Flexible joint robot (FJR) manipulators can offer many attractive features over rigid manipulators, including light weight, safe operation, and high power efficiency. However, the tracking control of the FJR is challenging due to its inherent problems, such as underactuation, coupling, nonlinearities, uncertainties, and unknown external disturbances. In this article, a terminal sliding mode control (TSMC) is proposed for the FJR system to guarantee the finite-time convergence of the systems output, and to achieve the total robustness against the lumped disturbance and estimation error. By using two coordinate transformations, the FJR dynamics is turned into a canonical form. A cascaded finite-time sliding mode observer (CFTSMO) is constructed to estimate states and lumped disturbance in a finite time based on two measurable states, which not only attenuates the measurement noise but also reduces the peaking phenomenon. The closed-loop stability and the finite-time convergence are rigorously proved by using Lyapunov theorem. The upper bound of the finite convergence time is derived for the reaching and sliding phase. Comparative study is conducted experimentally in real time on the FJR manipulator to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method.
Elbow stiffness is hard to treat and commonly resulted from trauma or degenerative arthritis. This study aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of using ultrasound therapy in management of stiff elbow joint resulted from several etiological factors. A total number of 42 patients (35 male and 7 female) allocated randomly from the Department of Physiotherapy at Al-yarmouk Teaching Hospital during 2013. Each patient examined physically by physiotherapist taking in consideration the measurement of the joint movement angle using goniometer in flexion and the extension, and the pain score using visual analogue scale (VAS). Ultrasound therapy initiated thrice weekly for two weeks. At the time of entry, the means degree of flexion and extension
... Show MoreThe triggering effect for the face pumping of Nd:YVO4 disc medium of 4×5×0.5 mm was investigated using bulk diode laser at different resonator cavity length in pulse mode and at repetition rate of 1.3kHz. The maximum emitted peak power was found to be 100, 82, and 66 mW for resonator lengths of 10, 13.5, and 17.5 cm respectively, while the threshold pumping power was found to be 41mW. The maximum emitted peak power obtained was 300 mW when using external triggering and 10cm length, with repetition of 3Hz.
Arterial aneurism and stenosis are disorders that lead to circulation malfunction. Stenosis often leads to hypoxia of the organ depending on the affected artery, whilst aneurism can lead to dissection with known lethal consequences. On both cases, the pulse wave produced by the contracting heart is reflected at these discontinuities, and estimating the size of these reflected waves using wave intensity analysis (WIA) is the main aim of this work. We also aim to measure wave speed, or pulse wave velocity (PWV) as more commonly known within the discontinuities. We manufactured 4 stenosis and 4 aneurism silicon sections, connected one at a time to a mother tube, and tested in vitro. Pressure and flow were measured proximal to the discontinuity
... Show MoreThis paper examines the change in planning pattern In Lebanon, which relies on vehicles as a semi-single mode of transport, and directing it towards re-shaping the city and introducing concepts of "smooth or flexible" mobility in its schemes; the concept of a "compact city" with an infrastructure based on a flexible mobility culture. Taking into consideration environmental, economical and health risks of the existing model, the paper focuses on the four foundations of the concepts of "city based on culture flexible mobility, "and provides a SWOT analysis to encourage for a shift in the planning methodology.
In this paper, a computational method for solving optimal problem is presented, using indirect method (spectral methodtechnique) which is based on Boubaker polynomial. By this method the state and the adjoint variables are approximated by Boubaker polynomial with unknown coefficients, thus an optimal control problem is transformed to algebraic equations which can be solved easily, and then the numerical value of the performance index is obtained. Also the operational matrices of differentiation and integration have been deduced for the same polynomial to help solving the problems easier. A numerical example was given to show the applicability and efficiency of the method. Some characteristics of this polynomial which can be used for solvin
... Show MoreFinding a path solution in a dynamic environment represents a challenge for the robotics researchers, furthermore, it is the main issue for autonomous robots and manipulators since nowadays the world is looking forward to this challenge. The collision free path for robot in an environment with moving obstacles such as different objects, humans, animals or other robots is considered as an actual problem that needs to be solved. In addition, the local minima and sharp edges are the most common problems in all path planning algorithms. The main objective of this work is to overcome these problems by demonstrating the robot path planning and obstacle avoidance using D star (D*) algorithm based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO)
... Show MoreHeart failure (HF) is characterized by family history and clinical examination combined with diagnostic tools such as electrocardiogram, chest x-ray and an assessment of left ventricular function by echocardiography. An early diagnosis of heart failure is still based on symptoms of dyspnea, fatigue and signs of fluid overload. Serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP) is cardiac biomarker has emerged as potential predictor of heart failure. It is used as a sensitive biomarker in diagnosis and assessment severity of heart failure. This study assed the diagnostic value of (NT-pro BNP), in Iraqi children patients with heart failure and its correlation with LVEF% especially in emergency rooms of hospitals.Ninety (90) consecut
... Show MoreABSTRACT The present study was conducted to determine the mode of presentation of hypothyroidism in pediatric patients and the effects of timing of diagnosis and therapy on the patient’s outcome. The study involved review and evaluation of the medical records of 41 registered patients in the Endocrine clinic of Children Welfare Teaching Hospital in Baghdad during the period from January 1991 to July 2007. Forty one patients included in this study. Twenty four (58.5%) were males and17 (41.4%) were females with a male to female ratio of 1.4:1, their age range is 40 days to12.3 years. The majority of the studied patients were infants 19(47%). The most commonly observed presenting features were growth retardation and short stature. The best t
... Show MoreA novel fractal design scheme has been introduced in this paper to generate microstrip bandpass filter designs with miniaturized sizes for wireless applications. The presented fractal scheme is based on Minkowski-like prefractal geometry. The space-filling property and self-similarity of this fractal geometry has found to produce reduced size symmetrical structures corresponding to the successive iteration levels. The resulting filter designs are with sizes suitable for use in modern wireless communication systems. The performance of each of the generated bandpass filter structures up to the 2nd iteration has been analyzed using a method of moments (MoM) based software IE3D, which is widely adopted in microwave research and in
... Show MoreRooting response in stem cuttings of mung bean increased considerably with inresing
seedling age, due to endogenous IAA or supplied IBA. However, after the day 7- or 8-old of
seedling age. The cotyledons sheivel and drop-off spontaneously at day-8 of seedling age. So
that cotyledons excision after cuttings were made during the period between seedling
emergence (the day 4) and cotyledons dropping off (which starts at day 8 and its completion
at day 10) causes decrease in rooting at any time during cutting treatment ,in particular, at
zero time . In addition, results of this study revealed that terminal buds do not influence
significantly adventitious root formation whether IBA supplied or not. Whereas in leafless
c