• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.778-791
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• 2005

A novel pneumatic artificial muscle actuator (PAM actuator), which has achieved increased popularity to provide the advantages such as high strength and high power/weight ratio, low cost, compactness, ease of maintenance, cleanliness, readily available and cheap power source, inherent safety and mobility assistance to humans performing tasks, has been regarded during the recent decades as an interesting alternative to hydraulic and electric actuators. However, some limitations still exist, such as the air compressibility and the lack of damping ability of the actuator bring the dynamic delay of the pressure response and cause the oscillatory motion. Then it is not easy to realize the performance of transient response of pneumatic artificial muscle manipulator (PAM manipulator) due to the changes in the external inertia load with high speed. In order to realize satisfactory control performance, a variable damper-Magneto­Rheological Brake (MRB), is equipped to the joint of the manipulator. Superb mixture of conventional PID controller and a phase plane switching control method brings us a novel controller. This proposed controller is appropriate for a kind of plants with nonlinearity, uncertainties and disturbances. The experiments were carried out in practical PAM manipulator and the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm was demonstrated through experiments, which had proved that the stability of the manipulator can be improved greatly in a high gain control by using MRB with phase plane switching control method and without regard for the changes of external inertia loads.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.89-102
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• 2010

In this paper, a study on the future-oriented actuator introduces the future technology and future direction in aerospace and several industry fields. In particular, the mechanical linkage or hydraulic and pneumatic actuators which have the higher output-to-weight ratio have been used a lot in the past as the aircraft's flight control device. Most recently, Fly-By-Wire system has been used in aircraft and the flight control system has been changed in more electric and all electric systems. Electrohydraulic actuators and electric actuators have been developed continually, because they have better efficiency, safety and lower cost for the flight control system of aircraft. Also, to improve the weight condition, accuracy and response of actuator, new field actuators using new materials have been developed. In this paper we clearly proposed the actuator design and detailed technology development trend for next generation actuation system in aerospace and new field.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.345-350
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• 2002

In recent years, as changing the habit of eating, the pathology in the colon grows up annually. The colonoscopy is generalized, but if requires much time to acquire a dexterous skill to perform an operation and the procedure is painful to the patient. biomedical and robotic researchers are developing a locomotive colonoscope that can travel safe1y in colon. In this paper, we propose a new actuator and concept of semi-autonomous colonoscope. The micro robot comprises camera and LED for diagnosis, steer- ing system to pass through the loop, pneumatic actuator and bow-shaped flexible supporters to control a contact force and to pass over haustral folds in colon. For locomotion of semi-autonomous colonoscope, we suggest an actuator that is based on impact force between a cylinder and a piston. In order to validate the concept and the performance of the actuator, we carried out the simulation of moving characteristics and the preliminary experiments in rigid pipes and on the colon of pig.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.1983-1989
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• 2005

Industrial robots are powerful, extremely accurate multi-jointed systems, but they are heavy and highly rigid because of their mechanical structure and motorization. Therefore, sharing the robot working space with its environment is problematic. A novel pneumatic artificial muscle actuator (PAM actuator) has been regarded during the recent decades as an interesting alternative to hydraulic and electric actuators. Its main advantages are high strength and high power/weight ratio, low cost, compactness, ease of maintenance, cleanliness, readily available and cheap power source, inherent safety and mobility assistance to humans performing tasks. The PAM is undoubtedly the most promising artificial muscle for the actuation of new types of industrial robots such as Rubber Actuator and PAM manipulators. However, some limitations still exist, such as the air compressibility and the lack of damping ability of the actuator bring the dynamic delay of the pressure response and cause the oscillatory motion. In addition, the nonlinearities in the PAM manipulator still limit the controllability. Therefore, it is not easy to realize motion with high accuracy and high speed and with respect to various external inertia loads in order to realize a human-friendly therapy robot To overcome these problems a novel controller, which harmonizes a phase plane switching control method with conventional PID controller and the adaptabilities of neural network, is newly proposed. In order to realize satisfactory control performance a variable damper - Magneto-Rheological Brake (MRB) is equipped to the joint of the manipulator. Superb mixture of conventional PID controller and a phase plane switching control using neural network brings us a novel controller. This proposed controller is appropriate for a kind of plants with nonlinearity uncertainties and disturbances. The experiments were carried out in practical PAM manipulator and the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm was demonstrated through experiments, which had proved that the stability of the manipulator can be improved greatly in a high gain control by using MRB with phase plane switching control using neural network and without regard for the changes of external inertia loads.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.289-296
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• 2016

