We report the design of a monolithic piezoelectrically actuated microelectromechanical tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). The main advantages of piezoelectric actuation compared with conventional capacitive techniques are improved wavelength control, reduced external and tilt losses, and lower power supply voltages. The details of the piezoelectric actuation scheme for a 98...

Abstract The structural design of a mechanical temperature-driven shut-off valve used in the water and steam sampling device power plant is designed using Iventor drawing software. A NiTi shape memory alloy with high temperature-sensitivity as driven spring to control opening closing valve. In addition structures common parts valve, calculation parameter-design are also carried out. unimpeded c...

Historically, series elastic actuators (SEAs) used linear springs as the torque transmitting element in their drivetrains [1]. Use of linear springs requires tradeoffs between desired actuation bandwidth and measurable torque resolution. Nonlinear transmission elements overcome this limitation, enabling variable torque resolution and bandwidth through their deflection range. Many have recognize...

This paper explores a passive control strategy with variable stiffness actuation for swing movements. We consider brachiation as an example of a highly dynamic task which requires exploitation of gravity in an efficient manner for successful task execution. First, we present our passive control strategy considering a pendulum with variable stiffness actuation. Then, we formulate the problem bas...

This paper presents the design, analysis and experimental testing of a variablepitch quadrotor. A custom in-lab built quadrotor with on-board attitude stabilization is developed and tested. An analysis of the dynamic differences in thrust output between a fixed-pitch and variable-pitch propeller is given and validated with simulation and experimental results. It is shown that variable-pitch act...

In this paper we consider some questions in the design of actuators for physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI) under strict safety requirements in all circumstances, including unexpected impacts and HW/SW failures. We present the design and optimization of agonistic-antagonistic actuation systems realizing the concept of variable impedance actuation (VIA). With respect to previous results in t...

A new concept of an impact actuated micro shift valve is presented. The impacts are transmitted to the interior of the valve through the casing. In order to predict the energy transmitted into the valve, the most important effects are discussed and two elastic multibody models using the Hertzian contact law are introduced and compared to a full finite element simulation. A simpler model with on...

We present the microfabrication and characterization of a ball valve micropump in glass, which is magnetically actuated using the sinusoidal current of an external electromagnet. We employ the use of a simple powder blasting technology for microstructuring the glass substrates and fusion bonding for assembly of the multi-layered microfluidic chip. The use of a polymer membrane with embedded per...