Continuum robots are increasingly being used in industrial and medical applications due to their high number of degrees of freedom (DoF), large workspace and their ability to operate dexterously. However, the positional accuracy of conventional conti...
Inspired by improving the adaptive capability of the robot to external impacts or shocks, the adjustable stiffness behavior in joints is investigated to ensure conformity with the safety index. This paper proposes a new soft actuation unit, namely Ad...
The response control of a very large floating structure (VLFS) is a crucial issue that affects the stability and safety of the structure. This paper presents a vibration control method for stabilizing the motion of a multi-modular VLFS by using a set...
Backpacks are widely used as an efficient and convenient means for manual load transportation. However, carrying heavy loads for a long time can significantly increase the risk of health issues. In response to the growing demand for relieving muscle...
This paper reports a new medical device together with a control strategy that focuses on the following tasks: (1) a trajectory tracking problem associated with the supination–pronation motion of the wrist–forearm for purposes of rehabilit...
This paper presents a lower-limb hip exoskeleton system integrated with an adjustable-stiffness flexible energy-storage module for three-dimensional gait correction. This system features a modular flexible mechanical design and a stiffness-gain sched...
Bipedal humanoid robots are expected to play a major role in the future. Performing bipedal locomotion requires high energy due to the high torque that needs to be provided by its legs’ joints. Taking the WABIAN-2R as an example, it uses harmonic gea...
The choice on which type of cantilever to use for Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) depends on the type of the experiment being done. Typically, the cantilever has to be exchanged when a different stiffness is required and the entire alignment has to be...
This study adopts a practical approach to establish the estimation and adjustment methods of the interface stiffness for the machine-tool through the finite element analysis (FEA). First, numerical and experimental modal analysis (FMA and EMA) for ea...
Continuum robots have good adaptability in unstructured and complex environments. However, affected by their inherent nature of flexibility and slender structure, there are challenges in high-precision motion and load. Thus, stiffness adjustment for...
In rotating machinery, the demands for torque sensor resolution and range in various torque measurements are becoming increasingly stringent. This paper presents a novel variable stiffness torque sensor designed to meet the demands for high resolutio...
This paper concerns the problem of vibration reduction during milling. For this purpose, it is proposed that the standard supports of the workpiece be replaced with adjustable stiffness supports. This affects the modal parameters of the whole system,...
To provide a stable surgical view in Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), it is necessary for a flexible endoscope applied in MIS to have adjustable stiffness to resist different external loads from surrounding organs and tissues. Pneumatic soft actuato...
Today, a major obstacle to developing locomotion mechanisms that are as safe and energy efficient as living organisms has been overcome with the development of actuators with adjustable stiffness. This work presents an innovative clutch mechanism who...
Structural vibration has always been a major concern in the engineering field. A dynamic vibration absorber in the form of contacts with adjustable stiffness (CDVA) offers effective vibration suppression and can improve conventional dynamic vibration...
Stiffness-adjustable snake-like robots have been proposed for various applications, including minimally invasive surgery. Based on a variable neutral-line mechanism, previous works proposed a class of snake-like robots that can adjust their stiffness...
Despite the significant engineering applications of vibration isolation structures, there remain challenges in adjusting low-frequency isolation performance. To tackle this issue, this study proposes a temperature-controlled quasi-zero stiffness vibr...
This paper presents the design and development of a novel mechanically overdamped actuator with adjustable stiffness (MOD-AwAS). The novelty of MOD-AwAS compared to other variable stiffness actuators relates to its mechanical design, which prevents o...
Walking on rough terrains still remains a challenge that needs to be addressed for biped robots because the unevenness on the ground can easily disrupt the walking stability. This paper proposes a novel foot system with passively adjustable stiffness...
Based on the semi-rigid characteristics of a double-cell prefabricated utility tunnel composed of groove-shaped elements (PUTCGE), this paper proposes an extended study of a stiffness reduction method for PUTCGEs by introducing the stiffness reductio...
Torsional vibrations are inherently present in every rotating powertrain. In resonant conditions, torsional vibrations can be significantly amplified. A typical method to reduce the torsional vibration particularly at resonance is to modify the torsi...
MEMS stiffness-tunable devices, owing to their low resonant frequency and high sensitivity, have been widely adopted in fields such as biological force sensing, vibration sensing, and inertial sensing. However, traditional stress-effect-based stiffne...
This paper presents a study of the vibration isolation properties of pneumatic suspension systems for work machinery seats, with a particular focus on adjustable stiffness. It highlights the contribution that semi-active seat suspension systems make...
Stimuli-responsive hydrogels hold immense promise for biomedical applications, but conventional gelation processes often struggle to achieve the precision and complexity required for advanced functionalities such as soft robotics, targeted drug deliv...
Variable stiffness actuators (VSA) have attracted much attention because of their potential for human-like interaction behaviors. This paper devotes to improving the VSA’s versatility. VSA with different characteristics can be obtained by shape...
