This thesis presents a new actuator system consisting of a micro-actuator and a macroactuator coupled in parallel via a compliant transmission. The system is called the Parallel Coupled Micro-Macro Actuator, or PaCMMA. In this system, the micro-actuator is capable of high bandwidth force control due to its low mass and direct-drive connection to the output shaft. The compliant transmission of t...

Monkeys can learn to directly control the movements of an artificial actuator by using a brain-machine interface (BMI) driven by the activity of a sample of cortical neurons. Eventually, they can do so without moving their limbs. Neuronal adaptations underlying the transition from control of the limb to control of the actuator are poorly understood. Here, we show that rapid modifications in neu...

Recently, a novel fluidic actuator using steady suction and oscillatory blowing was developed for active control of high-speed turbulent flows (Arwatz et al. 2008). The suction and oscillatory blowing (SaOB) actuator converts compressed air input into pulsed bistable oscillatory blowing at the actuator outlets. The mechanism for generating bi-stable oscillatory blowing is based upon the Coandă ...

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...

A MEMS thermal actuator is a micromechanical device that typically generates motion by thermal expansion. In this paper we have studied the thermal expansion of different shapes of thermal actuator and implemented using COMSOL tool.Different shapes are designed and analyzed.Rectangular, triangular and U shaped actuator is designed and implemented.

Introduction Here we present a pneumatic actuator design developed for human brain magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). The MRE is part of the MR examination protocol, which provides input data for a neurosurgical oncology rehearsal and training system. Authentic information on mechanical properties of healthy and tumor tissue makes realistic emulation of haptic perception in the neurosurgica...

To overcome the limitations of the independent stacked hybrid actuator with multiple sensors, a new hybrid linear actuator combines the advantages of both technologies: piezo actuator for extremely high accuracy and motorized stage for long travel ranges. A hybrid linear actuator prototype is developed for testing in our satellite tracking antenna pointing control system. For the maximum absolu...

Sliding mode controller for a vehicle active suspension system is designed in this study. The widely used quarter car model is preferred and it is aimed to improve the ride comfort of the passengers. The effect of the actuator time delay, which may arise due to the information processing, sensors or actuator dynamics, is also taken into account during the design of the controller. A sliding mod...