scholarly journals Robogami: A Fully Integrated Low-Profile Robotic Origami

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Firouzeh ◽  
Jamie Paik

Intelligent robotic systems that can react to unprogrammed tasks and unforeseen environmental changes require augmented “softness.” Robogami, a low-profile origami robot, addresses intrinsic (material-wise) and extrinsic (mechanism-wise) softness with its multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF) body driven by soft actuators. The unique hardware of the Robogami and its submillimeter thick construction enable diverse transformations as those achievable by the paper origami. The presented Robogami shows the first fully integrated version that has all the essential components including its controller within a thin sheet. Construction of this robot is possible via precise, repeatable, and low cost planar fabrication methods often reserved for microscale fabrications. In this research, we aim at expanding the capabilities of Robogamis by embedding bidirectional actuation, sensing, and control circuit. To assess the performance of the proposed sensors and actuators, we report on the performance of these components in a single module and in the four-legged crawler robot.

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (17) ◽  
pp. 3643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abba ◽  
Namkusong ◽  
Lee ◽  
Crespo

Irrigation systems are becoming increasingly important, owing to the increase in human population, global warming, and food demand. This study aims to design a low-cost autonomous sensor interface to automate the monitoring and control of irrigation systems in remote locations, and to optimize water use for irrigation farming. An internet of things-based irrigation monitoring and control system, employing sensors and actuators, is designed to facilitate the autonomous supply of adequate water from a reservoir to domestic crops in a smart irrigation systems. System development lifecycle and waterfall model design methodologies have been employed in the development paradigm. The Proteus 8.5 design suite, Arduino integrated design environment, and embedded C programming language are commonly used to develop and implement a real working prototype. A pumping mechanism has been used to supply the water required by the soil. The prototype provides power supply, sensing, monitoring and control, and internet connectivity capabilities. Experimental and simulation results demonstrate the flexibility and practical applicability of the proposed system, and are of paramount importance, not only to farmers, but also for the expansion of economic activity. Furthermore, this system reduces the high level of supervision required to supply irrigation water, enabling remote monitoring and control.


Actuators ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Luke J. Tinsley ◽  
Russell A. Harris

Template-based and additive manufacturing techniques have demonstrated some fabrication routes for creating pneumatic soft actuators. However, as the complexity and capability of the actuators continue to develop, the limitations of these approaches are becoming evident. These include difficulties for design variations, process speed and resolution, material compatibility and scalability, which hinder and restrict both the possible capabilities of the technology and its transition from research to industry. This body of work presents a computer-controlled, maskless manufacturing process with a different approach to allow for high-speed, low-cost and flexible creation of pneumatic soft actuation networks comprising multi-material construction. This was investigated through a bespoke fabrication platform that provides computer-controlled localised plasma treatment to selectively modify the chemical behaviour on the surface of silicone and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bodies. The altered surface chemistry facilitated selective bond formation between the treated parts of the surface and, consequently, greater design variation and control over the pneumatic chambers that were formed. Selective treatment patterns allowed nonlinear pneumatic chamber designs to be created, and the strength of bonded silicone structures was shown to facilitate large deformations in the actuators. Furthermore, the different interactions between the plasma and silicone were leveraged to achieve feature sizes of <1 mm and treatment speeds of 20 mm2 per second of exposure. Two multi-material pneumatic soft actuators were then fabricated to demonstrate the potential of the platform as an automated manufacturing route for soft actuators.


Aerospace ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonis Kiesbye ◽  
David Messmann ◽  
Maximilian Preisinger ◽  
Gonzalo Reina ◽  
Daniel Nagy ◽  
...  

