No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of two tibial attachment sites for lateral suture stabilization (LSS) on the kinematics of the cranial cruciate ligament-deficient (CrCL-D) canine stifle during early, middle and late stance.<br />Study design: In vitro biomechanical study: 32 hind limbs from 16 canine cadavers.<br />Methods: Limbs were mounted in a testing jig and an electromagnetic tracking system was used to determine 3-D stifle kinematics under 33% body weight load during early, middle and late stance in the following sequence: CrCL intact, CrCL-D and LSS with the distal anchor through the tibial tuberosity (LSSTT) or through the cranial eminence of the extensor groove (LSSEG). The proximal anchor point was the lateral femoro-fabellar ligament.<br />Results: Transection of the CrCL resulted in significant changes in stifle kinematics during early, middle and late stance. Post-LSS stifle kinematics were more comparable to normal than post-transection kinematics for both techniques. Both LSS techniques restored stifle kinematics in CrCL-D stifles to varying amounts but neither technique successfully restored normal 3-D stifle kinematics. LSSEG improved kinematics of the CrCL-D stifle in the medial-lateral direction and axial rotation but performed poorly in restoring stifle kinematics in the cranial-caudal plane as compared to LSSTT.<br />Clinical significance: LSSTT and LSSEG techniques failed to completely restore normal stifle kinematics in CrCL-D stifles in vitro. / Master of Science

This thesis has developed an efficient methodology for automatic kinematic analysis of planar linkages using the concept of modular kinematics. Unlike conventional general purpose kinematic analysis packages where each joint in the mechanism is represented using a set of non-linear constraint equations which need to be solved by some iterative numerical procedure, modular kinematics is based on the original observation by Assur that kinematic state of a mechanism involving large number of links can be constructed out of the kinematic states of patterns of sub chains called modules taken in a given sequence called module sequence which in turn emulates the step by step construction procedure of traditional graphical methods. The position, velocity and acceleration analysis of modules are available in closed form. Kinematic analysis of modules later in the sequence is enabled by those of the ones earlier in the sequence, hence, the kinematic analysis of a mechanism is accomplished without any iterative endeavor by doing the kinematics of the modules as given in the module sequence. [102] classified all modules into three fundamental types namely input, dyad and transformation and also introduced the concept of constraint module for analyzing graphically non-constructible mechanisms within the paradigm of modular kinematics where a small step of numerical search was needed in an over all closed form kinematic formulation. Module sequence for a mechanism using the modules is not unique. Choice of a later module in the sequence depends upon the selection of modules earlier in the sequence. This thesis has presented a systematic approach of identifying all such methods for all the inversions of the mechanism and represented in the form of a module hierarchy or a module tree where each path from root to the leaf node represents a valid module sequence for the kinematic chain in hand. The work also extended the set of modules by adding eight new modules to what has already been used in literature to make it complete in the sense that all planar mechanisms involving revolute, prismatic and pin-in-slot (including circular slots) can be handled. The computational effort involved for analyzing these mechanisms thus depend on the number of constraint modules occurring in succession in the module sequence. However, maximum possible number of constraint modules in any mechanism with up to twelve links is only two. The derivative analysis also uses the same module sequence, but they are always devoid of any iterative steps. During the process of generation of a module sequence, at every stage multitude of modules could be identified for their potential placement in the sequence. But for every module sequence the difference between the number of input modules and that of constraint modules is constant and is equal to the kinematic degrees-of-freedom (d.o.f) of the mechanism. The algorithm presented in this thesis minimizes the number of generalized inputs (and hence extraneous constraints) and thus attempting to identify the simplest of the module sequences. In that sense the module sequences represented in the module tree are all optimal module sequences. The