Inspired by the structure of human arms, a modular cable-driven human-like robotic arm (CHRA) is developed for safe human–robot interaction. Due to the unilateral driving properties of the cables, the CHRA is redundantly actuated and its stiffn...
This paper reports the results of research on the influence of the compliance of the technological system used in grinding low-stiffness shafts on the shape accuracy of the workpieces. The level of accuracy achieved using passive compliance compensat...
This study analyzes the modeling and dynamics of a novel passive multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) vibration isolation platform which can achieve a significant isolation effect. Symmetrical scissor-like structures (SLSs) are utilized in the proposed MDO...
Adjustable compliant actuators are being designed and implemented in robotic devices because of their ability to minimize large forces due to impacts, to safely interact with the user, and to store and release energy in passive elastic elements. Conc...
Adjustable compliance or variable stiffness actuators comprise an additional element to elastically decouple the actuator from the load and are increasingly applied to human-centered robotic systems. The advantages of such actuators are of paramount...
The elastic support stiffness coefficient kR of opposing horizontal struts constitutes a critical parameter in the design of strutted retaining structures for deep excavations. The determination of the fixed-point adjustment coefficient λ serv...
Diabetes-adapted insoles are essential in prevention and rehabilitation of foot ulcers in diabetic foot syndrome. However, their manufacture is labour-intensive and costly. Therefore, the study aims to present an alternative method that allows the in...
Redundant cascade manipulators actuated by pneumatic bellows actuators are passively compliant, rugged and dexterous, making them exceptionally well suited for application in agriculture. Unfortunately, the bellows are notoriously difficult to precis...
Hyper-redundant manipulators are widely used in minimally invasive surgery because they can navigate through narrow passages in passive compliance with the human body. Although their stability and dexterity have been significantly improved over the y...
With the continuous advancement of the automotive industry, users’ demands for vehicle ride comfort are constantly increasing. Low-frequency vibrations, characterized by their strong penetration and difficulty in attenuation, significantly impa...
Soft sensors are essential for robotic systems to safely interact with humans and the environment. Although significant research has been carried out in the field of soft tactile sensing, most of these sensors are restricted to a predefined geometry...
Robots that enable safe human-robot collaboration can be realized by using compliant drive units. In previous works, different mechanical designs of compliant pneumatic rotary drive units with similar characteristics have been presented. In this pape...
In addition to being a marker of cardiovascular (CV) aging, aortic stiffening has been shown to be independently associated with increased CV risk (directly and/or indirectly due to stiffness-gradient attenuation). Arterial stiffness determines the r...
Aquatic animals such as fish and cetaceans can actively modulate their body stiffness with muscle to achieve excellent swimming performance under different situations. However, it is still challenging for a robotic swimmer with bionic propulsion mode...
In response to challenges like the complexity and limited scalability of existing variable stiffness joints, a novel variable stiffness joint, based on leaf spring elements, is introduced in this paper. The joint stiffness can be adjusted in real tim...
Collaborative robots are used in scenarios requiring interaction with humans. In order to improve the safety and adaptability of collaborative robots during human–robot interaction, this paper proposes a modular wire-actuated robotic arm with s...
This paper proposes a variable stiffness joint based on a symmetrical crank slider mechanism (SCM-VSJ). Firstly, the mechanical design and the working principle of the variable stiffness joint is described, and its stiffness regulation characteristic...
Oceans, which cover more than 70% of Earth’s surface, are home to vast biological and mineral resources. Deep-sea exploration encounters significant challenges due to harsh environmental factors, including low temperatures, high pressure, and c...
With the acceleration of industrialization, deformable mechanisms that can adapt to complex environments have gained widespread applications. Joints serve as carriers for transmitting forces and motions between components, and their stiffness signifi...
In various aspects of robotics, including human–robot interaction, the ability to dynamically adjust the apparent stiffness of an interaction (e.g., between the robot and its environment or between the robot and its payload) has become an impor...
Body weight support (BWS) systems are crucial in gait rehabilitation for individuals incapacitated due to injuries or medical conditions. Traditional BWS systems typically employ either static mass–rope or dynamic mass–spring–damper...
Drug-induced liver toxicity is one of the most common reasons for the failure of drugs in clinical trials and frequent withdrawal from the market. Reasons for such failures include the low predictive power of in vivo studies, that is mainly caused by...
(1) Background: Previous evidence has indicated a connection between a Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular disease. However, evidence for subclinical markers of cardiovascular disease, such as arterial stiffness, is limited. Therefore, the aim of t...
In this paper, we focus on the issues pertaining to stiffness-oriented cable tension distribution for a symmetrical 6-cable-driven spherical joint module (6-CSJM), which can be employed to construct modular cable-driven manipulators. Due to the redun...
The kinematic behavior of models that are based on the finite element method (FEM) for modeling the human body depends greatly on an accurate estimate of the parameters that define such models. This task is complex, and any small difference between t...
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