This paper considers the theoretical and experimental approaches to performance improvement of pneumatic linear actuators. Two On/Off, 3/2 pneumatic valves were used to control the position of a pneumatic piston rod through the closed-loop application of a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)-sliding mode algorithm. System parameters have been experimentally selected in order to reduce the tracking err...

Dr. Mohammed Yousif Hassan* Received on:28/6/2009 Accepted on:3/12/2009 Abstract Pneumatic circuits are widely used in industrial automation, such as drilling, sawing, squeezing, gripping, and spraying. Furthermore, they are used in motion control of materials and parts handling, packing machines, machine tools, foodprocessing industry and in robotics. In this paper, a Neural Network based Fuzz...

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical value of a novel ureter dilatation method during ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy in patients with ureteral calculi and polyps. Clinical information of 86 patients with ureter calculi and polyps who underwent ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy was reviewed. A cavity-distention machine was used in 44 cases to inject normal saline for keeping clear op...

OBJECTIVE The frequency of hemolysis of blood samples may be increased by transport in a pneumatic tube system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of pneumatic tube system transport on hemolysis of blood samples. METHODS Blood samples were transported from the emergency department to the hospital laboratory manually by hospital staff (49 patients) or with a pneumatic tube sy...

We have developed pneumatic logic circuits and microprocessors built with microfluidic channels and valves in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The pneumatic logic circuits perform various combinational and sequential logic calculations with binary pneumatic signals (atmosphere and vacuum), producing cascadable outputs based on Boolean operations. A complex microprocessor is constructed from combina...

Cooling during drilling Kirschner wires is not always effective in preventing thermal related damage. In this study, we used a human in vitro model and compared temperature elevation, insertion time, and extraction force between three Kirschner wire insertion methods-drilling with and without irrigation and pneumatic hammering. Forty five Kirschner wires were inserted into 15 fresh human cadave...

PURPOSE To identify prognostic factors, including optical coherence tomographic features, of visual outcome in exudative age-related macular degeneration with submacular hemorrhage treated with pneumatic displacement. METHODS This retrospective interventional case series included 37 eyes with exudative age-related macular degeneration and submacular hemorrhage, all of which underwent pneumati...

A new kind of pneumatic climbing robot is presented to meet the requirements of glass-wall cleaning for high-rise buildings, which is totally actuated by pneumatic cylinders and attached to the glass wall with vacuum suckers. Using the pneumatic actuators the climbing robot can be made lightweight and dexterous. At the same time the movement driven by pneumatic actuators has the characteristic ...

In recent years, Japanese society has been aging, engendering a labor shortage of young workers. Robots are therefore expected to perform tasks such as rehabilitation, nursing elderly people, and day-to-day work support for elderly people. The pneumatic balloon actuator is a rubber artificial muscle developed for use in a robot hand in such environments. This actuator has a long stroke and a hi...

Here we present retrieval of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells by density-gradient medium based centrifugation for subsequent analysis of the leukocytes on an integrated microfluidic "Lab-on-a-Disc" cartridge. Isolation of white blood cells constitutes a critical sample preparation step for many bioassays. Centrifugo-pneumatic siphon valves are particularly suited for blood processing as they ...