Matching Items (22)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Mechanical Engineering
- Genre: Masters Thesis
- Creators: Oswald, Jay
Description
As robots are increasingly migrating out of factories and research laboratories and into our everyday lives, they should move and act in environments designed for humans. For this reason, the need of anthropomorphic movements is of utmost importance. The objective of this thesis is to solve the inverse kinematics problem of redundant robot arms that results to anthropomorphic configurations. The swivel angle of the elbow was used as a human arm motion parameter for the robot arm to mimic. The swivel angle is defined as the rotation angle of the plane defined by the upper and lower arm around a virtual axis that connects the shoulder and wrist joints. Using kinematic data recorded from human subjects during every-day life tasks, the linear sensorimotor transformation model was validated and used to estimate the swivel angle, given the desired end-effector position. Defining the desired swivel angle simplifies the kinematic redundancy of the robot arm. The proposed method was tested with an anthropomorphic redundant robot arm and the computed motion profiles were compared to the ones of the human subjects. This thesis shows that the method computes anthropomorphic configurations for the robot arm, even if the robot arm has different link lengths than the human arm and starts its motion at random configurations.
ContributorsWang, Yuting (Author) / Artemiadis, Panagiotis (Thesis advisor) / Mignolet, Marc (Committee member) / Santos, Veronica J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Electromyogram (EMG)-based control interfaces are increasingly used in robot teleoperation, prosthetic devices control and also in controlling robotic exoskeletons. Over the last two decades researchers have come up with a plethora of decoding functions to map myoelectric signals to robot motions. However, this requires a lot of training and validation data sets, while the parameters of the decoding function are specific for each subject. In this thesis we propose a new methodology that doesn't require training and is not user-specific. The main idea is to supplement the decoding functional error with the human ability to learn inverse model of an arbitrary mapping function. We have shown that the subjects gradually learned the control strategy and their learning rates improved. We also worked on identifying an optimized control scheme that would be even more effective and easy to learn for the subjects. Optimization was done by taking into account that muscles act in synergies while performing a motion task. The low-dimensional representation of the neural activity was used to control a two-dimensional task. Results showed that in the case of reduced dimensionality mapping, the subjects were able to learn to control the device in a slower pace, however they were able to reach and retain the same level of controllability. To summarize, we were able to build an EMG-based controller for robot devices that would work for any subject, without any training or decoding function, suggesting human-embedded controllers for robotic devices.
ContributorsAntuvan, Chris Wilson (Author) / Artemiadis, Panagiotis (Thesis advisor) / Muthuswamy, Jitendran (Committee member) / Santos, Veronica J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Tolerances on line profiles are used to control cross-sectional shapes of parts, such as turbine blades. A full life cycle for many mechanical devices depends (i) on a wise assignment of tolerances during design and (ii) on careful quality control of the manufacturing process to ensure adherence to the specified tolerances. This thesis describes a new method for quality control of a manufacturing process by improving the method used to convert measured points on a part to a geometric entity that can be compared directly with tolerance specifications. The focus of this paper is the development of a new computational method for obtaining the least-squares fit of a set of points that have been measured with a coordinate measurement machine along a line-profile. The pseudo-inverse of a rectangular matrix is used to convert the measured points to the least-squares fit of the profile. Numerical examples are included for convex and concave line-profiles, that are formed from line- and circular arc-segments.
ContributorsSavaliya, Samir (Author) / Davidson, Joseph K. (Thesis advisor) / Shah, Jami J. (Committee member) / Santos, Veronica J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Effective tactile sensing in prosthetic and robotic hands is crucial for improving the functionality of such hands and enhancing the user's experience. Thus, improving the range of tactile sensing capabilities is essential for developing versatile artificial hands. Multimodal tactile sensors called BioTacs, which include a hydrophone and a force electrode array, were used to understand how grip force, contact angle, object texture, and slip direction may be encoded in the sensor data. Findings show that slip induced under conditions of high contact angles and grip forces resulted in significant changes in both AC and DC pressure magnitude and rate of change in pressure. Slip induced under conditions of low contact angles and grip forces resulted in significant changes in the rate of change in electrode impedance. Slip in the distal direction of a precision grip caused significant changes in pressure magnitude and rate of change in pressure, while slip in the radial direction of the wrist caused significant changes in the rate of change in electrode impedance. A strong relationship was established between slip direction and the rate of change in ratios of electrode impedance for radial and ulnar slip relative to the wrist. Consequently, establishing multiple thresholds or establishing a multivariate model may be a useful method for detecting and characterizing slip. Detecting slip for low contact angles could be done by monitoring electrode data, while detecting slip for high contact angles could be done by monitoring pressure data. Predicting slip in the distal direction could be done by monitoring pressure data, while predicting slip in the radial and ulnar directions could be done by monitoring electrode data.
