• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.83-93
• /
• 2002

This paper presents a motion control method and its simulation results of a mobile robot for a lattice type welding. Its dynamic equation and motion control methods for welding speed and seam tracking are described. The motion control is realized in the view of keeping constant welding speed and precise target line even though the robot is driven for following straight line or curve. The mobile robot is modeled based on Lagrange equation under nonholonomic constraints and the model is represented in state space form. The motion control of the mobile robot is separated into three driving motions of straight locomotion, turning locomotion and torch slider control. For the torch slider control, the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control method is used. For the straight locomotion, a concept of decoupling method between input and output is adopted and for the turning locomotion, the turning speed is controlled according to the angular velocity value at each point of the corner with range of 90$^{\circ}$ constrained to the welding speed. The proposed control methods are proved through simulation results and these results have proved that the mobile robot has enough ability to apply the lattice type welding line.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.421-426
• /
• 2013

Nowadays in building construction field, workers become aged and avoid dirty, difficult, and dangerous work. Above all, a person who is in charge of beam assembling work in high and narrow space just relies on safety belt. So these workers should be highly trained. This paper deals with a new locomotion robot that can take this in charge, which will be able to provide less labor costs, less time to build a building and safer environments for workers. The geometric features of steel structure in building construction were carefully analyzed and developed a locomotion mechanism optimized to it. The robot was designed to be rugged, strong, and fast rather than having excessive mobility. Feasibility of the developed robot was verified through experiments.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.99-107
• /
• 2014

The aim of the present study is to investigate the flow interference between two adjacent undulating fish-like body, and its effect on the undulating propulsion. For this purpose, unsteady two dimensional incompressible flow calculations were conducted using an unstructured mesh flow solver, coupled with an overset mesh technique. To deal with mesh deformation due to fish locomotion, spring analogy is utilized. The fish body used in the simulation is constructed from the NACA0012 airfoil. The study indicates that the propulsion of undulating fish is proportional to frequency and wavelength of the midline oscillation when there is no adjacent fish. It also reveals that average thrust was increased when the vortex shedding from the tail was conserved well and pressure difference between upper and lower sides of the fish was magnified due to flow interference. From this study, which relative position and phase difference of locomotion between two fishes can generate maximum thrust was known among six different cases.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.429-438
• /
• 1994

An electrical stimulator was designed to induce locomotion for paraplegic patients caused by central nervous system injury. Optimal stimulus parameters, which can minimize muscle fatigue and can achieve effective muscle contraction were determined in slow and fast muscles in Sprague-Dawley rats. Stimulus patterns of our stimulator were designed to simulate eleclromyographic activity monitored during locomotion of normal subjects. Muscle types of the lower extremity were classified according to their mechanical property of contraction, which are slow muscle (msoleus m.) and fast muscle (medial gastrocnemius m., rectus femoris m., vastus lateralis m.). Optimal parameters of electrical stimulation for slow muscles were 20 Hz, 0.2 ms square pulse. For fast muscle, 40 Hz, 0.3 ms square pulse was optimal to produce repeated contraction. Higher'stimulus intensity was required when synergistic muscles were stimulated simultaneously than when they were stimulated individually. Electrical stimulation for each muscle was designed to generate bipedal locomotion, so that individual muscles alternate contraction and relaxation to simulate stance and swing phases. Portable electrical stimulator with 16 channels built in microprocessor was constructed and applied to paraplegic patients due to lumbar cord injury. The electrical slimulator restored partially gait function in paraplegic patients.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2001.06b
• /
• pp.319-324
• /
• 2001

This paper presents the motion control of a mobile robot with arc sensor for lattice type welding. Its dynamic equation and motion control method for welding speed and seam tracking are described. The motion control is realized in the view of keeping constant welding speed and precise target line even though the robot is driven along a straight line or corner. The mobile robot is modeled based on Lagrange equation under nonholonomic constraints and the model is represented in state space form. The motion control of the mobile robot is separated into three driving motions of straight locomotion, turning locomotion and torch slider controls. For the torch slider control, the proportional integral derivative (PID) control method is used. For the straight locomotion, a concept of decoupling method between input and output is adopted and for the turning locomotion, the turning speed is controlled according to the angular velocity value at each point of the comer with range of $90^{\circ}$ constrained to the welding speed. The experiment has been done to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controllers. These results are shown to fit well by the simulation results.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.661-666
• /
• 2009