This article reports the ongoing work on an environment for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and software-in-the-loop (SIL) tests of CubeSats and the benefits gained from using such an environment for low-cost satellite development. The satellite tested for these reported efforts was the MOVE-II CubeSat, developed at the Technical University of Munich since April 2015. The HIL environment has supported the development and verification of MOVE-II’s flight software and continues to aid the MOVE-II mission after its launch on 3 December 2018. The HIL environment allows the satellite to interact with a simulated space environment in real-time during on-ground tests. Simulated models are used to replace the satellite’s sensors and actuators, providing the interaction between the satellite and the HIL simulation. This approach allows for high hardware coverage and requires relatively low development effort and equipment cost compared to other simulation approaches. One key distinction from other simulation environments is the inclusion of the electrical domain of the satellite, which enables accurate power budget verification. The presented results include the verification of MOVE-II’s attitude determination and control algorithms, the verification of the power budget, and the training of the operator team with realistic simulated failures prior to launch. This report additionally presents how the simulation environment was used to analyze issues detected after launch and to verify the performance of new software developed to address the in-flight anomalies prior to software deployment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 11218
Author(s):  
Juan Díaz ◽  
Luis Montaño ◽  
Paul Salinas ◽  
Ángel Benítez

Air pollution is one of the main environmental problems in developed and developing countries. Epiphytic cryptogams (bryophytes and lichens) are proposed as a reliable indicator to detect environmental changes, given to their sensitivity to pollutants. In this study we evaluated air quality in the city of Ambato using bryophytes and epiphytic lichens on three land uses (urban, peri-urban and control). In each zone we selected ten trees (a total of 90 trees) for each station (a total of nine stations), where we recorded the frequency and cover of epiphytic cryptogams in a quadrat of 10 × 50 cm that was divided into 5 × 5 cm squares. Differences in richness, index of atmospheric purity (IAP) and diversity were analyzed using a generalized linear model (GLM) and changes in species composition using multivariate analysis. We recorded 39 species of cryptogams (25 lichens and 14 bryophytes). Richness, diversity and index of atmospheric purity were higher in the control zone compared to the urbanized zones. Community composition changed between the different zones, with increasing differences between the control and urban zones. The urban areas of the city of Ambato were identified with high levels of air pollution due to their lower diversity related to higher vehicular traffic and industrial activities (e.g., footwear and textile factories, tanneries). Thus, epiphytic cryptogams are a fast and low-cost method for air quality assessment in tropical areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sicong Liu ◽  
Zhonggui Fang ◽  
Jianhui Liu ◽  
Kailuan Tang ◽  
Jianwen Luo ◽  
...  

Wrist disability caused by a series of diseases or injuries hinders the patient’s capability to perform activities of daily living (ADL). Rehabilitation devices for the wrist motor function have gained popularity among clinics and researchers due to the convenience of self-rehabilitation. The inherent compliance of soft robots enabled safe human-robot interaction and light-weight characteristics, providing new possibilities to develop wearable devices. Compared with the conventional apparatus, soft robotic wearable rehabilitation devices showed advantages in flexibility, cost, and comfort. In this work, a compact and low-profile soft robotic wrist brace was proposed by directly integrating eight soft origami-patterned actuators on the commercially available wrist brace. The linear motion of the actuators was defined by their origami pattern. The extensions of the actuators were constrained by the brace fabrics, deriving the motions of the wrist joint, i.e., extension/flexion, ulnar/radial deviation. The soft actuators were made of ethylene-vinyl acetate by blow molding, achieving mass-production capability, low cost, and high repeatability. The design and fabrication of the soft robotic wrist brace are presented in this work. The experiments on the range of motion, output force, wearing position adaptivity, and performance under disturbance have been carried out with results analyzed. The modular soft actuator approach of design and fabrication of the soft robotic wrist brace has a wide application potential in wearable devices.