present work introduced the concept of multi phase modular kinematics which enables a large variety of mechanisms, conventionally identified as complex mechanisms, to be solved in closed form. This is achieved through the use of novel virtual link and virtual joints. Virtual link is slightly different from a normal rigid link in the sense that the joint locations on this are functions of some independent parameters. Since, the locations of joints are not fixed even in the local coordinate frame of the virtual link, the relative velocities between joints are not zero, they need to be appropriately accounted in kinematic analysis. The theory presented in the thesis is implemented in a computer program written in C++ on Windows platform and Graphics library (OpenGL) is used to display linkage configurations and simulations. The program takes the data of joints, input pairs, ground link in certain format through a file. Geometric models developed in any of the existing modeling softwares like ProE, Ideas, AutoCad etc. can be imported in VRML format to the links and in case of no geometric models a simple convex 2D geometry is created for each link for the purpose of visualization. Geometric import of links helps not only in understanding the simulations better but also in useful for dynamic analysis, dynamic motion analysis and interference analysis. A complete kinematic analysis (position, velocity and acceleration) is given for a four bar mechanism and illustrated the positional ( configuration) analysis using modular kinematics for several other examples like old-ham, quick-return mechanisms etc. in the current work. Multi-phase modular approach is illustrated using a five bar with floating input pairs, a back actor and a drafter mechanism and the Back actor configuration is shown with the imported link geometries. It is observed in practice that there are many apparently spatial Mechanisms, which are constructed out of symmetric dispositions of planar mechanisms in space. A pseudo spatial mechanism concept is proposed to solve this class of spatial mechanisms, which can actually be analyzed with the effort of solving only one such component. This concept is illustrated with Shaker and Umbrella mechanisms. Possible extensions of the concept for modeling and analysis of more general class of pseudo-spatial mechanisms are also indicated.

This diploma thesis deals with the measurement of kinematic points of rear multilink suspension using 3D optical scanners TRITOP and ATOS and developing a measurement methodology of similar types of suspension with these scanners. Subsequently, kinematic features of this suspension are analyzed using the multibody system MSC.ADAMS / Car.

The use of robotic manipulators in industrial applications is continuously growing. Therefore, the proposal of novel kinematic architectures for robotic manipulators can be a strategy for coping with the required performance of specific tasks. On this matter, the parallel manipulators represent an alternative to fulfill this gap. The objective of this manuscript is to prove that the energy efficiency of parallel manipulators can be increased by the use of kinematic redundancy. Due to the presence of kinematic redundancy, the number of solutions to the inverse kinematics problem become infinite. Hence, a redundancy resolution scheme is required to select a suitable one among the infinite solutions. In this work, a model predictive control (MPC) based method is proposed as redundancy resolution scheme. This proposal is evaluated numerically and experimentally by comparing the energy consumption of non-redundant and kinematically redundant manipulators during the execution of pre-defined tasks. The non-redundant manipulator under study is the planar parallel 3RRR manipulator. This manipulator consists of three identical kinematic chains containing one active revolute joint and two passive revolute joints. Kinematic redundancies were added to the manipulator by including one active prismatic joint in each kinematic chain. In this way, the kinematically redundant manipulator under study is the planar parallel 3PRRR manipulator. By activating or locking the prismatic joints, up to three levels of kinematic redundancy can be evaluated. Numerical kinematic and dynamic models of the manipulators under study were derived not only for their numerical evaluation but also for the derivation of the model-based redundancy resolution scheme. Experimental data was acquired using the prototype built at the Laboratory of Dynamics at São Carlos School of Engineering at University of São Paulo. This experimental data was exploited for assessing the usability of the MPC for deriving a redundancy resolution