Actuators - Science topic

ICCAD’25 will be held in July 1-3, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. Our conference is a forum for presenting excellent results and new challenges facing the field of the reliability and availability of Control, Automation and Diagnosis. It brings together experts from industry, governments and academia, experienced in engineering, design and research. Thi...

This study investigates the influence of Zinc (Zn) coating on the mechanical properties of impact spot welded joints between Aluminum (Al) 6111 alloy and galvanized high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) 340 steel using vaporizing foil actuator welding (VFAW). The Zn coating significantly impacts the weld interface, leading to a heterogeneous structure wit...

In this paper, a generalized method for error modeling of the spatial 1T2R three degrees of freedom (DOFs) kinematically redundant parallel mechanism with a closed-loop chain is proposed, which is based on the matrix differential method. Firstly, the detailed process of generalized error modeling and error analysis are described. Based on the propo...

Exoskeletons, wearable robotic devices designed to enhance human strength and endurance, find applications in various fields such as healthcare and industry; however, stringent safety measures should be adopted in such settings. This paper presents a comprehensive exploration of challenges associated with exoskeleton technology, ranging from mechan...

This study presents the development of a piezo actuator-based fatigue testing machine specifically for miniature specimens. The machine’s specifications include a maximum axial load of 1 kN, a maximum frequency of 15 Hz, and overall dimensions of 1,174 mm × 370 mm × 270 mm (height × length × width). Finite element analysis was employed to design tw...

With the increasing demand for ocean resource exploitation, deep-sea exploration, and environmental protection, the importance of underwater operation technologies has become more prominent. Traditional rigid robotic arms lack flexibility in complex underwater environments, limiting their effectiveness in diverse tasks. Flexible robotic arms, with...

To increase the jet momentum and improve the environmental adaptability, a combustion-driven SparkJet actuator with a Laval-configured outlet is proposed to improve the performance of the actuator. Numerical simulation results show that, compared to straight outlet combustion-driven actuators with outlet diameters of 2 mm and 2.8 mm, the maximum je...

Current technological progress in automation and robotics allows human kinematics to be used to control any device. As part of this study, a sensory glove was developed that allows for a delta robot to be controlled using hand movements. The process of controlling an actuator can often be problematic due to its complexity. The proposed system solve...

Satellites are suffered from a series of external loads transmitted from the satellites-rocket interface during the launch phase. The satellite can be caused to experience broadband vibration by those loads. Such vibration may lead to the failure of the sensitive precision instruments inside the satellite. The magnetorheological (MR) damper may suf...

In order to study the impact of periodic loads on the vibration performance of the flexible positioning platform in the key mechanisms of the ultra-high acceleration macro–micro motion platform, and to improve the performance and stability of the platform, this paper combined SolidWorks and ANSYS Workbench to conduct modal analysis and harmonic res...

Due to the difficulty in ensuring launch safety under unfavorable launch site conditions, restrictions regarding the selection of launch sites significantly weaken the maneuverability of the unsupported random vertical launch (URVL) mode. In this paper, a nonlinear robust control strategy is proposed to control the missile attitude by actively adju...

Miniaturized two-dimensional scanning mirror based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology has great potential in automotive industry, consumer electronics, and biomedicine, etc. Among them, harmonic resonant electromagnetic scanner and parametric resonant electrostatic scanner are the mainstream, due to their high scanning frequency an...

This work investigates the design and performance of hybrid thermo-piezoelectric cantilevers (HTPCs) that enable combined piezoelectric and thermal actuation. Using COMSOL Multiphysics for multiphysics simulations and FreeFem++ for full thermo-piezoelectric coupling, we investigated the dynamic responses of HTPCs under different actuation condition...

In this paper, a nonlinear sliding-mode super-twisting reaching law algorithm is designed to address the problem of coupling interference under deception attacks and actuator physical faults in USV formations during cooperative mining operations of a USVs-ROVs system. First, a USV model with attacks and disturbances is established, and a leader–fol...

This work focuses on the adaptive event-triggered control problem for complex dynamical networks vulnerable to deception attacks, time-varying coupling delays, and actuator failure. It is assumed that actuator failure and deception attacks occur during data transmission over the network and are modelled by a stochastic variable with a Bernoulli dis...