ContributorsHsia, Albert (Author) / Santos, Veronica J (Thesis advisor) / Santello, Marco (Committee member) / Helms Tillery, Stephen I (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
A new critical plane-energy model is proposed in this thesis for multiaxial fatigue life prediction of homogeneous and heterogeneous materials. Brief review of existing methods, especially on the critical plane-based and energy-based methods, are given first. Special focus is on one critical plane approach which has been shown to work for both brittle and ductile metals. The key idea is to automatically change the critical plane orientation with respect to different materials and stress states. One potential drawback of the developed model is that it needs an empirical calibration parameter for non-proportional multiaxial loadings since only the strain terms are used and the out-of-phase hardening cannot be considered. The energy-based model using the critical plane concept is proposed with help of the Mroz-Garud hardening rule to explicitly include the effect of non-proportional hardening under fatigue cyclic loadings. Thus, the empirical calibration for non-proportional loading is not needed since the out-of-phase hardening is naturally included in the stress calculation. The model predictions are compared with experimental data from open literature and it is shown the proposed model can work for both proportional and non-proportional loadings without the empirical calibration. Next, the model is extended for the fatigue analysis of heterogeneous materials integrating with finite element method. Fatigue crack initiation of representative volume of heterogeneous materials is analyzed using the developed critical plane-energy model and special focus is on the microstructure effect on the multiaxial fatigue life predictions. Several conclusions and future work is drawn based on the proposed study.
ContributorsWei, Haoyang (Author) / Liu, Yongming (Thesis advisor) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Oswald, Jay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
In this thesis, a FORTRAN code is rewritten in C++ with an object oriented ap-
proach. There are several reasons for this purpose. The first reason is to establish
the basis of a GPU programming. To write programs that utilize GPU hardware,
CUDA or OpenCL is used which only support C and C++. FORTRAN has a feature
that lets its programs to call C/C++ functions. FORTRAN sends relevant data to
C/C++, which in turn sends that data to OpenCL. Although this approach works,
it makes the code messy and bulky and in the end more difficult to deal with. More-
over, there is a slight performance decrease from the additional data copy. This is
the motivation to have the code entirely written in C++ to make it more uniform,
efficient and clean. The second reason is the object oriented feature of the C++. The
“abstraction”, “inheritance” and “run-time polymorphism” features of C++ provide
some form of classes and objects, the ability to build new abstractions, and some
form of run-time binding, respectively. In recent years, some of popular codes has
been rewritten in C++ which were initially in FORTRAN. One of these softwares is
LAMMPS.
In this code the level set equation is solved by RLSG method to track the interface in
two phase flow. In gas/fluid flows, the surface tension is important and only exists at
the interface. Therefore, the location and some geometric features of interface need
to be evaluated which can be achieved by solving the level set equation.
proach. There are several reasons for this purpose. The first reason is to establish
the basis of a GPU programming. To write programs that utilize GPU hardware,
CUDA or OpenCL is used which only support C and C++. FORTRAN has a feature
that lets its programs to call C/C++ functions. FORTRAN sends relevant data to
C/C++, which in turn sends that data to OpenCL. Although this approach works,
it makes the code messy and bulky and in the end more difficult to deal with. More-
over, there is a slight performance decrease from the additional data copy. This is
the motivation to have the code entirely written in C++ to make it more uniform,
efficient and clean. The second reason is the object oriented feature of the C++. The
“abstraction”, “inheritance” and “run-time polymorphism” features of C++ provide
some form of classes and objects, the ability to build new abstractions, and some
form of run-time binding, respectively. In recent years, some of popular codes has
been rewritten in C++ which were initially in FORTRAN. One of these softwares is
LAMMPS.
In this code the level set equation is solved by RLSG method to track the interface in
two phase flow. In gas/fluid flows, the surface tension is important and only exists at
the interface. Therefore, the location and some geometric features of interface need
to be evaluated which can be achieved by solving the level set equation.
