Search Results (7)

In winter, ice readily accretes on the HDPE sheath of stay cables, creating shedding hazards and exacerbating wind-induced vibrations, thereby threatening bridge and traffic safety. Cable-climbing de-icing devices have been proposed to replace manual operations, yet their performance is often limited by climbing instability caused by abrupt changes in cable-surface friction. This study develops a quadrotor-driven stay-cable de-icing device that integrates an arc-shaped milling wheel with an embedded heating module to realize thermo-mechanically coupled de-icing. The device climbs via rotor-generated aerodynamic lift and performs continuous top-down de-icing using gravity-assisted motion together with rotor thrust. Laboratory tests and ANSYS LS-DYNA explicit dynamic simulations are conducted to quantify the effects of clamping force and axial thrust on the ice removal ratio in a purely mechanical mode. In addition, a three-stage experimental campaign—temperature-rise, thermo-mechanical de-icing, and thermal-balance tests—is carried out to verify heating feasibility and to examine the roles of heating power and initial wheel temperature. The results indicate that, under purely mechanical de-icing, the ice removal ratio increases monotonically with clamping force and thrust but gradually approaches saturation. Under thermo-mechanical de-icing, higher heating power and initial temperature improve removal performance. Notably, thermo-mechanical de-icing under low thrust achieves a higher removal level than purely mechanical de-icing under high loads, demonstrating improved effectiveness and engineering practicality. An initial equivalence relationship between mechanical parameters and temperature is established to support further optimization. Full article

Aiming at the lack of accurate and reliable discrete element simulation parameters for the design of buckwheat metering devices and seeders based on the discrete element simulation method, an accurate buckwheat seed model was obtained by calibrating the discrete element simulation parameters. In this study, buckwheat seed particle models were established based on the manual and automatic filling methods. In order to improve the accuracy of the models, discrete element simulation parameters were calibrated, and the static cylinder-lifting test and dynamic seed-metering test were used to verify the simulation results. A 3D model of buckwheat seed was obtained using the CT scanning method, and a manual filling 7-sphere particle model and an automatic filling multi-sphere particle model were established. The physical parameters and contact parameters were measured using the uniaxial compression test, the drop test, and the friction coefficient measurement test. The Plackett–Burman test and steepest ascent path were used to obtain the optimal parameter combination based on the static cylinder-lifting test. We conducted dynamic seed-metering tests using the two particle models under the optimal parameter combination. The results show that, compared with the measured values of stacking angle, the relative errors of the simulation values of the manual filling 7-sphere and automatic filling 36-sphere particle models are 1.04% and 0.50%, respectively. When the rotation speed range of the seeding wheel is 20~60 r/min, the average relative errors between the simulated value and the measured value are 15.85% and 4.69%, respectively. When the effective working length range of the seeding wheel is 20~40 mm, the average relative errors between the simulated value and the measured value are 22.18% and 9.07%, respectively. Regardless of whether the manual filling 7-sphere or the automatic filling 36-sphere particle model of buckwheat seed was used for static motion parameter simulation or dynamic motion simulation, the automatic filling 36-sphere particle model has a higher accuracy. The buckwheat seed particle model established in this study will provide support for the design of buckwheat special seed-metering devices and improve the quality of buckwheat mechanized sowing operation. Full article

In this work, we present the overground prototype gait-rehabilitation robot for using motion assistance and training for paralyzed patients. In contrast to the existing gait-rehabilitation robots, which focus on the sagittal plane motion of the hip and knee, we aim to develop a mobile-based pelvic support gait-rehabilitation system that includes a pelvic obliquity support mechanism and a lower-limb exoskeleton. To achieve this, a scissor mechanism is proposed to generate the paralyzed patient’s pelvic obliquity motion and weight support. Moreover, the lower limb exoskeleton robot is integrated with the developed system to provide the patient’s gait by correcting mechanical aids. We used computer-aided analysis to verify the performance of the prototype hardware itself. Through these methods, it was shown that our motor can sufficiently lift 100 kg of user weight through the scissor mechanism, and that the mobile driving wheel motor can operate at a speed of 1.6 m/s of human walking, showing that it can be used for gait rehabilitation of patients in need of a lower speed. In addition, we verified that the system drives the model by generating pelvic motion, and we verified the position controller of the integrated system, which supports the multi-degree motion by creating hip/knee/pelvic motion with a human dummy mannequin and systems. We believe that the proposed system can help address the complex rehabilitation motion assistance and training of paralyzed patients. Full article

