Biped robots have gained much attention for decades. A variety of researches has been conducted to make them able to assist or even substitute for humans in performing special tasks. In addition, studying biped robots is important in order to understand the human locomotion and to develop and improve control strategies for prosthetic and orthotic limbs. Some challenges encountered in the design of biped robots are: (1) biped robots have unstable structures due to the passive joint located at the unilateral foot-ground contact. (2) They have different configuration when switching from walking phase to another. During the singlesupport phase, the robot is under-actuated, while turning into an over-actuated system during the double-support phase. (3) Biped robots have many degrees of freedom (DOFs). (4) Biped robots interact with different unknown environments. Therefore, this work attempts to investigate and resolve different issues encountered in dynamics, walking pattern generators and control of biped robots; the details as follows: • Dynamics Two walking patterns have been modeled using two well-known formulations: Lagrangian and the modified recursive Newton-Euler (N-E) formulations. The first walking pattern moves with 6 DOFs during the single support phase (SSP) changing its configuration with 7 DOFs during the double support phase (DSP) (the stance foot will move directly during the DSP). Whereas the other walking pattern has 6 DOFs during all walking phases (the SSP and the two sub-phases of the DSP); the stance foot will be fixed during the first sub-phase of the DSP. These two walking pattern are different in configuration and number of phases during the DSP. To resolve the problem of over-actuation, a linear transition function is proposed to ensure smooth transition for the biped from the SSP to the DSP and vice versa. If we assume ideal dynamic response, this strategy can resolve the discontinuity in input control torque and ground reaction forces. • Walking pattern generators Two methods have been used to generate walking patterns of biped mechanism which are (1) optimal control theory and (2) center of gravity (COG)-based model. Computational optimal control has been performed to investigate the effects of some imposed constraints on biped locomotion, such as enforcing swing foot to move level to the ground, hip motion with constant height etc. finite difference approach has been used to transcribe infinite dimensional optimal control problem into finite dimensional suboptimal control problem. Then parameter optimization has been used to get suboptimal trajectory of the biped with the imposing different constraints. In general, any artificially imposed constraint to biped locomotion can lead to increase in value of input control torques. On the other hand, suboptimal trajectory of biped robot during complete gait cycle had been accomplished with different cases such that continuous dynamic response occurs. Enforcing the biped locomotion to move with linear transition of zero-moment point (ZMP) during the DSP can lead to more energy consumption. Using the simple COG-based model, a comparative study has been conducted to generate continuous motion for COG of the biped; all these methods depend on linear pendulum model. It has been shown all these methods are equivalent. On the other hand, the effect of foot configuration has been investigated. Foot rotation can improve biped configuration at heel strike by controlling foot angle. In addition, foot motion with impact can give some freedom and uniform biped configuration compared with motion without impact. To compensate for the deviation of ZMP trajectory due to approximate model of the COG, a novel strategy has been proposed to satisfy kinematic and dynamic constraints, as well as singularity condition. A stable motion has been obtained for the target walking patterns. • Low-level control Two control schemes have been proposed based on dynamics formulations which are conventional adaptive control based on local approximation technique and Lagrangian formulation, and virtual decomposition control (VDC) based on local approximation technique and recursive N-E formulation. In the first approach (conventional control), a new representation of dynamic matrices has been coined which is computationally efficient than other representation (sparse-base representation, Kronecker product etc.). Controller structures for the SSP and the DSP have been designed in details. Since adaptive control assumes no prior knowledge of estimated weighting matrices; therefore, zero input control torques could be result in at the beginning of each phase. Consequently, discontinuous dynamic response could result. The VDC is an efficient tool for complex robotic system such as biped robot. Therefore each subsystem (link, joint) has been controlled using adaptive approximation–based VDC. A novel optimization technique has been used to deal with continuous dynamic response; however, using zero initial weighting matrices for estimation dynamic matrices and vectors could result in zero input control at beginning of each walking phases.
