Editorial

3 pages, 162 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue on Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems

by Hsiung-Cheng Lin and Edward T. Bednarz III

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(24), 13014; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122413014 - 19 Dec 2022

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Automation systems based on robotics have emerged as a multidisciplinary frontier of science and engineering [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems)

Research

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14 pages, 1095 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Observer-Based Fuzzy Controller Design for Nonlinear Discrete-Time Singular Systems via Proportional Derivative Feedback Scheme

by Wen-Jer Chang, Ming-Hsuan Tsai and Chin-Lin Pen

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(6), 2833; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11062833 - 22 Mar 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 1719

Abstract

This paper investigates the observer-based fuzzy controller design method for nonlinear discrete-time singular systems that are represented by Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy models. At first, the nonlinearity can be well-approximated with several local linear input-output relationships. The parallel distributed compensation (PDC) technology and the [...] Read more.

This paper investigates the observer-based fuzzy controller design method for nonlinear discrete-time singular systems that are represented by Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy models. At first, the nonlinearity can be well-approximated with several local linear input-output relationships. The parallel distributed compensation (PDC) technology and the proportional derivative (PD) feedback scheme are then employed to construct the observer-based fuzzy controller. To solve the problem of unmeasured states, the impulsive phenomenon of singular systems, and the PD scheme’s reasonableness, a novel observer-based fuzzy controller is developed. By using the Lyapunov theory and projection lemma, the stability criteria are built in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMI). Moreover, the gains of fuzzy controller and fuzzy observer can be calculated synchronously by using convex optimization algorithms. Finally, a biological economic system is provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy control method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems)

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24 pages, 12528 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Robotic-Based Touch Panel Test System Using Pattern Recognition Methods

by Chia-Chi Lu and Jih-Gau Juang

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(23), 8339; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10238339 - 24 Nov 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2416

Abstract

In this study, pattern recognition methods are applied to a five-degrees-of-freedom robot arm that can key in words on a touch screen for an automatic smartphone test. The proposed system can recognize Chinese characters and Mandarin phonetic symbols. The mechanical arm is able [...] Read more.

In this study, pattern recognition methods are applied to a five-degrees-of-freedom robot arm that can key in words on a touch screen for an automatic smartphone test. The proposed system can recognize Chinese characters and Mandarin phonetic symbols. The mechanical arm is able to perform corresponding movements and edit words on the screen. Pattern matching is based on the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) color space and is transformed to binary images for higher correct rate and geometric matching. A web camera is utilized to capture patterns on the tested smartphone screen. The proposed control scheme uses a support vector machine with a histogram of oriented gradient classifier to recognize Chinese Mandarin phonetic symbols and provide correct coordinates during the control process. The control scheme also calculates joint angles of the robot arm during the movement using the Denavit–Hartenberg parameters (D-H) model and fuzzy logic system. Fuzzy theory is applied to use the position error between the robot arm and target location then resend the command to adjust the arm’s position. From the experiments, the proposed control scheme can control the robot to press desired buttons on the tested smartphone. For Chinese Mandarin phonetic symbols, recognition accuracy of the test system can reach 90 percent. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems)

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8 pages, 1389 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tracking Robot Location for Non-Destructive Evaluation of Double-Shell Tanks

by Christopher Cree, Emily Carter, Heng Wang, Changki Mo and John Miller

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(20), 7318; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10207318 - 19 Oct 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1625

Abstract

(1) Background: Non-destructive evaluation of double-shell nuclear-waste storage tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford site requires a robot to navigate a network of air slots in the confined space between primary and secondary tanks. Situational awareness, data collection, and data interpretation [...] Read more.

