In order to investigate the influence of the stiffness of the compliant prismatic pair, a planar four-bar parallelogram, in a fully compliant parallel mechanism, the stiffness model of the passive compliant prismatic pair in a compliant parallel positioning stage is established using the compliant matrix method and matrix transformation. The influences of the constraints and the compliance of t...

Many robotic tasks require compliant motions, but planning such motions pose special challenges not present in collision-free motion planning. One challenge is how to achieve exactness, i.e., how to make sure that a planned path is exactly compliant to a desired contact state, especially when the con guration manifold of such a contact state is hard to describe analytically due to high geometri...

In order to investigate the influence of the stiffness of the compliant prismatic pair, a planar four-bar parallelogram, in a fully compliant parallel mechanism, the stiffness model of the passive compliant prismatic pair in a compliant parallel positioning stage is established using the compliant matrix method and matrix transformation. The influences of the constraints and the compliance of t...

In order to investigate the influence of the stiffness of the compliant prismatic pair, a planar four-bar parallelogram, in a fully compliant parallel mechanism, the stiffness model of the passive compliant prismatic pair in a compliant parallel positioning stage is established using the compliant matrix method and matrix transformation. The influences of the constraints and the compliance of t...

Phonosurgery has to do with a surgical procedure, performed with an aim to enhance the voice. Common anomalies of the vocal fold includes a wide variety of pathologies such as nodules, polyps, cysts, and cancer. The method most commonly used of phonosurgery is done using a laser beam. The laser beam source is located approximately fourty centimeters away from the vocal cords. With this long dis...

Title of Document: ANALYTICAL MODELING AND EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF A PASSIVELY MORPHING ORNITHOPTER WING Aimy Wissa, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Directed By: Langley Distinguished Professor, James E. Hubbard, Jr., Department of Aerospace Engineering Ornithopters or flapping wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have potential applications in both civil and military sectors. Amongst all categor...

Digital societies and markets increasingly mandate consistent procedures for the access, processing and storage of information. In the United States alone, over 10,000 such regulations can be found in financial, life sciences, health care and government sectors, including the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and Sarbanes Oxley Act. A recurrent theme i...

Adaptive optical devices based on electric field induced deformation of dielectric elastomers require transparent and highly compliant electrodes to conform to large shape changes. Electrical, optical, and actuation properties of acrylic elastomer electrodes fabricated with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and silver nanowires (AgNWs) have been evaluated. Based on these properties, a fig...