Enhancement of the performance for hybrid solar air conditioning system was presented in this paper. The refrigerant temperature leaving the condenser was controlled using three-way valve, this valve was installed after the compressor to regulate refrigerant flow rate towards the solar system. A control system using data logger, sensors and computer was proposed to set the opening valve ratio. The function of control program using LabVIEW software is to obtain a minimum refrigerant temperature from the condenser outlet to enhance the overall COP of the unit by increasing the degree of subcooled refrigerant. A variable load electrical heater with coiled pipe was used instead of the solar collector and the storage tank to simulate the sola
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The aim of this research is controlling the amount of the robotic hand catching force using the artificial muscle wire as an actuator to achieve the desired response of the robotic hand in order to catch different things without destroying or dropping them; where the process is to be similar to that of human hand catching way. The proper selection of the amount of the catching force is achieved through out simulation using the fuzzy control technique. The mechanism of the arrangement of the muscle wires is proposed to achieve good force selections. The results indicate the feasibility of using this proposed technique which mimics human reasoning where as the weight of the caught peace increases, the force increases also with approximatel
... Show MoreThis paper features the modeling and design of a pole placement and output Feedback control technique for the Active Vibration Control (AVC) of a smart flexible cantilever beam for a Single Input Single Output (SISO) case. Measurements and actuation actions done by using patches of piezoelectric layer, it is bonded to the master structure as sensor/actuator at a certain position of the cantilever beam.
The smart structure is modeled based on the concept of piezoelectric theory, Bernoulli -Euler beam theory, using Finite Element Method (FEM) and the state space techniques. The number of modes is reduced using the controllability and observability grammians retaining the first three
dominant vibratory modes, and for the reduced syste
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As one type of resistance furnace, the electrical tube furnace (ETF) typically experiences input noise, measurement noise, system uncertainties, unmodeled dynamics and external disturbances, which significantly degrade its temperature control performance. To provide precise, and robust temperature tracking performance for the ETF, a robust composite control (RCC) method is proposed in this paper. The overall RCC method consists of four elements: First, the mathematical model of the ETF system is deduced, then a state feedback control (SFC) is constructed. Third, a novel disturbance observer (DO) is designed to estimate the lumped disturbance with one observer parameter. Moreover, the stability of the closed loop system including controller
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Abstract. Shatt Al-Arab River was the most important tide river in Iraq, it suffered from neglect and lack of maintenance in the past decades. The river embankment is constantly exposed to erosion processes due to several factors, one of the most important of these factors is the movement of water currents due to the tidal energy coming from the Arabian Gulf. In this study, one dimension unsteady-state model was implemented to study river flood capacity simulation by using HEC-RAS (5.0.7) software in Shatt Al Arab River and its tributaries. The data included flow rate, water level records were collected daily from 2018 to 2020 at different stations along the mentioned river and its feeders, additionally, the considered flood discharge data
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The hydraulic conditions of a flow previously proved to be changed when placing large-scale geometric roughness elements on the bed of an open channel. These elements impose more resistance to the flow. The geometry of the roughness elements, the numbers used, and the configuration are parameters that can affect the hydraulic flow characteristics. The target is to use inclined block elements to control the salt wedge propagation pointed in most estuaries to prevent its negative effects. The Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD Software was used to simulate the two-phase flow in an estuary model. In this model, the used block elements are 2 cm by 3 cm cross-sections with an inclined face in the flow direction, with a length
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The present work presents design and implementation of an automated two-axis solar tracking system using local materials with minimum cost, light weight and reliable structure. The tracking system consists of two parts, mechanical units (fixed and moving parts) and control units (four LDR sensors and Arduino UNO microcontroller to control two DC servomotors). The tracking system was fitted and assembled together with a parabolic trough solar concentrator (PTSC) system to move it according to information come from the sensors so as to keep the PTSC always perpendicular to sun rays. The experimental tests have been done on the PTSC system to investigate its thermal performance in two cases, with tracking system (case 1) and without trackin
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