The Liebau effect generates a net flow without the need for valves. For the Liebau effect pumping phenomenon to occur, the pump must have specific characteristics. It needs tubes with different elastic properties and an actuator to provide energy to the fluid. The actuator periodically compresses the more flexible element. Furthermore, asymmetry is...

This study presents a vision-based closed-loop tracking system designed specifically for robotic laser beam welding of curved and closed square butt joints. The proposed system is compared against 11 existing solutions reported in the literature, which employ various sensor principles for the same application. The system employs a non-contact, non-...

The aim of this experimental study was to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a new strengthening system for reinforced concrete slabs employing external jackets consisting of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced-concrete (UHPFRC) and mechanical anchor systems. The issue of debonding between old and fresh concrete layers, as well as the ef...

To obtain a more accurate gravity field model, gravity field measurement satellites use the drag-free control system to minimize the residual disturbance force of the satellite. To meet the drag-free control accuracy, these tasks propose the requirements of wide continuous throttling ability, low noise, and rapid response for the propulsion system,...

The performance of a wind farm is significantly influenced by turbine–wake interactions. These interactions are typically quantified for each turbine either by measuring its nacelle wind speed or by evaluating its rotor-averaged wind speed using numerical methods that involve a set of discrete points across the rotor disc. Although various point di...

This article proposes an event‐based active fault‐tolerant control scheme for linear parameter‐varying (LPV) systems with actuator faults and uncertainties. First, an event‐triggered based T‐N‐L type fault observer is designed to estimate the system state and the actuator fault. Then, based on fault estimation information, a scheme is proposed for...

Natural communication methods have influenced the creation of sophisticated artificial materials capable of coherent and abundant responses to stimuli, a crucial necessity for developing applications such as dynamic encryption systems and high‐density information storage. However, existing materials for encryption and information storage are limite...

Ionic actuators with capability of electro-mechanical transduction are emerging as a useful platform for artificial intelligence and modern medical instruments. However, the insufficient ion transport inside material interfaces usually leads to limited energy transduction efficiency and energy density of actuators. Here, we report a polyrotaxane in...

Electric wheel loaders (EWLs) have emerged as a pivotal innovation in the 2020s, representing a transformative shift toward high-efficiency, low-emission construction machinery. Despite their growing technological and environmental significance, a systematic synthesis of advancements in EWL design, energy optimization, and intelligent control remai...

Aircraft cabins experience translational accelerations along three axes and rotational accelerations around three axes during flight, leading to uncomfortable motion and vibrations. To mitigate these effects, this study proposes a Motion Reduction Cabin concept. To establish its feasibility, fundamental data on commercial jet transport dynamics wer...

Vehicle platooning with Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control improves traffic efficiency, reduces energy consumption, and enhances safety but remains vulnerable to cyber-attacks that disrupt communication and cause unsafe actions. To address these risks, this paper investigates control node placement and input bound optimization to balance safety an...

Small-perturbation based control is a promising approach for tailoring shear layers, with applications in noise reduction. We present a global linear analysis, termed the Navier-Stokes based mean flow perturbation (NS-MFP), of a supersonic rectangular jet, to identify an optimal spectral range and modes of forcing for effective noise mitigation. Th...

Objectives In view of the gradual rejuvenation and acceleration of lumbar spondylosis, a wearable powered lumbar exoskeleton based on a 6-SPU/SP parallel mechanism is designed based on the rehabilitation treatment method of lumbar forward flexion/extension, left/right lateral flexion and rotation. Methods First, the changes in human lumbar muscles...

A closed-loop dynamic stall control system, employing a pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator, was implemented on the semi-span wing of a 6:1 scale general aviation aircraft model, and evaluated in a wind tunnel. Sensing of incipient stall was achieved by means of a pressure port located just below the leading-edge, inspired by...

The process controller created by using intelligent control system has become more and more widespread use at present. Using the example of an intelligent liquid level controller the development order of an effective controller with intelligence functions is considered in the present paper. Intelligence functions consist in presetting control param...

In this paper, we propose a model predictive control (MPC)-based approach for the speed tracking control of subway trains, specifically designed to handle the complexities of constrained optimization in real-world applications. The control strategy accounts for nonlinearities, actuator constraints, and disturbances and is validated using real opera...

This paper provides a comprehensive survey on advanced control techniques for Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems that are subject to input and output performance constraints. The focus is on addressing practical applications, such as actuator saturation and output limits, which are often encountered in industries like aerospace, automotive, and robo...

