A practical method is proposed for estimating the inertial parameters of robot manipulators with substantial unmodeled joint kiction and actuator dynamics. The manipulator is mounted on a six-axis forcehorque sensor. Sensor measurements and joint velocities recorded during manipulator motion are used to identify the inertial parameters. The unmodeled joint piction and actuator dynamics do not d...

The pervasive presence and availability of sensor and actuator networks creates the potential for widely distributed Internet-scale control systems. Given these systems’ potential magnitude and complexity, new tools will be required to facilitate their composition and operation, especially as they relate to distributed actuator coordination. This paper introduces and advocates our approach to i...

 Mobile sensor networks rely heavily on inter-sensor connectivity for collection of data. Nodes in these networks monitor different regions of an area of interest and collectively present a global overview of some monitored activities or phenomena. A failure of a sensor leads to loss of connectivity and may cause partitioning of the network into disjoint segments. A number of approaches have be...

Timely dissemination of required state information poses a significant challenge in the design of distributed sensor/actuator network-based control systems. In this paper, distance sensitivity properties inherent in many sensor-actuator network-based control systems are exploited to establish conditions under which information within a bounded locality of each controller closely approximates op...

Wireless sensor-actuator networks (WSANs) refer to a group of sensors and actuators linked by a wireless medium to perform distributed sensing and acting tasks. In order to provide effective sensing and acting, coordination mechanisms are required among sensors and actuators. We have presented the architectural design of a self organizing coordination framework in [3]. The framework organizes t...

The development of a novel system for the generation and representation of haptic information in virtual reality is described. With this system the stiffness distribution of mechanically inhomogeneous objects can be detected and made perceivable for users at distant locations. The sensor part is based on ultrasonic elastography and the actuator part utilizes the ability of electrorheological fl...

Actuator and sensor faults can cause poor performance or even instability in dynamic systems. In flight control systems for aircraft and spacecraft, such faults can lead to loss of control and serious incidents. Therefore, rapid detection and identification of actuator and sensor faults is important for enhancing flight safety. One approach to fault detection and identification (FDI) in actuato...

In a world of unknown, touch modality is a key avenue for environments exploration. Implementation of such modality in mobile robot has been a major challenge for many research teams. Recently, several artificial whisker systems have been studied as promising tactile sensor. One key to the whisker’s functionality is its sensor system. Our laboratory recently synthesized new electroactive polyme...

An optimization algorithm for the problem of control reconfiguration in response to operating condition changes or abrupt system component failures is presented here. The algorithm utilizes a version of the BroydenFletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) optimization method of conjugate directions. The algorithm provides an output feedback controller that not only stabilizes the new/impaired system, whe...

In this paper, integral sliding mode control ideas are combined with direct control allocation in order to create a fault tolerant control scheme. Traditional integral sliding mode control can directly handle actuator faults; however, it cannot do so with actuator failures. Therefore, a mechanism needs to be adopted to distribute the control effort amongst the remaining functioning actuators in...