(1) Background: Non-destructive evaluation of double-shell nuclear-waste storage tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford site requires a robot to navigate a network of air slots in the confined space between primary and secondary tanks. Situational awareness, data collection, and data interpretation require continuous tracking of the robot’s location. (2) Methods: Robot location is continuously monitored using video image analysis for short distances and laser ranging for absolute location. (3) Results: The technique was demonstrated in our laboratory using a mockup of air slot and robot. (4) Conclusions: Location tracking and display provide decision support to inspectors and lay the groundwork for automated data collection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems)

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18 pages, 7353 KiB

Open AccessArticle

System Design and Monitoring Method of Robot Grinding for Friction Stir Weld Seam

by Mingyang Li, Zhijiang Du, Xiaoxing Ma, Kui Gao, Wei Dong, Yan Di and Yongzhuo Gao

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(8), 2903; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10082903 - 22 Apr 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2984

Abstract

In the grinding process of friction stir weld seams, excessive grinding will cause damage to the base metal and bring significant economic losses. In this paper, the authors design a robotic system for grinding the weld seam and present a monitoring method of [...] Read more.

In the grinding process of friction stir weld seams, excessive grinding will cause damage to the base metal and bring significant economic losses. In this paper, the authors design a robotic system for grinding the weld seam and present a monitoring method of excessive grinding. The designed system consists of an industrial robot, a line scanner for measuring the weld seam and a force-controlled grinding tool. Since the result of the measurement of the weld seam is a point cloud, the extraction method of the weld seam point cloud based on graph-cut is proposed in this paper. The extracted features are used as prior knowledge of the monitoring algorithm. On the other hand, by combining the features from the point cloud and force-position information during the processing, a monitoring method for excessive grinding based on PSO-SVM is proposed and verified by experiments. The experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can identify excessive grinding, and the accuracy of recognition is 91.5%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems)

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21 pages, 2885 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multiple Swarm Fruit Fly Optimization Algorithm Based Path Planning Method for Multi-UAVs

by Kunming Shi, Xiangyin Zhang and Shuang Xia

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(8), 2822; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10082822 - 19 Apr 2020

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 2280

Abstract

The path planning of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the threat and countermeasure region is a constrained nonlinear optimization problem with many static and dynamic constraints. The fruit fly optimization algorithm (FOA) is widely used to handle this kind of nonlinear optimization problem. [...] Read more.

The path planning of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the threat and countermeasure region is a constrained nonlinear optimization problem with many static and dynamic constraints. The fruit fly optimization algorithm (FOA) is widely used to handle this kind of nonlinear optimization problem. In this paper, the multiple swarm fruit fly optimization algorithm (MSFOA) is proposed to overcome the drawback of the original FOA in terms of slow global convergence speed and local optimum, and then is applied to solve the coordinated path planning problem for multi-UAVs. In the proposed MSFOA, the whole fruit fly swarm is divided into several sub-swarms with multi-tasks in order to expand the searching space to improve the searching ability, while the offspring competition strategy is introduced to improve the utilization degree of each calculation result and realize the exchange of information among various fruit fly sub-swarms. To avoid the collision among multi-UAVs, the collision detection method is also proposed. Simulation results show that the proposed MSFOA is superior to the original FOA in terms of convergence and accuracy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems)

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17 pages, 4436 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Smooth Fractional Order Sliding Mode Controller for Spherical Robots with Input Saturation

by Ting Zhou, Yu-gong Xu and Bin Wu

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(6), 2117; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10062117 - 20 Mar 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2149

Abstract

This study considers the control of spherical robot linear motion under input saturation. A fractional sliding mode controller that combines fractional order calculus and the hierarchical sliding mode control method is proposed for the spherical robot. Employing this controller, an auxiliary system in [...] Read more.

This study considers the control of spherical robot linear motion under input saturation. A fractional sliding mode controller that combines fractional order calculus and the hierarchical sliding mode control method is proposed for the spherical robot. Employing this controller, an auxiliary system in which a filter was used to gain smooth control performance was designed to overcome the input saturation. Based on the Lyapunov stability theorem, the closed-loop system was globally stable and the desired state was achieved using the fractional sliding mode controller. The advantages of the proposed controller are illustrated by comparing the simulation results from the fractional order sliding mode controllers and the integer order controller. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems)

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15 pages, 4372 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Re-Entry Path Planning Method for Service Robots Based on Dynamic Inver-Over Evolutionary Algorithm

by Yong Tao, Chaoyong Chen, Tianmiao Wang, Youdong Chen, Hegen Xiong, Fan Ren and Yu Zou

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(1), 305; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10010305 - 31 Dec 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2296

Abstract

A re-entry path planning method in omitting areas for service robots is suggested based on dynamic Inver-Over evolutionary algorithms after the robot automatically avoids obstacles. The complete coverage path planning is researched for cleaning service robots. Combined with features of dynamic travelling salesmen [...] Read more.

