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Special Issue "Selected Papers from Advances of Japanese Machine Design"

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A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This special issue belongs to the section "Machines Testing and Maintenance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2020) | Viewed by 23324

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yukio Takeda

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1, Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
Interests: mechanical systems design; kinematics; dynamics; robotics; assistive devices; machine elements; actuators
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Kenji Hashimoto
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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical Engineering Informatics, Meiji University, 1-1-1 Higashi-Mita, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 214-8571, Japan
Interests: mechanical systems design; legged robots; humanoid robots

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Carbone

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, Università della Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy
Interests: robotics; robot design; mechatronics; walking hexapod; design procedure; mechanics of machinery; leg–wheel
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research activities of the Japanese Council of IFToMM mainly focus on the theory, design, practice, and application of mechanism and machine design. Several international collaborative works have been done and are being extended with several partners. This Special Issue contains a selection of the best papers presented at the 25th Jc-IFToMM Symposium 2019 (2nd International Jc-IFToMM Symposium) on recent advances in the research areas covered by IFToMM. Novel results and solutions in the broad field of machine design, achieved in Japan as well as with international collaborations mainly within the IFToMM community, are presented.

Prof. Dr. Yukio Takeda
Prof. Dr. Kenji Hashimoto
Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Carbone
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Machines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Kinematics
Machine elements
Actuators
Gearing and transmissions
Linkage and cam
Mechanism design
Dynamics of machinery
Tribology
Vehicle mechanism, dynamics, and design
Reliability
Experimental method in mechanism
Robotics and mechatronics
Biomechanics
Micro/nano mechanism and machine
Medical/welfare devices
Nature and machines
Design methodology
History of mechanism and machine science
Education in mechanism and machine science

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 960 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Strategy for Application of Support Object for Fall Prevention in the Elderly Based on Balance Recovery Characteristics

Soichiro Matsuda

and

Yukio Takeda

Machines 2020, 8(4), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines8040060 - 07 Oct 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2187

Abstract

This research proposes a strategy for applying support objects—equipment, tools, and even furniture/environment from which humans can receive reaction force through their hands—for fall prevention in the elderly. This paper presents an assessment example of support objects based on balance recovery characteristics and a discussion regarding their application according to the assessment results. The balance recovery characteristics depend on the direction in which reaction force can be obtained based on the shape of the support object and direction in which the force is easily exerted on the hand. Evaluation indices for assessing the height and shape of nonportable support objects and determining a position of the tip on the ground of a cane, a typical portable support object, in the anterior direction are briefly introduced based on the authors’ previous works. The strategy for the application of support objects utilizing the evaluation indices is proposed; better use of support objects, their locations, new-shaped ones, and support devices with a new design concept are discussed and introduced based on the values of the calculated indices according to the type/usage of the support objects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from Advances of Japanese Machine Design)

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16 pages, 659 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Automated Kinematic Analysis of Closed-Loop Planar Link Mechanisms

Tatsuya Yamamoto

Nobuyuki Iwatsuki

and

Ikuma Ikeda

Machines 2020, 8(3), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines8030041 - 23 Jul 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4273

Abstract

The systematic kinematic analysis method for planar link mechanisms based on their unique procedures can clearly show the analysis process. The analysis procedure is expressed by a combination of many kinds of conversion functions proposed as the minimum calculation units for analyzing a part of the mechanism. When it is desired to perform this systematic kinematics analysis for a specific linkage mechanism, expert researchers can accomplish the analysis by searching for the procedure by themselves, however, it is difficult for non-expert users to find the procedure. This paper proposes the automatic procedure extraction algorithm for the systematic kinematic analysis of closed-loop planar link mechanisms. By limiting the types of conversion functions to only geometric calculations that are related to the two-link chain, the analysis procedure can be represented by only one type transformation function, and the procedure extraction algorithm can be described as a algorithm searching computable 2-link chain. The configuration of mechanism is described as the “LJ-matrix”, which shows the relationship of connections between links with pairs. The algorithm consists of four sub-processes, namely, “LJ-matrix generator”, “Solver process”, “Add-link process”, and “Over-constraint resolver”. Inputting the sketch of the mechanism into the proposed algorithm, it automatically extracts unique analysis procedure and generate a kinematic analysis program as a MATLAB code based on it. Several mechanisms are analyzed as examples to show the usefulness of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from Advances of Japanese Machine Design)