This paper investigates the problem of cooperative path following and obstacle avoidance of multiple UAV systems in three-dimensional space. Aiming at the limitations faced by existing studies in practical applications, such as actuator faults and wind disturbances, this paper proposes a new robust control strategy. The unmodeled uncertainties are...

In previous work, comparisons were made between large-scale simulations of the American Wake ExperimeNt (AWAKEN) wind farms conducted using the large-eddy simulation (LES) codes Nalu-Wind and Adaptive Mesh Refinement-Wind, the engineering wind farm model FLOw Redirection and Induction in Steady State (FLORIS), and the multi-scale Weather Research a...

This paper is based on the on-orbit service task of dual-arm space robot (DSR), which employs single gimbaled control moment gyroscopes (SGCMGs) as the base actuator. Aiming at the SGCMGs friction nonlinearity and the external time-varying disturbance uncertainty existed in the space robot system, a finite-time adaptive robust controller for joints...

This paper discusses the course tracking control of unmanned surface vehicles with actuator input quantization and an event-triggered mechanism. The system control laws are designed based on the backstepping method, combining dynamic surface control technology to mitigate the computational complexity expansion of virtual control laws. A fuzzy logic...

This paper studies the active vibration control of membrane structure by piezoelectric actuator. Firstly, the nonlinear vibration equation is established for membrane structure and the vibration equation is supplemented on the basis of the system equation established by Liu Xiang et al., and then the multi-mode dynamic model is obtained by Galerkin...

This study centers on the vibration suppression of high-rise building systems under extreme conditions, exploring a reinforcement learning (RL)-based vibration control strategy for flexible building systems with time-varying faults and asymmetric state constraints. A mathematical model precisely depicting the dynamic characteristics of flexible hig...

This paper studies how to actively control the nonlinear vibration of the plate using PVDF piezoelectric sheets as an actuator. By controlling the input voltage of the piezoelectric piece, the vibration displacement of the plate plane can be controlled. First, combining the structural geometric nonlinear theory and the isotropic assumption, the pla...

Environmental pollution generated by industrial wastes are deteriorating land, water, and marine life, which raises major concerns about climate change. Since environmentally friendly piezoelectric materials can generate clean energy by applying mechanical forces, they are seen as viable agents for industrial applications. In recent research work,...

Citation: Zolfaghari, H.; Ebrahimi, N.; Ji, Y.; Pitkow, X.; Davoodi, M. Integrated Analytical Modeling and Numerical Simulation Framework for Design Optimization of Electromagnetic Soft Actuators. Abstract: The growing interest in soft robotics arises from their unique ability to perform tasks beyond the capabilities of rigid robots, with soft actu...

Permanent magnetic linear synchronous motors (PMLSMs) have emerged as a promising solution for low-carbon urban rail transit systems due to their superior energy efficiency. However, their widespread adoption is hindered by significant challenges in achieving high-precision cooperative control and fault-tolerant operation across multi-PMLSMs. To ad...

This paper investigates the application of Neural Network Backstepping Control (NN-BSC) for enhancing the rotational speed control of Oscillating Water Column (OWC) wave energy systems. Traditional control methods face limitations when dealing with nonlinearities, irregular wave conditions, and actuator disturbances. To address these challenges, th...

The gut–brain axis (GBA) connects the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system (CNS) via the peripheral nervous system and humoral (e.g., circulatory and lymphatic system) routes. The GBA comprises a sophisticated interaction between various mammalian cells, gut microbiota, and systemic factors. This interaction shapes homeostatic and...

This study proposes a magnetoelastic strain sensor for highly deformed posture perception. The sensor can maintain stable sensing signal output under significant strain (200%) and at varying stretch rates (ranging from 1000 to 8000 mm min⁻¹). The sensor design is simple and can be applied to soft robots and wearable devices. The characteristics of...

Agriculture is a sector that plays a crucial role in ensuring food security and sustainable development. However, traditional agriculture practices face challenges such as inefficient irrigation methods and lack of real-time monitoring, leading to water waste and reduced crop yield. Several systems that attempt to address these challenges exist, su...

Magnetic inks are presented for direct ink writing (DIW), a 3D printing technique, yielding magnetic hydrogel actuators. To obtain the shear‐thinning and thixotropic behavior needed for DIW, the rheology modifier laponite is used. This additive ensures suitable rheological properties and dispersion of the magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles used. The...