A re-entry path planning method in omitting areas for service robots is suggested based on dynamic Inver-Over evolutionary algorithms after the robot automatically avoids obstacles. The complete coverage path planning is researched for cleaning service robots. Combined with features of dynamic travelling salesmen problem (DTSP), a local operator is employed for the path planning to enhance real-time dynamic properties of the Inver-Over algorithm. The method addresses the path planning problem that a number of cells undergo dynamic changes over time under work environment of cleaning robots. With simulations and experiments performed, it is discovered that the average relative error is 2.2% between the re-entry path planning and the best path, which validates the effectiveness and feasibility of the method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems)

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Review

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21 pages, 1177 KiB

Open AccessReview

Motion Planning of Upper-Limb Exoskeleton Robots: A Review

by Clautilde Nguiadem, Maxime Raison and Sofiane Achiche

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(21), 7626; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10217626 - 29 Oct 2020

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 4803

Abstract

(1) Background: Motion planning is an important part of exoskeleton control that improves the wearer’s safety and comfort. However, its usage introduces the problem of trajectory planning. The objective of trajectory planning is to generate the reference input for the motion-control system. This [...] Read more.

(1) Background: Motion planning is an important part of exoskeleton control that improves the wearer’s safety and comfort. However, its usage introduces the problem of trajectory planning. The objective of trajectory planning is to generate the reference input for the motion-control system. This review explores the methods of trajectory planning for exoskeleton control. In order to reduce the number of surveyed papers, this review focuses on the upper limbs, which require refined three-dimensional motion planning. (2) Methods: A systematic search covering the last 20 years was conducted in Ei Compendex, Inspect-IET, Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, and Science-Direct. The search strategy was to use and combine terms “trajectory planning”, “upper limb”, and ”exoskeleton” as high-level keywords. “Trajectory planning” and “motion planning” were also combined with the following keywords: “rehabilitation”, “humanlike motion“, “upper extremity“, “inverse kinematic“, and “learning machine “. (3) Results: A total of 67 relevant papers were discovered. Results were then classified into two main categories of methods to plan trajectory: (i) Approaches based on Cartesian motion planning, and inverse kinematics using polynomial-interpolation or optimization-based methods such as minimum-jerk, minimum-torque-change, and inertia-like models; and (ii) approaches based on “learning by demonstration” using machine-learning techniques such as supervised learning based on neural networks, and learning methods based on hidden Markov models, Gaussian mixture models, and dynamic motion primitives. (4) Conclusions: Various methods have been proposed to plan the trajectories for upper-limb exoskeleton robots, but most of them plan the trajectory offline. The review approach is general and could be extended to lower limbs. Trajectory planning has the advantage of extending the applicability of therapy robots to home usage (assistive exoskeletons); it also makes it possible to mitigate the shortages of medical caregivers and therapists, and therapy costs. In this paper, we also discuss challenges associated with trajectory planning: kinematic redundancy and incompatibility, and the trajectory-optimization problem. Commonly, methods based on the computation of swivel angles and other methods rely on the relationship (e.g., coordinated or synergistic) between the degrees of freedom used to resolve kinematic redundancy for exoskeletons. Moreover, two general solutions, namely, the self-tracing configuration of the joint axis and the alignment-free configuration of the joint axis, which add the appropriate number of extra degrees of freedom to the mechanism, were employed to improve the kinematic incompatibility between human and exoskeleton. Future work will focus on online trajectory planning and optimal control. This will be done because very few online methods were found in the scope of this study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Robotics-Based Automation Systems)

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