This study presents the kinematics of an intrinsic continuum robot actuated by pneumatic artificial muscles. The single section of a developed continuum robot consisted of three muscles in parallel. The contraction of each muscle according to applied air pressure produced spatial motions of a distal plate with respect to a base plate. Based on the bending behaviors of artificial muscles, the orientation and position of the end-effector of a continuum robot were formulated using a transformation matrix. The orientation and position was also determined for a single section of the distal plate. A Jacobian matrix relating the contraction rate or the pressure rate of the muscles to the velocity vector of the end-effector was calculated considering the assembled position of actuators between neighboring sections of the robot. Experimental results showed that the motions of the intrinsic continuum robot were accurately estimated by the proposed kinematics.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.36-43
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• 1992

In this paper, a robot assembly wrist, which is able to assemble chamferless parts, has been developed. The RCC (Remote Center Compliance) structure is used as a basic structure. 5 position sensors and 4 pneumatic actuators are installed additionally to measure the deformation of RCC structure and correct the errors actively. Due to the restricted direction of actuation, a decision rule which selects the suitable actuator according to the position sensor signals is needed. For this purpose, a neural network is used and it is experimentally shown that the nerual network overcomes system's nonlinearity. This paper presents fundamental experiment results for the insertion of parts with several clearance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society Of Semiconductor Equipment Technology
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.184-189
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• 2006

In the process of accurate manufacture and measurement, it is necessarily required to isolate external or internal vibration due to external disturbance and internal actuators. The higher vibration isolation system gets damping around resonance, the better it is generally. This paper analyzes the performance of an existing passive air-spring for vibration isolation table by rising experiment and simulation. Optimal design for a passive air spring can be obtained by fluting the size of the orifice. Also design for an active isolation system is carried out by applying PID controller and considering non-linearity of pneumatic characteristics with help of look-up table. We have developed the act ive vibration isolation table wi th the bet ter isolation performance.

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.87-95
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• 2006

The outlet feeder pipe thinning in a PHWR (Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor) is caused by a high pressure steam flow inside the pipe, which is a well known degradation mechanism called a FAC (Flow Assisted Corrosion). In order to monitor the degradation, the thickness of the outlet bends close to the exit of the pressure tube should be measured and analyzed at every official overhaul. This paper describes a mobile feeder pipe inspection robot that can minimize the irradiation dose to human workers by automating the measurement process. The robot can move by itself on the feeder pipe by using an inch worm mechanism, which is constructed by two gripper bodies that can fix the robot body on to the pipe, one extendable and contractible actuator, and a rotation actuator connected to the two gripper bodies to move forward and backward, and to rotate in a circumferential direction.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.1044-1051
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• 2004

This paper described a novel locomotion interface that can generate infinite floor for various surface, named as virtual walking machine. This interface allows users to participate in a life-like walking experience in virtual environments, which include various terrains such as plains, slopes and stair ground surfaces. The interface is composed of two three-DOF (X, Y, Yaw) planar devices and two four-DOF (Pitch, Roll, Z, and relative rotation) footpads. The planar devices are driven by AC servomotors for generating fast motions, while the footpad devices are driven by pneumatic actuators for continuous support of human weight. To simulate natural human walking, the locomotion interface design specification are acquired based on gait analysis and each mechanism is optimally designed and manufactured to satisfy the given requirements. The designed locomotion interface allows natural walking(step: 0.8m, height: 20cm, load capability: 100kg, slope:30deg) for various terrains.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.346-351
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• 2005

The outlet feeder pipe thinning in a PHWR (Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor) is caused by high pressure steam flow inside the pipe, which is a well known degradation mechanism called FAC (Flow Assisted Corrosion). In order to monitor the degradation, the thickness of the outlet bends closed to the exit of the pressure tube should be measured and analyzed at every official overhaul. This paper develops a mobile feeder pipe inspection robot that can minimize the irradiation dose of human workers by automating the measurement process. The robot can move by itself on the feeder pipe by using an inch worm mechanism, which is constructed by two gripper bodies that can fix the robot body on the pipe, one extendable and contractable actuator, and a rotation actuator connected the two gripper bodies to move forward and backward, and to rotate in the circumferential direction