Modular snake-like robots, which consist of series of modules, are robust for failure and have flexible locomotions for environment. However, they are difficult to control and few efficient and various locomotions are introduced yet. In this paper, GA based phase generation and trajectory generation approaches are implemented and compared for locomotion of snake-like robots and extended for analysis for selections of partial modules. In addition, modeling and simulation environments are implemented in Webots simulator and above GA based experiments for locomotion are executed for KMC snake-like robot.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.270-277
• /
• 2019

Inspired by small insects, which perform rapid and stable locomotion based on body softness and tripod gait, various milli-scale six-legged crawling robots were developed to move rapidly in harsh environment. In particular, cockroach's leg compliance was resembled to enhance the locomotion performance of the crawling robots. In this paper, we investigated the effects of changing leg compliance for the locomotion performance of the small light weight legged crawling robot under various payload condition. First, we developed robust milli-scale six-leg crawling robot which actuated by one motor and fabricated in SCM method with light and soft material. Using this robot platform, we measured the running velocity of the robot depending on the leg stiffness and payload. In result, there was optimal range of the leg stiffness enhancing the locomotion ability at each payload condition in the experiment. It suggests that the performance of the crawling robot can be improved by adjusting stiffness of the legs in given payload condition.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.38 no.7
• /
• pp.799-807
• /
• 2014

This paper describes the development of an indoor locomotion assistive robot, Ball-Chair, comprising a novel drive system. This robot facilitates locomotion assistive operation in narrow spaces, in which common wheelchairs cannot move easily. The Ball-Chair has two main features: its structural feature and driving mechanism. The exoskeleton frames of the Ball-Chair have been designed with octagonal shapes resembling a circle, for minimizing its volume and weight. Additionally, all its driving parts (including the ball) are mounted within of the robot to enhance its safety. The Ball-Chair features a reverse ball-mouse driving mechanism comprising two driving omni-wheels in the x- and y-axes. By controlling the speed of each omni-wheel, a holonomic driving system that can facilitate omnidirectional locomotion has been achieved using only two wheels. The effective movement of the Ball-Chair in any direction within narrow indoor spaces was experimentally verified. The paper outlines the development procedure in detail.

• Journal of KIISE:Computing Practices and Letters
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.358-366
• /
• 2006

This paper describes a novel navigation algorithm using a locomotion interface with two 6-DOF programmable foot platforms. When a human walks on the locomotion interface (LI), the walking motions of the human are recognized by several sensors. Then, the sensed information is used by the LI for generation of infinite surfaces for continuous walking and the virtual environments for scene update according to motions of the human walking. The suggested novel navigation system can induce user's real walking and generate realistic visual feedback during navigation. A novel navigation algorithm is suggested to allow natural navigation in virtual environments by utilizing conditions of normal gait analysis. For realistic visual feedback, the virtual environment is designed with three components; 3D object modeler for buildings and terrains, scene manager and communication manager component. From experiments, the subjects were satisfied with the reality of the suggested navigation algorithm using the locomotion interface. Therefore, the suggested navigation system can allow a user to explore into various virtual terrains with real walking and realistic visual feedback.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.58 no.1
• /
• pp.203-209
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study is to develop a minimally constraint joint angle measurement system for the feedback control of FES (functional electrical stimulation) locomotion. Feedback control is desirable for the efficient FES locomotion, however, the simple on-off control schemes are mainly used in clinic because the currently available angle measurement systems are heavily constraint or cosmetically poor. We designed a new angle measurement system consisting of a magnet and magnetic sensors located below and above the ankle joint, respectively, in the rear side of ipsilateral leg. Two magnetic sensors are arranged so that the sensing axes are perpendicular each other. Multiple positions of sensors attachment on the shank part of the ankle joint model and also human ankle joint were selected and the accuracy of the measured angle at each position was investigated. The reference ankle joint angle was measured by potentiometer and motion capture system. The ankle joint angle was determined from the fitting curve of the reference angle and magnetic flux density relationship. The errors of the measured angle were calculated at each sensor position for the ankle range of motion (ROM) $-20{\sim}15$ degrees (dorsiflexion as positive) which covers the ankle ROM of both stroke patients and normal subjects during locomotion. The error was the smallest with the sensor at the position 1 which was the nearest position to the ankle joint. In case of human experiment, the RMS (root mean square) errors were $0.51{\pm}1.78(0.31{\sim}0.64)$ degrees and the maximum errors were $1.19{\pm}0.46(0.68{\sim}1.58)$ degrees. The proposed system is less constraint and cosmetically better than the existing angle measurement system because the wires are not needed.