Actuators, Volume 13, Issue 3

A multi-channel phase-compensated active disturbance rejection control (MPADRC) incorporating an improved backstepping strategy is proposed in this paper to handle the phase lag in the extended state observer (ESO) and the residual uncertainty in the...

To enhance the robustness of the toolface angle control in a fully rotary steerable drilling tool, a backstepping control law and a drilling fluid flow adaptive law are devised based on the dynamic model of the stable platform. The Lyapunov function...

Thin-film piezoelectrics are widely investigated for actuators and energy harvesters, but there are few alternatives to toxic lead zirconate titanate. Biocompatible Ca- and Zr-modified BaTiO₃ (BCZT) is one of the most promising lead-free alternatives...

This work introduces a novel sensing concept based on reaction forces for determining the position of the levitating magnet (mover) for magnetic levitation platforms (MLPs). Besides being effective in conventional magnetic bearings, the applied appro...

A modified Extended State Kalman Filter (ESKF)-based Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm is introduced to tailor the enhanced disturbance suppression in electro-optical tracking systems. Traditional control techniques, although robust, often str...

Soft robots, inspired by biological adaptability, can excel where rigid robots may falter and offer flexibility and safety for complex, unpredictable environments. In this paper, we present the Omnidirectional Bending Actuator (OBA), a soft robotic a...

Targeting the issue of high losses of individual switching tubes in Neutral-Point Clamped (NPC) three-level inverters, an Active Neutral-Point Clamped (ANPC) three-level inverter is used, and a model predictive control strategy using the loss equaliz...

In order to maintain the performance of a fuel cell vehicle, it is essential to maintain a constant temperature of the stack. Therefore, it is very important to distribute the optimal coolant flow rate to each major component under very diverse and r...

Autonomous tractor–trailer robots possess a broad spectrum of applications but pose significant challenges in control due to their nonlinear and underactuated dynamics. Unlike the tractor, the motion of the trailer cannot be directly actuated,...

The hybrid space of robots is divided into task space and joint space, with task space focused on trajectory-tracking accuracy, while joint space considers dynamic responsiveness and synchronization. Therefore, the robot-motion control systems need t...

When using electric linear drives for vertical positioning of workloads, a constant force both during movement and at standstill must be supplied to compensate gravity. Compensating stationary forces by the use of passive components reduces the power...

In modern days, low-frequency vibration is still challenging to suppress due to its high vibrational energy. A typical suppression method is to increase the object’s mass to reduce the amplitude of the vibration, but such a way is unsuitable in...

The Bouc–Wen model has been widely adopted to describe hysteresis nonlinearity in many smart material-actuated systems, such as piezoelectric actuators, shape memory alloy actuators, and magnetorheological dampers. For effective control design,...

This paper uses mixed methods to explore the preliminary design of control authority preferences for an Assistive Robotic Manipulator (ARM). To familiarize users with an intelligent robotic arm, we perform two kitchen task iterations: one with user-i...

The transportation of emergency supplies is characterized by real-time, urgent, and non-contact, which constitute the basic guarantee for emergency rescue and disposal. To improve the yaw stability of the four-wheel-drive unmanned emergency supplies...

The act of standing up is one of the most important movements in daily life, but it often poses challenges for elderly individuals with declining physical functions. To address this issue, we have designed an assistive device for sit-to-stand (STS) m...

Despite its excellent performance in path tracking control, the model predictive control (MPC) is limited by computational complexity in practical applications. The neural network control (NNC) is another attractive solution by learning the historica...

The vehicle lateral stability control algorithm is an essential component of the electronic stability program (ESP), and its control effect directly affects the vehicle’s driving safety. However, there are still numerous shortcomings and challe...

An actuator is a device that moves or controls a mechanism, by turning a control signal into mechanical action, such as in an electric motor [...]

In this article, an observer-based adaptive non-singular fast-reaching terminal sliding mode control strategy is proposed to tackle the problem of actuator faults and uncertain disturbance in aerial robot systems. Firstly, a model of an aerial robot...

With the development of safety technologies for intelligent commercial vehicles, electronic pneumatic braking systems (EBSs) have been widely used. However, EBS actuators may fail during vehicle operation and thus create safety problems. For this rea...

With the aging society in Japan, the number of elderly people residing in elderly facilities is increasing. In previous study, we developed a transfer assistive device designed to aid the elderly in transferring from the bedroom to the bathroom. Addi...

Emulsion formulations should be monodispersed in terms of their stability. Therefore, there is a need for a device that can classify droplets of the desired size from polydispersed emulsions in a fluidized bed manufacturing system. In the previous st...

Additively manufactured soft-magnetic components are inherently bulky leading to significant eddy current losses when applied to electrical machines. Prior works have addressed this issue by implementing structures based on the Hilbert space-filling...

Deep domain adaptation techniques have recently been the subject of much research in machinery fault diagnosis. However, most of the work has been focused on domain alignment, aiming to learn cross-domain features by bridging the gap between source a...

This study presents a machine learning model for predicting lumbar spine moments using data from low-cost sensors, with the ultimate aim of developing a control strategy for waist-active exoskeleton devices. The limitation of sparse features in low-c...

The paper reports on flight tests at hovering of the COLIBRI robot. After a short review of the control model and the stabilization strategy, two different approaches are considered for the attitude reconstruction from the MEMS Inertial Measurement U...

This paper presents methods for the actuation, measurement, and control of a magnetic resonance imaging- and radiation-compatible single-axis translatory actuation system. As an exemplary demanding use case, the axis is developed for a robotic phanto...

The three-degree-of-freedom (3-DoF) parallel mechanism (PM) is widely used due to its simple structure and ability to avoid coupling problems commonly found in high-DoF PMs. The conventional control approach is usually independent control for each br...

This study delves into the construction of reduced-order models (ROMs) of a flow field over a NACA 0012 airfoil at a moderate Reynolds number and an angle of attack of $8^{\circ }$. Numerical simulations were computed through the finite-volume solver Ope...

The quadruple-tank system (QTS) is a popular educational resource in universities for studying multivariable control systems. It enables the analysis of the interaction between variables and the limitations imposed by multivariable non-minimum phase...

Plasma actuators have been proposed as a tool to produce hydrodynamical effects in the boundary layer of aerodynamical flows. We have analyzed some properties of these systems using suitable plasma diagnostics based on the emissivity characteristics...

In the field of adaptive building technologies, this research introduces the development of a self-regulating solar shading actuator that utilizes the thermal shape memory effect. The study focuses on addressing the actuator’s performance under...

Humans possess dexterous hands that surpass those of other animals, enabling them to perform intricate, complex movements. Soft hands, known for their inherent flexibility, aim to replicate the functionality of human hands. This article provides an o...

Traditional industrial robots often face challenges in achieving a perfectly polished surface on a workpiece because of their high mechanical rigidity. The active compliance force control device installed at the robotic arm’s end enables high-p...

This article presents the design and validation of a novel visual servoing scheme for a surveillance system. In this system, a two-axis gimbal mechanism operates the rotation of a camera which is able to provide visual information on the tracked targ...

This paper introduces a new real-time method based on a combination of kernel density estimators and pyramid histogram of oriented gradients for identifying a point of interest along the stem of seedlings suitable for stem–stake coupling, also...