This article presents the dynamic modeling and trajectory tracking control of the industrial tractor–trailers vehicle composed of a full-size car-like tractor and multiple full trailers. To eliminate the high uncertainty of the kinematic and dynamic parameters of the trailers in the model, we propose to install a force sensor to monitor the forces exerted on the tractor in real time. With the force

The flexible-joint robot has superior attractive features because of its high mobility, high load ratio, high torque fidelity, robustness for external disturbance, task adaptability, and safety. In this article, an autonomous mobile manipulator driven by the designed series elastic actuators is developed. A complete dynamic model of a nonholonomic mobile manipulator including a mobile platform and

This article investigates a novel active-sensing-based obstacle avoidance paradigm for flying robots in dynamic environments. Instead of fusing multiple sensors to enlarge the field of view (FOV), we introduce an alternative approach that utilizes a stereo camera with an independent rotational degree of freedom to sense the obstacles actively. In particular, the sensing direction is planned heuristically

The humanoid robot, one of the ideal unmanned systems, has the potential to perform tasks currently carried out by human workers in industry, manufacturing, service, and disaster response. In such complicated environments with unknown disturbances, compliance is important for a humanoid robot, especially a position-controlled one, to maintain balance while performing a task. This article presents a

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With the increasing requirements for vehicle mobility and transport efficiency, the amphibious fly-drive vehicle has attracted more widespread attention. This article presents a novel fly-drive vehicle driven by rotor-wing in the air and Ackerman chassis on the road. The vehicle is designed to achieve continuous air–land motion. To describe the multimodal motion, an integrated dynamic model is proposed

This article addresses the dynamic formation reconstruction and trajectory replanning problem in the air patrol task using multiple fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle formations. Unlike most of the formation flying related work, this article considers a more practical issue that some of the vehicles may break down during operation. In this case, a more reasonable coping strategy is proposed which is

In this article, cooperative circumnavigation (CCN) is studied for groups of networked unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) under a directed interaction topology. The CCN drives UAVs to given planar ellipses with desired spatial formation. A first contribution is that based on affine transformations, CCN control design is structured, which can deploy UAVs on spatial orbits with different radii concerning

In this article, a novel approach of decision-making and motion control is designed for realizing safe and personalized driving of autonomous vehicles. A new lane-change intention generation model and a new lane-change decision-making algorithm are proposed. The feature of the proposed decision-making module is that the interactions between the ego vehicle and other surrounding vehicles are represented

In this article, a robust nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) scheme is proposed for the visual servoing of quadrotors subject to external disturbances. By using the virtual camera approach, the image moments are defined in the virtual camera plane and adopted as visual features to derive the decoupled image kinematics. As a result, the image-based visual servoing (IBVS) system model is established

This article addresses the fault-tolerant control problem of two-wheel-drive (2WD) mobile robots under actuator faults. To improve the actuation redundancy, a physical link is employed to connect two 2WD mobile robots. The kinematics and dynamics of such a two-robot system are modeled. An adaptive fault-tolerant control scheme is developed to make the two-robot system asymptotic track a desired reference

An event-triggered-based (ETB) discrete-time neural control is studied for a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with external disturbances and input saturation by using the discrete-time disturbance observer (DTDO). First, the ETB mechanism of the neural network is given and the Sigmoid-type function is employed to tackle the problem of input saturation. Then, the DTDO is designed and the saturation

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Traffic accidents occurred frequently on roads, which bring huge losses to society. The purpose of this article is to extract the important influence factors of traffic accidents, reduce the probability of road traffic accidents, and support the basis for the decision-making of unmanned vehicles. For all this, an improved artificial neural network method is proposed to predict and analyze the severity

This article focuses on the position control problem for permanent magnet dc torque motor systems. An adaptive position tracking controller is proposed with online parameter adaptation. The position of the permanent magnet dc torque motor under the proposed strategy tracks the reference signal with fixed-time convergence. Different from previous fixed-time control methods, the approach proposed in

This article designed a soft bending actuator (SBA) and presented a neural-network-based tracking control strategy for such an actuator. To achieve high-precision control, a visual feedback system was established by using a high-speed camera to dynamically compute the corresponding central angle which described the curvature of the SBA. Considering its nonlinear features, the echo state Gaussian process

A magnetic drug-targeting system featuring real-time imaging, guidance, and local heating is required for more precise drug targeting and minimization of side effects. In this article, we present a novel electromagnetic navigation and heating system that not only guides and navigates magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with real-time imaging feedback, but also uses focused MNP heating to release drugs while

This article features a novel sliding mode controller for robotic arms using nonlinear model-based switching functions. The new controller is experimentally validated on a 7-DOF exoskeleton arm used for upper-limb rehabilitation applications. The proposed approach features a novel concept using model-based switching functions in the sliding mode controller, which leads to considerable simplifications

