Latest Papers

ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics

  • Investigation on a Class of 2D Profile Amplified Stroke Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
    on September 24, 2024 at 12:00 am

    AbstractDielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) have been widely studied in soft robotics due to their muscle-like movements. Linear DEAs are typically tensioned using compression springs with positive stiffness or weights directly attached to the flexible film of the DEA. In this paper, a novel class of 2D profile linear DEAs (butterfly- and X-shaped linear DEAs) with compact structure is introduced, which, employing negative-stiffness mechanisms, can largely increase the stroke of the actuators. Then, a dynamic model of the proposed amplified-stroke linear DEAs (ASL-DEAs) is developed and used to predict the actuator stroke. The fabrication process of linear DEAs is presented. This, using compliant joints, 3D-printed links, and dielectric elastomer, allows for rapid and affordable production. The experimental validation of the butterfly- and X-shaped linear DEAs proved capable of increasing the stroke up to 32.7% and 24.0%, respectively, compared with the conventional design employing springs and constant weights. Finally, the dynamic model is validated against the experimental data of stroke amplitude and output force; errors smaller than 10.5% for a large stroke amplitude (60% of maximum stroke) and 10.5% on the output force are observed.

Contact Kinematics Between Three-Dimensional Rigid Bodies With General Surface Parameterization

Abstract

This paper provides an improvement of classic Montana’s contact kinematics equations considering non-orthogonal object parameterizations. In Montana’s model, the reference frame used to define the relative motion between two rigid bodies in three-dimensional space is chosen as the Gauss frame, assuming there is an orthogonal coordinate system on the object surface. To achieve global orthogonal parameterizations on arbitrarily shaped object surfaces, we define the relative motion based on the reference frame field, which is the orthogonalization of the surface natural basis at every contact point. The first- and second-order contact kinematics, including the velocity and acceleration analysis of the relative rolling, sliding, and spinning motion, are reformulated based on the reference frame field and the screw theory. We use two simulation examples to illustrate the proposed method. The examples are based on simple non-orthogonal surface parameterizations, instead of seeking for global orthogonal parameterizations on the surfaces.
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