This study combines experimental and numerical methods to explore an innovative application of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma flow control in a low-speed S-duct. S-ducts are widely used in modern aerospace and turbine equipment; however, their complex geometries make them susceptible to flow separation and stall. Therefore, enhancing int...

This paper proposes a passive fault-tolerant control strategy for a multi-caliper disc elevator brake system subject to unknown external disturbances and multiple actuator faults. Initially, a detailed analysis of the dynamic equations of the actuator in a multi-caliper disc elevator brake system with actuator faults is conducted. Subsequently, a n...

This paper proposes a new distributed fault estimation method based on the L1$\mathcal {L}_1$ performance, along with its circuit implementation. In order to achieve this objective, the paper begins by offering a thorough model of interconnected systems with time‐varying delays, which incorporates multiple faults, input/output disturbances, and unc...

Currently, soft pneumatic actuators are widely used in the field of soft robotics. However, the majority of them are designed for specific application scenarios. To broaden the practical applications of a single actuator and tackle the issue of actuator versatility, this paper introduces the design of a bionic multidirectional bending actuator insp...

Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) require robust control systems capable of adeptly compensating for potential faults to ensure operational safety and successful task execution. Addressing this requirement, we present a novel approach for computing control inputs of USVs under fault-prone conditions. Our method leverages a mathematical model, specif...

This article presents a bioinspired pneumatic soft actuator designed to mimic the flexo-extension movement of the human finger, with a particular focus on stiffness modulation through granular jamming. Three-chamber geometries – honeycomb, rectangular, and half-round – were evaluated to optimize curvature performance, utilizing Mold Star 15 Slow el...

In robotic reinforcement learning, the Sim2Real gap remains a critical challenge. However, the impact of Static friction on Sim2Real has been underexplored. Conventional domain randomization methods typically exclude Static friction from their parameter space. In our robotic reinforcement learning task, such conventional domain randomization approa...

As the end-effector of a humanoid robot, the dexterous hand plays a crucial role in the process of robot execution. However, due to the complicated and delicate structure of the human hand, it is difficult to replicate human hand functionality, balancing structural complexity, and cost. To address the problem, the article introduces the design and...

Shape memory alloy (SMA) is a class of intelligent materials that have gained significant attention in recent years due to their unique capabilities, including a high force-to-weight ratio, considerable recovery stress with high strain capacity, compact size, and durability, making them potential applications in various fields. However, effective p...

Magnetorheological fluids (MRFs) are functional fluids that exhibit rapid and reproducible rheological responses to external magnetic fields. MRFs have been used to develop haptic devices with fine haptic information for teleoperated surgical systems. To achieve this, we developed various compact MRF clutches for haptics and integrated them into a...

This paper addresses the bipartite consensus problem of signed directed multi-agent systems (MASs) subject to actuator faults. This problem plays a crucial role in various real-world systems where agents exhibit both cooperative and competitive interactions, such as autonomous vehicle fleets, smart grids, and robotic networks. To address this, unli...

We present our analysis, design, and implementation of a complete closed-loop microscopic position control system employing a pair of moving magnet Galvanometers as a motion transducer for applications in laser beam delivery systems in high-speed optical scanning and imaging. The system integrates electro-mechanics, data acquisition, servo position...

Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are gaining increasing attention within the industry. In this paper, the impact of platform motion on the aerodynamic characteristics of the FOWT array is numerically investigated. A high-fidelity numerical tool with the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is further developed based on the open-source C...

Conventional haptic feedback devices that rely on rigid components to achieve multiple degrees of freedom (DoF) often result in bulky, complex systems that hinder natural movement and increase user discomfort. This study addresses these limitations by substituting rigid materials with flexible, fabric-based materials to develop a variable shape act...

Water systems are vital components of modern infrastructure, yet they are increasingly susceptible to sophisticated cyber attacks with potentially dire consequences on public health and safety. While state-of-the-art machine learning techniques effectively detect anomalies, contemporary model-agnostic attack attribution methods using LIME, SHAP, an...

The muscle-like movement and speed of the electrohydraulic actuator have granted it much attention in soft robotics. Our aim is to review the advancements in electrohydraulic actuators inspired by the Hydraulically Amplified Self-healing Electrostatic (HASEL) actuator. With this paper, we focus on the performance of 21 electrohydraulic actuator des...

