International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics - Volume 36, issue 1-2

Authors: Wang, Yuanxin | Ikeura, Ryojun | Zhang, Nan | Sawai, Hideki | Hayakawa, Soichiro

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Human characteristics are supposed to be applied to the control systems of the human-friendly robots. Therefore, it is important to know the human characteristics in human-robot cooperative tasks. In this study, we considered a single rotational degree of freedom experimental system as well as a mass-spring-damper-friction dynamic model for the human arm, measured the torque acting on the armload from subject's forearm and the angular displacement of subject's forearm using the force sensor and the eddy …current sensor, analyzed their mutual relation, and attained the characteristics of the human arm with the effect of the gravity load. We compared this cooperative motion to that studied without the gravity load and found that the damping and friction characteristics remained unchanged and the spring characteristics disappeared. In this case, the characteristics of the follower's arm had no relationship with the weight of the load. Show more

Keywords: Mass-spring-friction dynamic model, human-robot cooperative task, effect of the gravity load

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1348

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 95-107, 2011

Authors: Uchida, Masaki | Morita, Yoshifumi | Magasaki, Masaya | Ukai, Hiroyuki | Matsui, Nobuyuki

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In this paper we propose a new rehabilitation training support system of upper limbs with a teaching/guided function for personalized rehabilitation. The proposed teaching/guided function enables the therapists to easily make training trajectories of the resistance training to suit the individual needs of the patients. It is shown in this paper that two kinds of training programs requested by therapists can be made by using the teaching/guided function. In the algorithm of the teaching/guided function, the …impedance control and modification of training trajectory are used. The availability of the teaching/guided function is verified experimentally. Show more

Keywords: Rehabilitation training support system, personalized rehabilitation, resistance training, muscle strengthening training, impedance control

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1349

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 109-119, 2011

Authors: Horihata, S. | Iwahara, H. | Yano, K.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The lack of carers for senior citizens and physically handicapped persons in our country has now become a huge issue and has created a great need for carer robots. The usual carer robots (many of which have switches or joysticks for their interfaces), however, are neither easy to use it nor very popular. Therefore, haptic devices have been adopted for a human-machine interface that will enable an intuitive operation. At this point, a method is being …tested that seeks to prevent a wrong operation from occurring from the user's signals. This method matches motions with EMG signals. Show more

Keywords: Physically handicapped person, meal support robot, arm operation system, EMG signal

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1350

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 121-130, 2011

Authors: Ishii, Tomohiro | Iwasaki, Jun | Hosaka, Hiroshi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: To solve energy supply problems for ubiquitous equipment, dynamic analysis of a gyroscopic power generator that uses the kinetic energy developed from human movement is proposed. In the generator, a rotor increases its spinning velocity by precession and friction caused by input vibration. This paper first presents an analytical method of rotor movement. The equations of motion are derived by using Euler's equation and their approximate solution is obtained by assuming the spinning velocity is constant. …Then the output power of the prototype generator is estimated by using the solution. The output power of the ideal generator was shown to be 0.11 W and 0.85 W during walking and running, respectively. Show more

Keywords: Electromagnetic power generator, gyroscope, precession

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1351

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 131-139, 2011

Authors: Shimizu, Toshimi | Sasaki, Minoru | Okada, Tokuji

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper presents a passivity based control method combined with velocity estimation by an extended Kalman filter for a magnetically levitated flexible beam with both ends free by two electromagnets. An energy-based analysis concludes that the system can be decomposed into two passive subsystems: a mechanical subsystem consisting of the flexible beam and an electrical subsystem consisting of the electromagnets. We designed a passivity based controller independently for each subsystem. An output feedback …controller for the mechanical subsystem computes the desired force that is required to achieve position convergence and vibration suppression of the flexible beam. A feed forward controller for the electrical subsystem computes the input voltage for the electromagnets to generate the desired force. In a practical point of view, structural and economic considerations restrict simultaneous usage of both position sensors and velocity sensors while the control strategy requires accurate measurements of the position and velocity of the flexible beam. We employ the extended Kalman filtering technique in order to estimate the velocity of the flexible beam from the measured micro-displacement vibration at a high sampling frequency. Effectiveness of the proposed controller and velocity estimator is demonstrated by a numerical simulation. Show more

