The goal of the EU-FP7 project WatERP is to achieve more interoperability of software systems along the water-supply chain. A central element to achieve that is the WatERP Water Data Warehouse which shall act as a central data-exchange platform between different software systems. The WDW shall be able to store and provide sensor, measurement and forecasting data, as well as semantic knowledge a...

We present a real-time haptics-aided injection technique for biological cells using miniature compliant mechanisms. Our system consists of a haptic robot operated by a human hand, an XYZ stage for micro-positioning, a camera for image capture, and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) miniature compliant device that serves the dual purpose of an injecting tool and a force-sensor. In contrast to existin...

Abstract During the Apollo missions, astronauts observed negative impact of Lunar dust on surface hardware. The characteristics environment and regolith properties accelerate contamination promote abrasion clogging different components in equipment. To protect hardware from damages future several mitigation technologies must be adapted. In this work, we propose to consider application solutions...

Abstract Stiffness in compliant mechanisms can be dramatically altered and even eliminated entirely by using static balancing. This requires elastic energy to inserted before operation, which is most often done with an additional device or preloading assembly. Adding such devices contrasts starkly primary motivations for mechanisms, as part count reduction, increased precision, miniaturization....

Stability analysis in compliant mechanism (CM) design is of utmost importance. From a practical point of view, a CM that is unstable is of no significance (has no practical value). Three useful plots were considered in the evaluation of each of the dynamic models of nine configurations of compliant constant-force compression mechanisms (CCFCMs) for their stability characteristics, which include...

A control algorithm to manipulate the input actuation forces on hinge-free compliant mechanism models synthesized utilizing continuum topology optimization formulations is implemented and successfully tested in this work, such that the mechanisms follow their specified trajectories and nearby trajectories with high degree of accuracy even when confronted with different resistance forces. The va...

A formulation for design of continuous, hinge-free compliant mechanisms is developed and examined within a continuum structural topology optimization framework. The formulation makes use of two distinctly different sets of springs, the first of which are artificial springs of relatively large stiffness attached to the input and output ports of the mechanism model, and the second of which are sp...