Author(s):  
José Luis Viramontes-Reyna ◽  
Josafat Moreno-Silva ◽  
José Guadalupe Montelongo-Sierra ◽  
Erasmo Velazquez-Leyva

This document presents the results obtained from the application of the law of Lens to correctly identify the polarity of the windings in a three-phase motor with 6 exposed terminals, when the corresponding labeling is not in any situation; Prior to identifying the polarity, it should be considered to have the pairs of the three windings located. For the polarity, it is proposed to feed with a voltage of 12 Vrms to one of the windings, which are identified randomly as W1 and W2, where W1 is connected to the voltage phase of 12 Vrms of the signal and W2 to the voltage reference to 0V; by means of voltage induction and considering the law of Lens, the remaining 4 terminals can be identified and labeled as V1, V2, U1 and U2. For this process a microcontroller and control elements with low cost are used.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-81
Author(s):  
Abu Sadath ◽  
Farhana Afroz ◽  
Hosne Ara ◽  
Abdulla-Al Kafy

Rivers are the lifeline of Bangladesh economy and serve as the source of water supply, fisheries, irrigation for agriculture, low-cost transport, generate electricity and conserve biodiversity. The Ichamati River situated in Pabna, Bangladesh is also a blessing for the city. However, recently, due to the irregular and unplanned activities adjacent to the riverside, the life, flow and water quality of the river is in a vulnerable condition. This study aims to identify the present status of the Ichamati River and provide an effective design approach and policy measures in restoring the river flow and control water pollution. The data was collected from the questioner surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Results suggest that several factors such as the construction of an illegal settlement, unplanned waste dumping, disposal of fiscal sludge through sewerage connection, lack of awareness among people regarding the importance of river biodiversity and absence of riverfront development and conservation plan are responsible for water pollution, inconsistent water flow and damaging the life cycle of Ichamati river. The design approach and policy measures were developed based on the perceptions of local community people, experts and government officials. The suggested policy measures will help to restore the flow of the river and reduce the water pollution, and the design approach will ensure the economic benefit of the riverfront development in future.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062110165
Author(s):  
Mohammadhiwa Abdekhoda ◽  
Fatemeh Ranjbaran ◽  
Asghar Sattari

This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the role of information and information resources in the awareness, control, and prevention of COVID-19. This study was a descriptive-analytical survey in which 450 participants were selected for the study. The data collection instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data through SPSS. The findings show that a wide range of mass media has become well known as information resources for COVID-19. Other findings indicate a significant statistical difference in the rate of using information resources during COVID-19 based on age and gender; however, this difference is not significant regarding the reliability of information resources with regard to age and gender. Health information has an undisputable role in the prevention and control of pandemic diseases such as COVID-19. Providing accurate, reliable, and evidence-based information in a timely manner for the use of resources and information channels related to COVID-19 can be a fast and low-cost strategic approach in confronting this disease.


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 915
Author(s):  
Gözde Dursun ◽  
Muhammad Umer ◽  
Bernd Markert ◽  
Marcus Stoffel

(1) Background: Bioreactors mimic the natural environment of cells and tissues by providing a controlled micro-environment. However, their design is often expensive and complex. Herein, we have introduced the development of a low-cost compression bioreactor which enables the application of different mechanical stimulation regimes to in vitro tissue models and provides the information of applied stress and strain in real-time. (2) Methods: The compression bioreactor is designed using a mini-computer called Raspberry Pi, which is programmed to apply compressive deformation at various strains and frequencies, as well as to measure the force applied to the tissue constructs. Besides this, we have developed a mobile application connected to the bioreactor software to monitor, command, and control experiments via mobile devices. (3) Results: Cell viability results indicate that the newly designed compression bioreactor supports cell cultivation in a sterile environment without any contamination. The developed bioreactor software plots the experimental data of dynamic mechanical loading in a long-term manner, as well as stores them for further data processing. Following in vitro uniaxial compression conditioning of 3D in vitro cartilage models, chondrocyte cell migration was altered positively compared to static cultures. (4) Conclusion: The developed compression bioreactor can support the in vitro tissue model cultivation and monitor the experimental information with a low-cost controlling system and via mobile application. The highly customizable mold inside the cultivation chamber is a significant approach to solve the limited customization capability of the traditional bioreactors. Most importantly, the compression bioreactor prevents operator- and system-dependent variability between experiments by enabling a dynamic culture in a large volume for multiple numbers of in vitro tissue constructs.


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