheave at no bucket load and increasing contact-angle at the time of power transmission. The results of research can be summarized as follows: 1) The developed triangular-type belt clutch adopted a spring-loaded slackside idler which could transmit more power than a fixed idler could by sacrificing the belt life. The life of V-belt used in the power transmission reached at 500 hours(6 months) when the engine power of 11.8 ㎾ was transmitted. Also, it was feasible to develop the large industrial skid-loader with the V-belt transmission by using the proper set of sheaves. 2) The developed skid-steer loader changed the rotating radius and speed with bucket loads as the conventional skid steer loader did. The rotating speed was 47 deg/s at the maximum bucket load of 2.74 kN when the minimum rotating radius was 1.5m. 3) The power required in turning at the bucket load of 2.74 kN was 4 ㎾ and the slippage of V-belt was less than 1%.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.21 no.11
• /
• pp.851-860
• /
• 2020

With an increase in the aging population and a rising social interest in health and welfare, studies to improve healthcare in the elderly are being actively conducted. This study attempted to improve the current design and manufacture of elevating electric wheelchairs to enhance user safety and convenience. Seat design based on the user's body shape, convenience while boarding or alighting, caster turning radius and, safety and stability features that prevent shaking when the user gets up or sits down were improved. A driving experiment was conducted to evaluate the operation of the indoor electric wheelchair designed and manufactured with these additional functionalities. During the test, the performance parameters evaluated were continuous driving time, turning radius, maximum lifting and lowering load, maximum lifting height, noise level, minimum distance sensing by the driving auxiliary sensor, ability to interact with server and app programs, and the duty cycle maximum error rate. The test confirmed that this improved electric wheelchair successfully met target parameters. In a future study, we will evaluate this improved electric wheelchair from a user's perspective for its usability parameters, such as satisfaction, convenience and stability.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.311-319
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study is to develop a small combine for harvesting miscellaneous cereal crops. Methods: A prototype small combine was designed and constructed. Its specifications and basic performance were investigated. Results: The prototype small combine for harvesting miscellaneous cereal crops was designed and constructed to reflect similar specifications as those of the conventional combine. The prototype small combine comprises a diesel engine with the rated power/speed of 22.0 kW/2,600 rpm, three-stage primary and two-stage speed range transmission shifts, and a double acting threshing part. The maximum travel speeds of the prototype combine are approximately 0.72 m/s, 2.50 m/s, 0.30 m/s at the low, high speed range shifts in the forward direction, and while traversing in the reverse direction, respectively. The minimum radius of turning was approximately 1.50 m. In a static lateral overturning test, the prototype combine overturned neither to the right nor to left on a $30^{\circ}$ slope. The results of an oilseed rape harvesting test included the maximum operating speed of 0.32 m/s, the grain loss ratio of approximately 9.0%, and the effective field capacity of approximately 10.3 a/h. Additionally, among the outputs in grain outlet, the whole grains, damage grains, and materials other than grain (MOG) ratios accounted for 97.4%, 0.0%, and 2.6%, respectively. Conclusions: The prototype small combine for harvesting miscellaneous cereal crops indicates good driving ability and stability. The results of the oilseed rape harvesting test reveal that the harvesting performance must be enhanced such that the separating and cleaning parts are more suitable for each type of crop, thus reducing grain loss and foreign substances among the outputs in grain outlet. An improved small prototype combine could be used effectively to mechanize the harvesting of miscellaneous cereal crops in small family farms or semi-mountainous areas.