Actuators, Volume 10, Issue 1

Successful control of a dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) can be a challenging task, especially if no overshoot is desired. The work presents the first use of the $P{I}^{\lambda }{D}^{\mu }$ control for a dielectric elastomer actuator to eliminate the overshoo...

In this paper, the prototype of the assistive suit for lower limbs was developed. The prototype was based on an assist method with joint stiffness and antagonized angle control. The assist method comprises a system consisting of a pneumatic artificia...

Novel actuator materials are necessary to advance the field of soft robotics. However, since current solutions are limited in terms of strain, strain rate, or robustness, a new actuator type was developed. In its basic configuration, this actuator co...

Soft actuators are compliant material-based devices capable of producing large deformation upon external stimuli. Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) are a type of soft actuator that operates on voltage stimuli. Apart from soft robotics, these actua...

This paper presents a novel miniaturized and modular dual-axis Electromagnetic Actuator (EMA). It mainly consists of two electromagnetic coils in an orthogonal orientation with a permanent magnet fixed on a free moving frame that rotates around two a...

The present paper studies the performance of a tuned mass damper (TMD) installed in a 183 m tall chimney located at the edge of the wake shed by another chimney. Numerical and experimental results are available. For the simulations, wind action is co...

The aim of this paper is to investigate the limits of the quasi-static, no-slip approach when modeling the activation of magnetorheological (MR) devices. A quasi-static model is implemented to define the hydraulic and magnetic characteristics of an M...

As a typical single-pump multi-actuator system, the hydraulic manipulator faces the flow saturation problem when moving at a high speed to track a desired trajectory. To overcome this problem, this paper proposes a real-time anti-saturation flow opti...

In this paper, a method for the improvement of the calculation accuracy of the distributed parameter model (DPM) of electromagnetic devices is proposed based on the kriging basis function predictive identification program (PIP). Kriging is mainly an...

Lower limb exoskeleton robots help with walking movements through mechanical force, by identifying the wearer’s walking intention. When the exoskeleton robot is lightweight and comfortable to wear, the stability of walking increases, and energy...

We present the design, manufacturing, and dynamical characterization of a mechanical suspension made by a passive magnetic spring and an eddy current damper integrated into a single device. Three configurations with 2, 3, and 4 permanent magnets axia...

This paper discusses the design and manufacturing of a thin polymer spherical adaptive reflector of diameter $D=200$ mm, controlled by an array of 25 independent electrodes arranged in a keystone configuration actuating a thin film of PVDF-TrFE in $d_{31}$-...

This paper presents a magneto-rheological (MR) actuator that can be easily inserted into haptic shoes and can haptically simulate the material properties of the ground. To increase the resistive force of the proposed actuator, we designed a movable p...

Robotic hands with unique designs, capabilities and applications have been presented in the literature focusing on sensing, actuation, control, powering and manufacturing, most of which are created by manual assembly process. However, due to advancem...

Piezoelectric actuators usually operate under a high frequency driving signal. Here we report a harmonic rotating piezoelectric actuator by coupling a harmonic wave generator and a friction rotor, in which the actuator can be actuated by a low-freque...

Electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) has significance in a variety of industrial tasks. For the purpose of elevating the working performance, we put forward a sliding mode control strategy for EHA operation with a damping variable sliding surface. To s...

Foodborne pathogens are a major concern for public health. We demonstrate for the first time a partially automated sensing system for rapid (~17 min), label-free impedimetric detection of Escherichia coli spp. in food samples (vegetable broth) and hy...

In this paper, a novel design of an energy regeneration system was proposed for recovering as well as reusing potential energy in a boom cylinder. The proposed system included a hydraulic pump/motor and an electrical motor/generator. When the boom mo...