ContributorsSafarkhani, Salar (Author) / Herrmann, Mrcus (Thesis advisor) / Oswald, Jay (Committee member) / Rykczewski, Konrad (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
CubeSats offer a compelling pathway towards lowering the cost of interplanetary exploration missions thanks to their low mass and volume. This has been possible due to miniaturization of electronics and sensors and increased efficiency of photovoltaics. Interplanetary communication using radio signals requires large parabolic antennas on the spacecraft and this often exceeds the total volume of CubeSat spacecraft. Mechanical deployable antennas have been proposed that would unfurl to form a large parabolic dish. These antennas much like an umbrella has many mechanical moving parts, are complex and are prone to jamming. An alternative are inflatables, due to their tenfold savings in mass, large surface area and very high packing efficiency of 20:1. The present work describes the process of designing and building inflatable parabolic reflectors for small satellite radio communications in the X band.
Tests show these inflatable reflectors to provide significantly higher gain characteristics as compared to conventional antennas. This would lead to much higher data rates from low earth orbits and would provide enabling communication capabilities for small satellites in deeper space. This technology is critical to lowering costs of small satellites while enhancing their capabilities.
Principle design challenges with inflatable membranes are maintaining accurate desired shape, reliable deployment mechanism and outer space environment protection. The present work tackles each of the mentioned challenges and provides an
understanding towards future work. In the course of our experimentation we have been able to address these challenges using building techniques that evolved out of a matured understanding of the inflation process.
Our design is based on low cost chemical sublimates as inflation substances that use a simple mechanism for inflation. To improve the reliability of the inflated shape, we use UV radiation hardened polymer support structures. The novelty of the design lies in its simplicity, low cost and high reliability. The design and development work provides an understanding towards extending these concepts to much larger deployable structures such as solar sails, inflatable truss structures for orbit servicing and large surface area inflatables for deceleration from hypersonic speeds when re-entering the atmosphere.
Tests show these inflatable reflectors to provide significantly higher gain characteristics as compared to conventional antennas. This would lead to much higher data rates from low earth orbits and would provide enabling communication capabilities for small satellites in deeper space. This technology is critical to lowering costs of small satellites while enhancing their capabilities.
Principle design challenges with inflatable membranes are maintaining accurate desired shape, reliable deployment mechanism and outer space environment protection. The present work tackles each of the mentioned challenges and provides an
understanding towards future work. In the course of our experimentation we have been able to address these challenges using building techniques that evolved out of a matured understanding of the inflation process.
Our design is based on low cost chemical sublimates as inflation substances that use a simple mechanism for inflation. To improve the reliability of the inflated shape, we use UV radiation hardened polymer support structures. The novelty of the design lies in its simplicity, low cost and high reliability. The design and development work provides an understanding towards extending these concepts to much larger deployable structures such as solar sails, inflatable truss structures for orbit servicing and large surface area inflatables for deceleration from hypersonic speeds when re-entering the atmosphere.
ContributorsChandra, Aman (Author) / Thangavelautham, Jekanthan (Thesis advisor) / Huang, Huei Ping (Thesis advisor) / Oswald, Jay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
ABSTRACT
A large fraction of the total energy consumption in the world comes from heating and cooling of buildings. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings to reduce the needs of seasonal heating and cooling is one of the major challenges in sustainable development. In general, the energy efficiency depends on the geometry and material of the buildings. To explore a framework for accurately assessing this dependence, detailed 3-D thermofluid simulations are performed by systematically sweeping the parameter space spanned by four parameters: the size of building, thickness and material of wall, and fractional size of window. The simulations incorporate realistic boundary conditions of diurnally-varying temperatures from observation, and the effect of fluid flow with explicit thermal convection inside the building. The outcome of the numerical simulations is synthesized into a simple map of an index of energy efficiency in the parameter space which can be used by stakeholders to quick look-up the energy efficiency of a proposed design of a building before its construction. Although this study only considers a special prototype of buildings, the framework developed in this work can potentially be used for a wide range of buildings and applications.
