2018 June - 21 articles
In this study, we propose a new ‘V’-shaped actuator with two panels and experimentally and theoretically investigate its actuation to find the most efficient structure. The V-shaped actuator operates like a seesaw. Specifically, when a hi...
Fiber-reinforced fluid-driven elastomer actuators have enabled the production of simple, low-cost and safe hand rehabilitation devices. However, so far, the actuators support only finger flexion-extension, and little has been reported on abduction-ad...
Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are known as ‘artificial muscles’ due to their large actuation strain, high energy density and self-sensing capability. The conical configuration has been widely adopted in DEA applications such as bi...
This work addresses the problem of finding the best controller parameters in order to improve the response of a single degree-of-freedom structural system under earthquake excitation. The control paradigm considered is based on brain emotional learni...
A visual-servo automatic micromanipulating system was developed and tested for gripping the moving microparticle suspended in liquid well. An innovative design of microgripper integrated with flexible arms was utilized to constrain particles in a mov...
Conventional loudspeakers are often heavy, require substantial design spaces and are hard to integrate into lightweight structures (e.g., panels). To overcome these drawbacks, this paper presents a novel extremely flat loudspeaker which uses dielectr...
Recently, many kinds of soft actuators composed of flexible materials, such as silicon rubber, have been studied in the mechatronics field with increasing attention on the artificial muscle in welfare, medical care and biotechnology. Particularly, pn...
Active repairs using smart materials such as piezoelectric actuators can play a significant role in reducing the crack damage propagation in engineering structures. This study analytically and numerically investigated the active repair of center-crac...
Although 3D printing has the potential to provide greater customization and to reduce the costs of creating actuators for industrial applications, the 3D printing of actuators is still a relatively new concept. We have developed a pneumatic actuator...
The active vibration control systems have received considerable attention in various areas of mechanical engineering. The advent of smart materials has significantly increased the available solutions for engineers in this field. Among these, piezoele...
The lightness and softness of pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) contribute to their safe use in mechanical devices involved with humans. However, a PAM has limited range of motion (ROM) and a stroke-dependent output force. In this paper, a mechanis...
Reduction of vibration in passively supported lateral directions by varying stiffness control is discussed in a vertically active magnetic suspension system. In the target system, one pair of electromagnets is arranged in differential driving mode to...
This paper introduces the design of a fully-compliant Spherical Joint (SJ), obtained by the in-parallel connection of two identical open chains each composed of three equal circular flexible beams, having coincident centers of curvature and mutually...
This contribution presents a novel design approach for vibration assisted machining (VAM). A lot of research has already been done regarding the influence of superimposed vibrations during a milling process, but there is almost no information about h...
Since fine powders tend strongly to adhesion and agglomeration, their processing with conventional methods is difficult or impossible. Typically, in order to enable the handling of fine powders, chemicals are added to increase the flowability and red...
Through remote forces, levitating micro-actuators completely eliminate mechanical attachment between the stationary and moving parts of a micro-actuator, thus providing a fundamental solution to overcoming the domination of friction over inertial for...
Magnetorheological (MR) fluids are capable of manifesting a rheological behaviour change by means of a magnetic field application and can be employed in many complex systems in many technical fields. One successful example is their use in the develop...
This paper presents all the significant nonlinearities that exist in the description of an electro hydraulic actuator for flexible nozzle thrust vector control. Starting from practical possibilities of the theory of a nonlinear system (which are base...
A method of microparticle separation from larger volumes of suspension is proposed. A piezoelectric cylinder is selected as an ultrasonic wave actuator, the diameter and length of which the volume of the suspension to be purified depends. Numerically...
Valve-controlled hydraulic actuation systems are favored in many applications due to their fast response, high power-to-weight ratio, and stability under variable working conditions. Efficiency, however, is the main disadvantage of these systems. Pum...
The demand of miniaturized, accurate and robust micro-tools for minimally invasive surgery or in general for micro-manipulation, has grown tremendously in recent years. To meet this need, a new-concept comb-driven microgripper was designed and fabric...
