Ken'ichi Yano

Robust liquid container transfer control for complete sloshing suppression

The paper is concerned with the advanced control of liquid container transfer, with special consideration given to the suppression of sloshing (liquid vibration) while maintaining a high speed of transfer for the container. In order to construct a high speed transfer system for a liquid container that satisfies the reduction of endpoint residual vibration and has a robustness to change in the static liquid level, a suitable nominal model was adopted and an appropriate reference trajectory was determined by the optimization method of Fletcher and Reeves (1964). Based on the above command inputs and using a suitable nominal model, an H/sup /spl infin// feedback control system was applied to this process, and its effectiveness is shown through simulations and experiments. Furthermore, an active control method that takes into account the rotational motion of the container in addition to the linear transfer motion is presented, which can achieve complete suppression of sloshing during the whole transfer process.

Sloshing analysis and suppression control of tilting-type automatic pouring machine

Abstract This paper presents a two degree-of-freedom control that allows the molten-metal of tilting-type pouring machine to attain the requested angle during the backward-tilting portion of its cycle and to reduce the sloshing (liquid vibration) caused by this motion. To this end, the feedforward part is constructed using the input shaping method and a feedback compensation is performed based on the H ∞ loop shaping method. Furthermore, two kinds of model are used and useful ways of applying two different models to the same problem is presented with the aim of integrating fluid analysis and control design.

Sloshing suppression control of automatic pouring robot by hybrid shape approach

This paper presents the advanced control of an automatic pouring process, with special attention being paid to the suppression of sloshing (liquid vibration) as well as to high-speed transfer in a 3D space. In order to realize these objectives, a novel automatic pouring robot (APR) is developed. The controllers are designed by a hybrid shape approach, considering both time and frequency characteristics, in order to construct an APR which satisfies various control specifications such as the sloshing suppression, overshooting, the settling time and restriction of the control inputs magnitude. The effectiveness of the proposed system is shown through some experiments.

Motion control of liquid container considering an inclined transfer path

Abstract The present paper is concerned with advanced control of liquid container transfer along an inclined transfer path, paying special attention to the suppression of sloshing (liquid vibration). To suppress sloshing in the container during acceleration and deceleration along the inclined transfer path, we present a method to actively control the containers rotational motion. This system is useful for saving space in factories and optimizing foundry processes. The effectiveness of the proposed system is demonstrated through simulations and experiments.

Liquid container transfer control on 3D transfer path by hybrid shaped approach

The paper is concerned with the advanced control of liquid container transfer, with special consideration given to the transfer on the three dimensional (3D) transfer path as well as the suppression of sloshing (liquid vibration) while maintaining a high speed of transfer for the container. The controller is designed by the hybrid shaped approach considering both time and frequency characteristics, in order to construct a high-speed transfer system for a liquid container which satisfies various control specifications such as the sloshing suppression, overshoot, settling time and restriction of control inputs magnitude. The effectiveness of the proposed control system is shown through experiments.

Operation assist control system of rotary crane using proposed haptic joystick as man-machine interface

The purpose of This work is to describe the development of a safe, semi-automatic man-machine control system in which the automatic control of a machine is incorporated with manual instructions from an operator. First, a haptic joystick which can provide suggestive information to a crane operator via haptic feedback was developed. Second, operational support was provided to the joystick through the application of the impedance control and the gravity compensation. Third, restrictions on the cranes velocity were, imposed by haptic control. Finally, the validity of the proposed haptic control system which can easily and safely transfer a load to arbitrary positions without colliding with obstacles was demonstrated experimentally.

Tremor suppression control of Meal-Assist Robot with adaptive filter

A robot that supports independent living by assisting with eating and other activities involving the use of the hand using the operators own hand would be helpful for people suffering from tremors of the hand or any other body part. In this study, the proposed adaptive filter estimates tremor frequency with a time-varying property and individual differences online, and insulates the voluntary motion signal from the sensor signal containing tremor components. As a result, the developed human-machine interface makes it possible for the person with a tremor to manipulate the supporting robot without causing operability to deteriorate and without hazards due to improper operation.

Flexion-extension motion assistance using an upper limb motion-assist robot based on trajectory estimation of reaching movement

People of all ages have suffered impairment in traffic accidents or sport accidents, and these individuals worry about dysfunction of their upper limbs, but they can recover from dysfunction by rehabilitation. In this study, we developed an assistive robot for upper limb movement that has high rehabilitation effectiveness. To achieve this, we proposed a reaching movement support method that considers an expanding joint’s range of motion. The effectiveness of our method is shown through experiments.

A virtual environment medical training system for bone drilling with 3 DOF force feedback

In this work a virtual reality medical training system (MTS) for bone drilling skill training is presented. For this purpose a novel controller algorithm, two graphical user interfaces for teaching and simulating purposes are developed. A 3 DOF haptic display that is developed in our laboratory is used for force feedback. Several user tests are performed to validate how the developed MTS helps for skill improvement. The effects of adding acoustic feedback and the advantages of using a 3 DOF haptic display instead of 1 DOF are investigated. Preliminary user studies suggest that the proposed system can be a powerful tool for teaching how to drill into bone.

A control algorithm and preliminary user studies for a bone drilling medical training system

Bone drilling procedures require a high surgeon skill. The required core skills are: recognizing the drilling end-point, ability of applying constant, sufficient, but non-excessive feeding velocity and thrust force. Although several simulators and training systems were developed for different surgery, a bone drilling medical training system does not exist yet. In this paper, a bone drilling medical training system is proposed and a novel control algorithm for the problem is presented. A graphical user interface is developed to complete a medical training system structure. Experimental results for controller performance are satisfactory. Additional experiments are performed to check if the developed system improves the skill of trainees or not. Early results suggest that training in the developed medical training system is a promising way to teach drilling into a bone to medical students.