Latest Papers

ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics

  • Mechanical Characterization of Supernumerary Robotic Tails for Human Balance Augmentation
    on August 31, 2023 at 12:00 am

    AbstractHumans are intrinsically unstable in quiet stance from a rigid body system viewpoint; however, they maintain balance, thanks to neuro-muscular sensory control properties. With increasing levels of balance related incidents in industrial and ageing populations globally each year, the development of assistive mechanisms to augment human balance is paramount. This work investigates the mechanical characteristics of kinematically dissimilar one and two degrees-of-freedom (DoF) supernumerary robotic tails for balance augmentation. Through dynamic simulations and manipulability assessments, the importance of variable coupling inertia in creating a sufficient reaction torque is highlighted. It is shown that two-DoF tails with solely revolute joints are best suited to address the balance augmentation issue. Within the two-DoF options, the characteristics of open versus closed loop tails are investigated, with the ultimate design selection requiring trade-offs between environmental workspace, biomechanical factors, and manufacturing ease to be made.

Untethered Microrobot Motion Mechanism With Increased Longitudinal Force

Abstract

The importance of an untethered microrobotic platform that can operate on high flowrate microfluidic channels for in vitro applications is increasing rapidly. This article presents a method to manipulate a microrobot in a fluidic chip when high flowrates (4 ml/min, 82.304 mm/s) are applied. This method is based on a novel permanent magnet-based diamagnetic levitation configuration. This configuration includes a thin layer of pyrolytic graphite, which is placed just below the microrobot. In this way, microrobot stability and manipulation capability are increased. Also, we aim to increase the longitudinal forces imposed on the microrobot to withstand the drag force proportional to the flowrate. Hence, magnetic field lines are generated more linearly around the microrobot by a different combination of permanent magnets. The proposed magnetic configuration, named “KERKAN configuration,” significantly improves the microrobot’s longitudinal forces. In this configuration, two different ring-shaped ferromagnetic magnets are used. One of the magnets has a smaller diameter than the other magnet. A combination of one smaller and one bigger magnet is placed above and below the microrobot. To validate the advantages of this configuration, analytical and simulation studies are conducted. Their results are then compared with experimental results. Experimental results are on par with analytical and simulation studies. KERKAN configuration has a lower displacement than the next best configuration at the highest flowrate we applied (relatively 3301 μm, %21.8).
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