This paper investigates the attitude tracking control of a liquid-filled spacecraft, addressing the challenges such as large-amplitude liquid sloshing, external disturbances, and actuator faults. To overcome these issues, a novel proportional-integral-derivative (PID) dynamic sliding mode fault-tolerant control with time-delay estimation (TDE-PID-D...

This paper proposes a force controller for hydraulic actuators of the valve-manipulated type. The structure of the proposed controller is similar to that of the admittance controllers used for robotic systems, incorporating a virtual mass–damper system that transforms the measured force to the reference velocity. In the proposed controller, the ref...

In this work, a novel bipedal stepping piezoelectric actuator based on stick–slip principle is proposed. An integrated stator with symmetrically positioned dual driving feet has been developed, characterized by its element analysis. Key structural parameters were optimized, and a prototype was fabricated for a series of experiments. The experimenta...

This paper presents a two-step robust fault-tolerant controller of incorporating disturbances and actuator faults rejection for a UAV flight control system, which is challenging due to its complex and nonlinear dynamics. First, the main controller, which is designed separately, considers all the design parameters giving the desired closed loop syst...

This paper presents a detailed 3D mathematical model for the representative volume element (RVE) of bimorph 𝑑33-mode piezoelectric actuators, to examine the intensity and distribution of the electric field 𝐸𝑝 and strain 𝑆 within the piezoelectric material across different planes and under varying conditions. By maintaining constant dimensions, the...

This work presents the design and characterization of an innovative linear actuator for low-frequency applications based on a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) disc coupled to an electromagnet. MREs are a class of smart materials in which micrometre-sized magnetic particles are suspended in an elastomeric matrix. Most research works study their ap...

The McKibben muscle, widely employed in antagonistic drive robots, exhibits approximately 20% contraction under pneumatic pressure but lacks crucial passive extensibility. Previous attempts to achieve passive extensibility resulted in reduced overall contraction ratios due to the series connection of elongation and contraction sections. This study...

This brief tackles the predefined-time attitude tracking problem with guaranteed performance for rigid spacecraft subject to uncertain inertia, external disturbances, and actuator partial failure. Firstly, a nonlinear prescribed performance function (NPPF) is constructed, and a non-singular predefined-time terminal sliding mode (NPTSM) surface inte...

Magnetic composite polymers combine the properties of both magnet and polymers which enable them to produce complex shape magnetic components. These materials have potential applications ranging microfluidics, vibration dampers, actuators, and minimally invasive medical devices, because when magnetic fields are applied to them, they can change shap...

Wind turbine models integrated into flow solvers often overestimate blade loading in the tip region. This overestimation arises from overestimating the sampled velocity and angle of attack near the blade tip. We use the ratio of tip-corrected to non-tip-corrected axial and tangential velocity components from Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory to c...

The bending angle of soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) is a critical parameter influencing their reliability and effectiveness across various applications. Conventional measurement methods are often labour-intensive and impractical for experiments requiring multiple trials, creating a need for efficient, non-invasive techniques. This study proposes a m...

Designing robotic manipulators for generic tasks while meeting specific requirements is a complex, iterative process involving mechanical design, simulation, control, and testing. New computational design tools are needed to simplify and speed up such processes. This work presents an original formulation of the computational design problem, tailore...

Optical imaging systems using varifocal lenses have been widely used in many applications over the past several decades, such as machine vision devices, consumer electronic products, and medical instruments. Traditional varifocal lenses often consist of multiple solid focal length refractive optical elements. The varifocal ability is obtained by di...

Smart material applications, such as piezoelectric actuators, have emerged as effective methods for repairing cracks in aircraft structures due to their electromechanical properties. Numerous studies have been conducted using finite element (FE) simulations; however, there is a lack of parametric studies utilizing advanced computing technologies. T...

This article proposes a two-level pressure system (TPS) inspired by mammalian energy supply mechanisms to enhance the energy efficiency of hydraulic hexapod robots (HHRs), In contrast to traditional one-level pressure systems (OPSs), the TPS contains both high-pressure and low-pressure oil supplies, which can switch the oil supply pressure accordin...

Designing ground-aerial robots is challenging due to the increased actuation requirements which can lead to added weight and reduced locomotion efficiency. Morphobots mitigate this by combining actuators into multi-functional groups and leveraging ground transformation to achieve different locomotion modes. However, transforming on the ground requi...