Chen Diansheng

Design and kinematics simulation for bionic crank-slider mechanism of jumping robot

Jumping locomotion is an ideal means of overcoming obstacles and traversing rough terrain. By taking inspirations from the locust, this paper presents the development and analysis of a novel crank-slider jumping mechanism. Firstly, the locust morphology is described and the posture of hindlimbs at take-off phase is analyzed. Base on that, a crank-slider mechanism is proposed to mimic the locust hindlimb. The mechanical analysis shows that the ground reaction force is similar to that of the locust during take-off stage, which reduce the possibility of premature lift-off and lays the foundation for developing the small jumping robot. Then, the designed robot employs elastic elements in the crank-slider mechanism, which is triggered by the segment-gear system. At last, its jumping performance is verified by kinematic modeling.

An improvement to the reciprocating gait orthosis for aiding paraplegic patients in walking

As the conventional reciprocating gait orthosis (RGO) has been deemed incapable of facilitating the patients’ passive movement with significant gait discrepancies and distortion, in addition to characteristics such as poor stability, and negligible knee joint rehabilitation, a power assisted reciprocating gait orthosis (PARGO) was designed. Drive devices were added to the hip and knee joints of the RGO. Through efficient implementation of structural components, the number of the required motors was reduced, therefore decreasing the weight of the orthosis. The PARGO knee joint’s structural principle was analyzed to characterize the effect of the PARGO’s single-axis knee joint design on wear comfort, thereby providing a basis for the wear of the PARGO. By analyzing the sagittal movement patterns of the hip and knee joints during normal human gait, kinematic analysis was carried out to obtain the input patterns of the PARGO hip and knee joint drive motors, enabling the patients to more accurately reproduce the normal gaits of hip and knee joints during the rehabilitation training with the aid of the PARGO, and the control process of the PARGO was studied. Finally, a prototype of the PARGO was developed, and experimentation was carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of the improved orthosis.

The design and application of a sUAV system for antarctic expedition

Antarctic conditions are critical, which means low attitude flight is quite dangerous. However, with the development of the polar expedition and the upgrade of miniature sensor equipments, the introduction of small unmanned aircraft systems as a new polar expedition method, is one of the international forefront innovative research. This paper will introduce the background, research, development and scientific research flight of a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAV), which is aimed to the scientific expedition use in Antarctica.

Locust-inspired jumping robot with the initial jumping posture control

To improve the jumping performance, this paper presents a locust-inspired jumping robot with initial body posture adjustment and self-righting mechanisms. A segmental gear, stretching and triggering the spring for storage and rapid release of energy, is used for the jumping mechanism. A pair of front legs driven by an additional motor is used for the initial body posture adjustment. Furthermore, a pole leg is added to the jumping legs to perform the self-righting mechanism. Therefore, the robot can recover its body from the upside down posture on the ground and simultaneously recover the jumping legs and store energy. Experimental results indicate that the jumping robot with the size of 12 cm × 8 cm × 2.9 cm and 300 g weight can jump across the obstacle with the controlled trajectory. The initial body posture can range from 0 deg to 60 deg and will up to 90 deg when stretch the length of forelegs. Furthermore, the robot can recover its body posture on the ground and store the energy for the second jump within 3 s. Our work may provide reference for the further researches of taking-off posture control mechanisms.

Stability analysis of a mobile health care robot

This paper is devoted to analyze system stability, based on a wheeled mobile health care robot. First, the center gravity (CG) projection method, energy stability margin (ESM) and zero moment point (ZMP) are used to quantify the static and dynamic stability. Then the stability is stimulated with Adams, and the upper accelerations which can stabilize the motion is thus obtained. Finally, validated on a designed robot model, the static and dynamic stability is confirmed. It reveals that the experimental results are consistent with the theoretical analysis results and simulation results.

Analysis and experimental research on service robot oriented light modular mechanical arm

Light modular mechanical arm is widely used in service robots. This paper combines the SHUNCK 7 DOF mechanical arm in the application of nursing robot, building its kinematics model, analyzing the inverse kinematic problem with the geometry method against specific grasping task, and the dynamic problem with the Newton-Euler method to achieve the smooth movement of the terminal. At last, construct the 3D model of the mechanical arm with OpenGL and conduct the dynamic simulation of the joints in the PC interface. Through a given task on the actual mechanical arm, the feasibility of modeling and analysis method, as well as validity of simulation result are testified. With the theoretical analysis as the basis, the mechanical arm could accomplish the grasping task smoothly and accurately, which lays a foundation for the nursing robot to achieve more advanced tasks autonomously.