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19 pages, 4294 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Analysis of Low-Cost Tracking System for Mobile Robots

Andrea Botta

and

Giuseppe Quaglia

Machines 2020, 8(2), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines8020029 - 02 Jun 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3712

Abstract

This paper proposes a reliable and straightforward approach to mobile robots (or moving objects in general) indoor tracking, in order to perform a preliminary study on their dynamics. The main features of this approach are its minimal and low-cost setup and a user-friendly interpretation of the data generated by the ArUco library. By using a commonly available camera, such as a smartphone one or a webcam, and at least one marker for each object that has to be tracked, it is possible to estimate the pose of these markers, with respect to a reference conveniently placed in the environment, in order to produce results that are easily interpretable by a user. This paper presents a simple extension to the ArUco library to generate such user-friendly data, and it provides a performance analysis of this application with static and moving objects, using a smartphone camera to highlight the most notable feature of this solution, but also its limitations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from Advances of Japanese Machine Design)

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15 pages, 6521 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Kineto-Static Analysis of a Wrist Rehabilitation Robot with Compliance and Passive Joints for Joint Misalignment Compensation

Ying-Chi Liu

and

Yukio Takeda

Machines 2020, 8(2), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines8020023 - 02 May 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3079

Abstract

In this paper, we present a kineto-static analysis on a wrist rehabilitation robot to compensate for joint misalignment between human and robot joints. Since joint misalignment has proved to generate user–device interaction forces, which reduce the comfort and safety of the wearable devices and limit the user’s willingness to use it. The use of compliance and the addition of passive joints for joint misalignment compensation are discussed. In order to study the effect of the initial offset, we find that the initial offset in the direction perpendicular to the forearm causes a larger unwanted force. In addition, the use of the softest compliance can minimize unwanted force by 38% compared to the case without compliance. Furthermore, the effect of the addition of passive joints to the exoskeleton is investigated. From the analysis results, the soft part of the human being is regarded as a passive joint with the ability to compensate for joint misalignment. Moreover, the influence of the soft characteristics of human limbs should be considered when designing a wearable robot. This soft property, causing the movement of the braces, results in reducing the angular range of the wrist. Through the analysis results, we provide effective ideas for joint misalignment compensation to fulfill a comfortable and safer robot design. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from Advances of Japanese Machine Design)

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14 pages, 2489 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing Energy Efficiency of a 4-DOF Parallel Robot Through Task-Related Analysis

and

Alessandro Gasparetto

Machines 2020, 8(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines8010010 - 25 Feb 2020

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 3754

Abstract

Enhancing energy efficiency is one of the main challenges of today’s industrial robotics and manufacturing technology. In this paper a task-related analysis of the energetic performance of a 4-DOF industrial parallel robot is presented, and the optimal location of a predefined task with respect to the robot workspace is investigated. An optimal position of the task relative to the robot can indeed reduce the actuators’ effort and the energy consumption required to complete the considered operation. The dynamic and electro-mechanical models of the manipulators are developed and implemented to estimate the energy consumption of a parametrized motion with trapezoidal speed profile, i.e., a pick-and-place operation. Numerical results provide energy consumption maps that can be adopted to place the starting and ending points of the task in the more energy-efficient location within the robot workspace. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from Advances of Japanese Machine Design)

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11 pages, 2846 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Linkage and Cam Design with MechDev Based on Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines

and

Machines 2020, 8(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines8010005 - 21 Jan 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5397

Abstract

Several software products exist in order to support engineers during the mechanism design process. The software “Mechanism Developer” (abbr. MechDev) is one of these products. MechDev provides many functionalities concerning the kinematic and kinetostatic analysis of mechanisms based on revolute, prismatic as well as cam joints. This paper will introduce the software MechDev and will outline these functionalities. Furthermore, it will name the advantages of MechDev compared to other software products. In order to give an impression of the functionality of the software, this paper also includes a special use case. This use case describes a cam mechanism with a prismatic roller-follower. In order to optimize the transmission angle of the cam mechanism, the cam is actuated by a servo drive. To mathematically model the angular input of the servo drive, Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines (NURBS) are described and applied. Thus, a nearly arbitrary input function can be described by few parameters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from Advances of Japanese Machine Design)

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