The ability to perform different tasks by a serial manipulator mounted on legged robots, increases the capabilities of the robot. The position/force control problem of such a robot in the stance phase with point contacts on the ground is investigated here. A target plane with known stiffness is specified in the workspace. Active joints of the legs and serial manipulator are used to exert the de...

Whole-arm tactile sensing enables a robot to sense properties of contact across its entire arm. By using this large sensing area, a robot has the potential to acquire useful information from incidental contact that occurs while performing a task. Within this paper, we demonstrate that data-driven methods can be used to infer mechanical properties of objects from incidental contact with a robot’...

A dynamic analysis method is firstly presented to make up the present methods for calculating the strength of the cylindrical gear pair. The transient stress distribution and variation in the process of gear meshing can be obtained by dynamic simulation, the maximum bending stress, the maximum tooth contact stress and the corresponding worst meshing locations of the gear pair can be also accura...

OBJECTIVE To determine if 1) angularly stable devices created by compressing ("locking") proximal locking screws to intramedullary nails using end caps or compression screws or 2) increasing the number of proximal screws from two to three increases the stiffness of intramedullary constructs that stabilize proximal third tibia fractures in a nonosteopenic bone model. METHODS Four proximal lock...

OBJECTIVES To describe stretch shortening cycle behaviour of the ankle and lower limb in patients with Achilles tendinopathy (AT) and establish differences with healthy volunteers. DESIGN Between-subjects case-controlled. METHODS Fifteen patients with AT (mean age 41.2±12.7 years) and 11 healthy volunteers (CON) (mean age 23.2±6.7 years) performed sub-maximal single-limb hopping on a custom...

This paper presents the experimental evaluation of contact/impact dynamics between a space robot with a compliant wrist and a free-flying object. In capturing a target satellite by a free-flying space robot, a robot must prevent bounce-off of a target satellite from the operational space of the robot due to hard collision. In order to avoid hard collision, the authors propose the use of a stiff...

Walking on rough terrains still remains a challenge that needs to be addressed for biped robots because the unevenness on the ground can easily disrupt the walking stability. This paper proposes a novel foot system with passively adjustable stiffness for biped robots which is adaptable to small-sized bumps on the ground. The robotic foot is developed by attaching eight pneumatic variable stiffn...

Humans and birds both walk and run bipedally on compliant legs. However, differences in leg architecture may result in species-specific leg control strategies as indicated by the observed gait patterns. In this work, control strategies for stable running are derived based on a conceptual model and compared with experimental data on running humans and pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). From a mode...

Contact interactions between the hand and handle, such as the contact surface softness and contact surface curvature, will affect both physical effort and musculoskeletal fatigue, thereby the comfort and safety of power tool operations. Previous models of hand gripping can be categorized into two groups: multi-body dynamic models and finite element (FE) models. The goal of the current study is ...

   During past decade the AFM based nanomanipulation has been focus of attention as the promising nano fabrication approach. The main challenge in this process is the real-time monitoring. Consequently, the dynamic models have been proposed as a solution to the existing challenge. In the modeling approach the magnitudes of the forces are proportional to the stiffness coefficients o...