This article discusses nonprehensile manipulation of an asymmetric object using a robotic manipulator from a motion planning point of view. Four different aspects of the problem will be analyzed:object stability, motion planning, manipulator control, and experimental validation. Specifically, via an analysis of marginal stability of an object resting on a moving tray, the work establishes the critical

Scanner-based robotic grinding has shown great potential for replacing the manual method to achieve efficient and automatic manufacturing. However, its application has been limited by the grinding quality, which is affected by the pose errors between the robot and other workcells (a scanner, a workpiece, and a tool). To improve the pose accuracy, this article proposes a novel estimation method for

Full state feedback (FSF) controllers for series elastic actuators bridge the gap between impedance and admittance controllers. For humanoid robots—which must stably accomplish both stiff and soft behaviors—FSF controllers are ideal candidate joint controllers. However, previous work on FSF gain tuning has used a nonlinear passivity analysis which does not account for time delay and can result in unstable

This article explores a technique to leverage curved surfaces for producing preferential buckling that can be used to create forward thrust in flapping-wing devices. We present a novel concept for using anisotropically buckling beams in robot locomotion, facilitated via an analytical and finite-element-based analyses. We demonstrate that with symmetric flapping inputs from a motor, buckling beams can

In this article, we deal with rehabilitation robot robust control in order to obtain best performance in the human-robot interaction. This class of system is subject to abrupt changes due to exogenous inputs and parameter variations caused, mainly, by the human dynamic behavior. In this context, Markovian jump linear systems offer suitable tools to model and control of this class of interactions. We

In recent years, many unmanned vehicle designs and autonomous driving functions have been introduced in the automotive industry to increase the safety and versatility of multiple vehicle designs. It is critical to select a plant vehicle model and a compact uncertainty representation regardless of the vehicle scale for vast deployment. This article introduces a dimensionless representation of a dynamic

Surface topography plays a key role in the service performance of parts, and is often used as a metric for detecting machining states as well. Hence, it is of great importance to online predict the surface topography to avoid surface deterioration and machining faults. However, alternative solutions for this purpose remain to be developed. This article presents a generative adversarial network to predict

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Over the past few decades, intelligentization, supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, has become an important trend for industrial manufacturing, accelerating the development of smart manufacturing. In modern industries, standard AI has been endowed with additional attributes, yielding the so-called industrial artificial intelligence (IAI) that has become the technical core of smart

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A novel efficiency optimization strategy combined with a position estimation method is proposed for switched reluctance generators (SRGs) in this article. This practical performance improvement strategy can expand the application of SRGs small-scale wind energy generation system, which is a good solution for mitigating the fossil energy crisis. First, the position estimation method based on current

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Cooperative target enclosing problem with multiple unmanned microaerial vehicles is addressed. A local controller based on a binary-tree (BT) communication topology is presented for the target enclosing formation. A sufficient condition is derived for the formation stability by a recursive Lyapunov method. In this article, a switching rule of the BT topology is developed to cope with the emergent failures

Overpressure measurement is an important approach to evaluate the power of shock wave (SW) monitoring. Traditional wired monitoring systems exhibit the limitations of high-cost, heavyweight, troublesome maintenance, and big-data transmission in SW monitoring. In this article, a new lightweight FPGA-based wireless overpressure node (LFWON) with the resistance to high-temperature and high-pressure environment

For improving the vibration waveform amplitude and controlling the vertical shift flexibly, a novel structure for waveform control of twin rotary flowrate valve controlled vibration exciter is proposed. Based on the novel principle, the governing equations of the vibration waveform is derived. Furthermore, the experimental verification is carried out with the prototype of a new vibration exciter. From

This article focuses on the analysis of the quasi-zero power characteristic for a permanent magnetic levitation system with a variable flux path control mechanism. The system mainly consists of a disk permanent magnet, a pair of yokes, and a rotary actuator. The permanent magnet magnetized diametrically is rotated by the actuator, which can achieve the control of the levitation force by changing the

This article proposes a novel algorithm to detect anomalies during a laser-surface heat-treatment process recorded using a high-speed thermal camera. Our approach detects anomalies by tracking the movement of the laser spot along the surface of a production artifact. No previous knowledge of the anomalies is assumed. The model attempts to learn the behavior of a normal process so that anomalous video

In this article, we propose a robotic rapid prototyping technology for fabricating a new type of paper-based field-effect transistors (FETs). Unlike the existing paper-based electronics developed primarily based on the printing of conductive and semiconductive inks on paper substrates, this new prototyping technology integrates single rolled-up semiconductive microtubes into a device with robotically

In this article, we present a new method for estimation of the nonperiodic (mean) value and harmonics of unknown disturbance inputs with parametrically varying harmonic frequencies. The proposed methods shall be studied for mean value and harmonic estimation of internal combustion torque of an engine. The internal torque refers to the oscillatory torque resulting from the combustion process. Its estimation