scheme and for evaluating the impact of several levels of kinematic redundancy on the manipulator\'s energy consumption. Based on this data, one can conclude that MPC can be a suitable alternative for solve redundancy resolution problems and that the redundant parallel manipulators presented a lower energy consumption than the non-redundant one to execute the pre-defined tasks. The rate of reduction on the energy consumption achieved by the redundant manipulators varied between 6% and 60% depending on the task. Nevertheless, the numerical and experimental data presented differences in some particular cases. / O número de aplicações realizadas pelos manipuladores robóticos cresce continuamente. Assim, o desenvolvimento de novas arquiteturas para os manipuladores robóticos mais adaptadas a aplicações concretas é necessário. Destarte, os manipuladores paralelos constituem uma alternativa a ser considerada. O objetivo deste texto é provar que a eficiência energética dos manipuladores paralelos pode ser incrementada por meio da redundância cinemática. A presença de redundância cinemática implica um número infinito de soluções no problema da cinemática inversa. Logo, é precisso um esquema de resolução de redundância para escolher uma das soluções. No presente texto, um método baseado no modelo de controle preditivo (MPC), é proposto como esquema de resolução de redundância. Esta proposta é avaliada tanto numérica como experimentalmente comparando o consumo energético dos manipuladores não redundante e redundantes durante a execução de umas trajetórias predefinidas. O manipulador paralelo não redundante estudado é o 3RRR. Este manipulador é composto por três cadeias cinemáticas idênticas que incluem uma junta rotativa ativa e duas juntas rotativas passivas. Redundâncias cinemáticas foram adicionadas ao manipulador incluindo uma junta prismática ativa em cada uma das três cadeias cinemáticas, obtendo assim, o manipulador redundante 3PRRR. Ativando ou bloqueando as juntas prismáticas podem ser avaliados até três níveis de redundância cinemática. Modelos matemáticos dos manipuladores foram propostos tanto para a estabelecer uma avaliação numérica como para a dedução do esquema de resolução de redundância. Um protótipo do manipulador 3PRRR construído na Escola da Engenharia de São Carlos foi usado para realizar os experimentos. Os dados experimentais foram utilizados para comprovar a utilidade do MPC como esquema de resolução de redundância, e para avaliar os efeitos da redundância cinemática no consumo energético. Com fundamento nos resultados é possível concluir que o MPC pode ser uma alternativa adequada para resolver problemas de resolução de redundância e que os manipuladores paralelos redundantes apresentaram um menor consumo energético para realizar a mesma tarefa quando comparados aos não redundante. A taxa de redução da energia em favor dos manipuladores redundantes varia entre 6% e 60% dependendo da tarefa. Por outro lado, a análise numérica mostrou discrepâncias com a análise experimental em certas circunstâncias.

In this study a universal command generator has been designed for robotics and CNC machinery. Encoding techniques has been utilized in order to represent the commands and their efficiencies have been discussed. The developed algorithm generates the trajectory of the end-effector with linear and circular interpolation in an offline fashion, the corresponding joint states and their error envelopes are computed with the utilization of a numerical inverse kinematic solver with a predefined precision. Finally, the command encoder employs the resulting data and produces the representation of positions in joint space with using proposed encoding techniques depending on the error tolerance for each joint. The encoding methods considered in this thesis are: Lossless data compression via higher order finite difference, Huffman Coding and Arithmetic Coding techniques, Polynomial Fitting methods with Chebyshev, Legendre and Bernstein Polynomials and finally Fourier and Wavelet Transformations. The algorithm is simulated for Puma 560 and Stanford Manipulators for a trajectory in order to evaluate the performances of the above mentioned techniques (i.e. approximation error, memory requirement, number of commands generated). According to the case studies, Chebyshev Polynomials has been determined to be the most suitable technique for command generation. Proposed methods have been implemented in MATLAB environment due to its versatile toolboxes. With this research the way to develop an encoding/decoding standard for an advanced command generator scheme for computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines in the near future has been paved.

