In this paper a unified contact force control approach for cable-driven parallel robots (CDPR) is proposed. The contact force controller is governed by two control loops: 1) An inner impedance control loop enforcing a dynamical relationship between the internal forces and the end-effector velocities to maintain a desired tension level in the cable system. 2) An outer admittance control loop con...

Friction in joints significantly contributes to the observed overall damping of mechanical structures. Especially if the material damping is low, the frictional effects in joints and clamping boundary conditions dominate the structural damping. The damping and the stiffness of the structure are nonlinear functions of the system states and consequently of the excitation signal and amplitude. If ...

In this study, the method of multiple scales is used to perform a nonlinear vibration analysis of a mechanical system in two cases; with dry and lubricated clearance joints. In the dry contact case, the Lankarani-Nikravesh model is used to represent the contact force between the joined bodies. The surface elasticity is modeled as a nonlinear spring-damper element. Primary resonance is discussed...

Spring-mass models have been used to characterize running mechanics and leg stiffness in a variety of conditions, yet it remains unknown how running while carrying a load affects running mechanics and leg stiffness. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that running with a load increases leg stiffness. Twenty-seven subjects ran at a constant speed on a force-measuring treadmill w...

In this paper, a novel force tracking impedance control strategy is presented in which target stiffness is varied on-line to regulate the desired contact force without any knowledge of the environment. Humans can control contact force by adjusting their arm stiffness. The contact force can be either increased by making one’s arm stiffer or decreased by reducing the arm stiffness. Furthermore, h...