Keywords: Passivity, flexible beam, magnetic levitation, extended kalman filter

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1352

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 141-149, 2011

Authors: Ito, Satoshi | Ueki, Satoshi | Ishihara, Koji | Miura, Masayuki | Kawasaki, Haruhisa | Ishigure, Yasuhiko | Nishimoto, Yutaka

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper describes the development of a hand rehabilitation system for stroke patients. Our objective is to provide fine motion assistance in exercises for a hand and fingers. Thus, a hand rehabilitation device that assists patient's finger movements was developed. Because this device has 18 degrees of freedom, it is difficult for disabled patients to use it by themselves. Therefore, an appropriate control strategy and a control system are required to allow it to be used …safely and effectively. In light of this requirement, a control system was developed that comprises four separate controllers. This paper presents the structure of the control system and introduces the control protocols used in the hand rehabilitation system. Show more

Keywords: Hand rehabilitation, multi-dofs equipment, parallel controller, control protocol, multi-control mode

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1353

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 151-158, 2011

Authors: Sasaki, Minoru | Fujihara, Koji | Nam, Yoonsu | Ito, Satoshi | Inoue, Yoshihiro

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The present paper describes a two-degree-of-freedom control of a self-sensing micro-actuator for a dual-stage hard disk drive. The two-degree-of-freedom control system is comprised of a feedforward controller and a feedback controller. Two controllers are designed for the two-degree-of-freedom control system, one using the inverse dynamic model for the feedforward controller and one for the feedback controller using a self-sensing signal from the actuator itself. The micro-actuator uses a PZT actuator pair, installed …on the assembly of the suspension. The self-sensing micro-actuator can be used to form a combined actuation and sensing mechanism. Experimental results show that the two-degree-of-freedom control approach can be used effectively for the control of the self-sensing micro-actuator system. Show more

Keywords: Two-degree-of-freedom control, self-sensing, PZT, HDD, micro-actuator

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1354

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 159-166, 2011

Authors: Jeong, Seonghee | Takahashi, Takayuki

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper describes quick and stable standing and sitting motion of an inverted pendulum type robot by whole-body motion including force control. The whole-body motion is achieved by controlling composite center of gravity of the robot, and damping force control of a wrist-roller is employed to assure the stability of inverted pendulum control on a contact situation with the ground. Motion planning of standing and sitting based on the proposed control method is also proposed. Standing …and sitting motion using the proposed motion control and motion planning is simulated with a dynamic simulator, ODE (Open Dynamics Engine). From the simulation results, it was confirmed that the robot successively realized the standing and sitting motion quickly and stably. Show more

Keywords: Inverted pendulum, standing and sitting, force control

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1355

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 167-175, 2011

Authors: Tanaka, K. | Kodani, Y. | Oka, M. | Nishimura, Y. | Farida, F.A. | Mu, S.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In this paper, we develop a meal assistance robot for people with disabilities of upper limbs and pacemakers in the body. In the robot, ultrasonic motors are used because the motors do not generate an electromagnetic field. The robot is handled using acts of user's eyes so that the people can use it. Moreover, the vibration is small because the arms of our robot move independently of each other. In this paper, we introduce structure of …our robot and show the advantage with experiment results. Show more

Keywords: Meal assistance robot, ultrasonic motor, welfare equipment

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1356

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 177-181, 2011

Authors: Tarao, Susumu | Koiwa, Toshihiko

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: A new kind of motion base is proposed for the purpose of setting up a user-friendly interaction system on a desktop. It aims at generating motion in various situations with a large range of movement using a simple mechanism, and generating motion adequate for an interaction with a man and for computer application. In this paper, a prototype of the motion base is developed. Its mechanism consists of a combination of a wheel drive locomotion mechanism and a …3-degrees of freedom (DOF) parallel link mechanism in parallel. It is aimed at generating 3 DOF translational motion on a desktop with a simple mechanism as a whole and with a large range of movement, especially in the horizontal direction. In consideration of application for man-computer interaction, the prototype is controlled by a microprocessor, a microcontroller and FPGA. This paper presents a description of the concept of the motion base for a desktop interaction system, the prototype mechanism, the control system and the preliminary experiment which demonstrates typical translational motions. Show more

Keywords: Motion base, Desktop interaction, Wheel drive locomotion, Parallel link mechanism

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2011-1357

Citation: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 36, no. 1-2, pp. 183-189, 2011