Body tilt is typically unavoidable for agricultural vehicles or platforms when operated over tough terrain in agricultural production, and, therefore, it is not possible to guarantee the operation performance. Current leveling methods mainly focus on wheeled vehicles or adjustment for single working parts rather than the vehicle body, and few of them could be applied to crawler vehicles. The objective of this research was to put forward an adaptive leveling system for combine harvesters based on the development of a new four-point lifting adjustable crawler chassis. The working principle of the proposed adjustable mechanism was studied on the basis of the analysis of adjustment characteristics under multiple posture adjustment conditions in a RecurDyn environment. The design relies on the combination of the attitude detection of the leveling system and adjustment calculation of driving hydraulic cylinders according to the established mathematical models. Within the designed adjustable extent (including adjustment range of vehicle height 0–87.8 mm, lateral inclination ±3.98° and longitudinal inclination −2.9–5.2°), the leveling performance of lateral and longitudinal inclination was then tested separately. The experiment showed that the leveling system could achieve automatic leveling with an accuracy of ±0.4° and could provide technical support for the development of crawler vehicles. Full article

The Agri_q is an electric unmanned ground vehicle specifically designed for precision agriculture applications. Since it is expected to traverse on unstructured terrain, especially uneven terrain, or to climb obstacles or slopes, an eight-wheeled locomotion layout, with each pair of wheels supported by a bogie, has been chosen. The wide contact surface between the vehicle and the ground ensures a convenient weight distribution; furthermore, the bogie acts like a filter with respect to ground irregularities, reducing the transmissibility of the oscillations. Nevertheless, this locomotion layout entails a substantial lateral slithering along curved trajectories, which results in an increase of the needed driving torque. Therefore, reducing the number of ground contact points to compare the torque adsorption in different configurations, namely four, six, or eight wheels, could be of interest. This paper presents a reconfiguration mechanism able to modify the Agri_q locomotion layout by lifting one of the two wheels carried by the bogie and to activate, at the same time, a suspension device. The kinematic synthesis of the mechanism and the dynamic characteristics of the Agri_q suspended front module are presented. Full article

The wheel-legged hybrid robot (WLHR) is capable of adapting height and wheelbase configuration to traverse obstacles or rolling in confined space. Compared with legged and wheeled machines, it can be applied for more challenging mobile robotic exercises using the enhanced environment adapting performance. To make full use of the deformability and traversability of WHLR with parallel Stewart mechanism, this paper presents an optimization-driven planning framework for WHLR with parallel Stewart mechanism by abstracting the robot as a deformable bounding box. It will improve the obstacle negotiation ability of the high degree-of-freedoms robot, resulting in a shorter path through adjusting wheelbase of support polygon or trunk height instead of using a fixed configuration for wheeled robots. In the planning framework, we firstly proposed a pre-calculated signed distance field (SDF) mapping method based on point cloud data collected from a lidar sensor and a KD -tree-based point cloud fusion approach. Then, a covariant gradient optimization method is presented, which generates smooth, deformable-configuration, as well as collision-free trajectories in confined narrow spaces. Finally, with the user-defined driving velocity and position as motion inputs, obstacle-avoidancing actions including expanding or shrinking foothold polygon and lifting trunk were effectively testified in realistic conditions, demonstrating the practicability of our methodology. We analyzed the success rate of proposed framework in four different terrain scenarios through deforming configuration rather than bypassing obstacles. Full article

We describe the novel, multiply gaited, vectored water-jet, hybrid locomotion-capable, amphibious spherical robot III (termed ASR-III) featuring a wheel-legged, water-jet composite driving system incorporating a lifting and supporting wheel mechanism (LSWM) and mechanical legs with a water-jet thruster. The LSWM allows the ASR-III to support the body and slide flexibly on smooth (flat) terrain. The composite driving system facilitates two on-land locomotion modes (sliding and walking) and underwater locomotion mode with vectored thrusters, improving adaptability to the amphibious environment. Sliding locomotion improves the stability and maneuverability of ASR-III on smooth flat terrain, whereas walking locomotion allows ASR-III to conquer rough terrain. We used both forward and reverse kinematic models to evaluate the walking and sliding gait efficiency. The robot can also realize underwater locomotion with four vectored water-jet thrusters, and is capable of forward motion, heading angle control and depth control. We evaluated LSWM efficiency and the sliding velocities associated with varying extensions of the LSWM. To explore gait stability and mobility, we performed on-land experiments on smooth flat terrain to define the optimal stride length and frequency. We also evaluated the efficacy of waypoint tracking when the sliding gait was employed, using a closed-loop proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control mechanism. Moreover, experiments of forward locomotion, heading angle control and depth control were conducted to verify the underwater performance of ASR-III. Comparison of the previous robot and ASR-III demonstrated the ASR-III had better amphibious motion performance. Full article