The use of robotic manipulators in industrial applications is continuously growing. Therefore, the proposal of novel kinematic architectures for robotic manipulators can be a strategy for coping with the required performance of specific tasks. On this matter, the parallel manipulators represent an alternative to fulfill this gap. The objective of this manuscript is to prove that the energy efficiency of parallel manipulators can be increased by the use of kinematic redundancy. Due to the presence of kinematic redundancy, the number of solutions to the inverse kinematics problem become infinite. Hence, a redundancy resolution scheme is required to select a suitable one among the infinite solutions. In this work, a model predictive control (MPC) based method is proposed as redundancy resolution scheme. This proposal is evaluated numerically and experimentally by comparing the energy consumption of non-redundant and kinematically redundant manipulators during the execution of pre-defined tasks. The non-redundant manipulator under study is the planar parallel 3RRR manipulator. This manipulator consists of three identical kinematic chains containing one active revolute joint and two passive revolute joints. Kinematic redundancies were added to the manipulator by including one active prismatic joint in each kinematic chain. In this way, the kinematically redundant manipulator under study is the planar parallel 3PRRR manipulator. By activating or locking the prismatic joints, up to three levels of kinematic redundancy can be evaluated. Numerical kinematic and dynamic models of the manipulators under study were derived not only for their numerical evaluation but also for the derivation of the model-based redundancy resolution scheme. Experimental data was acquired using the prototype built at the Laboratory of Dynamics at São Carlos School of Engineering at University of São Paulo. This experimental data was exploited for assessing the usability of the MPC for deriving a redundancy resolution scheme and for evaluating the impact of several levels of kinematic redundancy on the manipulator\'s energy consumption. Based on this data, one can conclude that MPC can be a suitable alternative for solve redundancy resolution problems and that the redundant parallel manipulators presented a lower energy consumption than the non-redundant one to execute the pre-defined tasks. The rate of reduction on the energy consumption achieved by the redundant manipulators varied between 6% and 60% depending on the task. Nevertheless, the numerical and experimental data presented differences in some particular cases. / O número de aplicações realizadas pelos manipuladores robóticos cresce continuamente. Assim, o desenvolvimento de novas arquiteturas para os manipuladores robóticos mais adaptadas a aplicações concretas é necessário. Destarte, os manipuladores paralelos constituem uma alternativa a ser considerada. O objetivo deste texto é provar que a eficiência energética dos manipuladores paralelos pode ser incrementada por meio da redundância cinemática. A presença de redundância cinemática implica um número infinito de soluções no problema da cinemática inversa. Logo, é precisso um esquema de resolução de redundância para escolher uma das soluções. No presente texto, um método baseado no modelo de controle preditivo (MPC), é proposto como esquema de resolução de redundância. Esta proposta é avaliada tanto numérica como experimentalmente comparando o consumo energético dos manipuladores não redundante e redundantes durante a execução de umas trajetórias predefinidas. O manipulador paralelo não redundante estudado é o 3RRR. Este manipulador é composto por três cadeias cinemáticas idênticas que incluem uma junta rotativa ativa e duas juntas rotativas passivas. Redundâncias cinemáticas foram adicionadas ao manipulador incluindo uma junta prismática ativa em cada uma das três cadeias cinemáticas, obtendo assim, o manipulador redundante 3PRRR. Ativando ou bloqueando as juntas prismáticas podem ser avaliados até três níveis de redundância cinemática. Modelos matemáticos dos manipuladores foram propostos tanto para a estabelecer uma avaliação numérica como para a dedução do esquema de resolução de redundância. Um protótipo do manipulador 3PRRR construído na Escola da Engenharia de São Carlos foi usado para realizar os experimentos. Os dados experimentais foram utilizados para comprovar a utilidade do MPC como esquema de resolução de redundância, e para avaliar os efeitos da redundância cinemática no consumo energético. Com fundamento nos resultados é possível concluir que o MPC pode ser uma alternativa adequada para resolver problemas de resolução de redundância e que os manipuladores paralelos redundantes apresentaram um menor consumo energético para realizar a mesma tarefa quando comparados aos não redundante. A taxa de redução da energia em favor dos manipuladores redundantes varia entre 6% e 60% dependendo da tarefa. Por outro lado, a análise numérica mostrou discrepâncias com a análise experimental em certas circunstâncias.

The diploma thesis is focused to possibility utilizing of optical scanners TRITOP and ATOS for set up geometry of wheels. In background research are described the most important parameters of wheel suspension and devices for measuring these parameters. Practical part is concerned with progression of measurement, results and with determination coordinates of kinematic points. These points are made 3D model of forward and backward suspension wheels. This model helps to make kinematic characteristics and its progression due to attitude of wheel. In last part is described possibility to utilizing of optical scanner ATOS to common measurement of geometry wheels.