Although substantial progresses have been made in robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery, the graspers for existing surgical systems generally remain nonsensorized forceps design with limited functions. This article presents the design, development, and preliminary evaluation of the MUSHA Hand II, a multifunctional hand with force sensors for robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. The proposed hand has

This article presents the development and experimental evaluation of a redundant robotic system for the less-invasive treatment of osteolysis (bone degradation) behind the acetabular implant during total hip replacement revision surgery. The system comprises a rigid-link positioning robot and a continuum dexterous manipulator (CDM) equipped with highly flexible debriding tools and a fiber Bragg grating

This article presents a universal method of precise synchronization control for linear-motor-driven systems. The control method named cross-coupled second-order discrete-time fractional-order sliding mode control contains a cross-coupled control strategy to reduce the incoordination among driving linear motors. It also includes the second-order structure and fractional-order sliding mode surface to

Bipedal locomotion in uncertain environments is a challenging control problem. In order to reduce the effect of imprecise and noisy measurements, performance enhancement, and energy consumption reduction, many researchers employ compliant elements in the robot structure, parallel to the control system. However, there is no systematic methodology for concurrent design of compliant components and the

Uncertainties play a fundamental role in systems design, since the device behavior may be undesirable in the presence of unknown parameters. For devices interacting with humans, the force exerted by different operators represents a source of uncertainty, which under specific circumstances, could lead to undesired performance. This article proposes a robust concurrent design of a planar 2-DOF cobot

Control parameter designing is an essential issue for industrial robot applications, in which the dynamic characteristics of robots play an important role. This article investigates the dynamic and control parameter design of a hybrid spray-painting robot with parallelogram structures to improve its tracking performance. The dynamic model of the robot is derived, and its intrinsic dynamic properties

Selective laser melting is able to produce complicated functional components. However, it may not simultaneously fulfill the diverse requirements of different parts of a component using uniform process parameters. Gradient processing based on the process parameters is proposed to realize the localized property design. An industrial valve body in a typical hydraulic valve was presented as a case study

Stereo vision (SV) is widely used for noncontact three-dimensional industrial measurement. In SV systems, camera orientation (the angles formed by the two cameras optical axes across the baseline) is among the factors that influence the measurement accuracy. Presently, there is a great divergence regarding the optimal value of camera orientation, i.e., existing theoretical analyses suggest that the

A flip-chip bonding system has a high demand for both force sensing and control functions to ensure the high-quality chip interconnection. The motivation of this article is to combine the ability to enable a common flip-chip bonding system to run in the manner of active soft-landing (ASL) interconnection. The developed flexure bonder achieves these functions by designing a flexure force sensing and

In this article, a rotor position tracking control (RPTC) strategy is proposed to effectively reduce the speed fluctuation for a direct-drive permanent magnet synchronous motor servo system operating at a low speed with different torque disturbances. In this article, considering the derivative relationship between the rotor position and speed, a speed command is converted to a real-time rotor position

Motivated by the need to incorporate human spine mechanics into the design loop of wearable spine assistive devices, this article presents a spine-equivalent beam (SEB) model for analyzing kinematics and mechanics of a human spine in sagittal standing flexion. The model is capable of handling loads resulted from the head, arms, external payload, torso weight, and back muscle effects, and it also handles

This article studies the leader–follower formation tracking problem of multiple quadrotors. In particular, the quadrotors are steered to track a reference trajectory while maintaining a desired configuration. The reference trajectory is partially available to a subset of quadrotors, and each quadrotor just interacts locally with its neighbors. A distributed control algorithm is proposed under a hierarchical

Keep-in operational envelopes are essential to maintain the safety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). System properties and constraints, including underactuated dynamics and actuator saturation, dramatically affect the system's maneuverability inside the operational envelope. Moreover, sate-of-the-art safety control depends heavily on the specifications of the operational envelope. Thus, this article

To decrease the cost, enhance the torque performance, and improve the system reliability, this article puts forward a novel position sensorless torque control strategy for switched reluctance machines (SRMs) with fewer current sensors. In this article, a developed direct torque control (DTC) strategy is proposed for the torque ripple mitigation, where a hybrid chopping mode is employed and the torque

This article presents the design, construction, modeling, and testing of a novel magnetically levitated linear stage using a linear bearingless slice motor design, targeting in-vacuum transportation tasks in precision manufacturing systems. The stage is driven by novel linear hysteresis motors, where the motor secondaries are made of magnetically semihard material exhibiting magnetic hysteresis. The

Reducing the input data of tactile sensory systems brings a large degree of freedom to real-world implementations from the perspectives of bandwidth and computational complexity. For this, in this letter, we suggest efficient active-cell formations with a high classification accuracy of tactile materials. By revealing that averaged Kullback–Leibler-divergence and common frequency component power to