A large fraction of the total energy consumption in the world comes from heating and cooling of buildings. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings to reduce the needs of seasonal heating and cooling is one of the major challenges in sustainable development. In general, the energy efficiency depends on the geometry and material of the buildings. To explore a framework for accurately assessing this dependence, detailed 3-D thermofluid simulations are performed by systematically sweeping the parameter space spanned by four parameters: the size of building, thickness and material of wall, and fractional size of window. The simulations incorporate realistic boundary conditions of diurnally-varying temperatures from observation, and the effect of fluid flow with explicit thermal convection inside the building. The outcome of the numerical simulations is synthesized into a simple map of an index of energy efficiency in the parameter space which can be used by stakeholders to quick look-up the energy efficiency of a proposed design of a building before its construction. Although this study only considers a special prototype of buildings, the framework developed in this work can potentially be used for a wide range of buildings and applications.
ContributorsJain, Gaurav (Author) / Huang, Huei-Ping (Thesis advisor) / Ren, Yi (Committee member) / Oswald, Jay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
A previously developed small time scale fatigue crack growth model is improved, modified and extended with an emphasis on creating the simplest models that maintain the desired level of accuracy for a variety of materials. The model provides a means of estimating load sequence effects by continuously updating the crack opening stress every cycle, in a simplified manner. One of the significant phenomena of the crack opening stress under negative stress ratio is the residual tensile stress induced by the applied compressive stress. A modified coefficient is introduced to determine the extent to which residual stress impact the crack closure and is observed to vary for different materials. Several other literature models for crack closure under constant loading are also reviewed and compared with the proposed model. The modified model is then shown to predict several sets of published test results under constant loading for a variety of materials.
The crack opening stress is formalized as a function of the plastic zone sizes at the crack tip and the current crack length, which provided a means of approximation, accounting for both acceleration and retardation effects in a simplified manner. A sensitivity parameter is introduced to modify the enlarged plastic zone due to overload, to better fit the delay cycles with the test data and is observed to vary for different materials. Furthermore, the interaction effect induced by the combination of overload and underload sequence is modeled by depleting the compressive plastic zone due to an overload with the tensile plastic zone due to an underload. A qualitative analysis showed the simulation capacity of the small time scale model under different load types. A good agreement between prediction and test data for several irregular load types proved the applicability of the small time scale model under variable amplitude loading.
The crack opening stress is formalized as a function of the plastic zone sizes at the crack tip and the current crack length, which provided a means of approximation, accounting for both acceleration and retardation effects in a simplified manner. A sensitivity parameter is introduced to modify the enlarged plastic zone due to overload, to better fit the delay cycles with the test data and is observed to vary for different materials. Furthermore, the interaction effect induced by the combination of overload and underload sequence is modeled by depleting the compressive plastic zone due to an overload with the tensile plastic zone due to an underload. A qualitative analysis showed the simulation capacity of the small time scale model under different load types. A good agreement between prediction and test data for several irregular load types proved the applicability of the small time scale model under variable amplitude loading.
ContributorsVenkatesan, Karthik Rajan (Author) / Liu, Yongming (Thesis advisor) / Oswald, Jay (Committee member) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Cohesive zone model is one of the most widely used model for fracture analysis, but still remains open ended field for research. The earlier works using the cohesive zone model and Extended finite element analysis (XFEM) have been briefly introduced followed by an elaborate elucidation of the same concepts. Cohesive zone model in conjugation with XFEM is used for analysis in static condition in order to check its applicability in failure analysis. A real time setup of pipeline failure due to impingement is analyzed along with a detailed parametric study to understand the influence of the prominent design variable. After verifying its good applicability, a creep model is built for analysis where the cohesive zone model with XFEM is used for a time dependent creep loading. The challenge in this simulation was to achieve coupled behavior of cracks initiation and propagation along with creep loading. By using Design of Experiment, the results from numerical simulation were used to build an equation for life prediction for creep loading condition. The work was further extended to account for fatigue damage accumulation for high cycle fatigue loading in cohesive elements. A model was conceived to account for damage due to fatigue loading along within cohesive zone model for cohesive elements in ABAQUS simulation software. The model was verified by comparing numerical modelling of Double cantilever beam under high cycle fatigue loading and experiment results from literature. The model was also applied to a major industrial problem of blistering in Cured-In-Plane liner pipelines and a demonstration of its failure is shown. In conclusion, various models built on cohesive zone to address static and time dependent loading with real time scenarios and future scope of work in this field is discussed.
ContributorsChandrasekhar, Vishal (Author) / Liu, Yongming (Thesis advisor) / Oswald, Jay (Committee member) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016