Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-88). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.160-163).

Thesis (M.S. in Astronautical Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2003. / "December 2003". Thesis advisor(s): Cristi, Roberto ; Agrawal, Brij. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Roberto Cristi. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-72). Also available online.

M.Tech. (Electrical Engineering) / The challenges faced by modern industrial robots and robots in general are increasing in cornplexity. A modern robot can be defined as a technological system. capable of replacing or assisting man in carrying out a variety of physical tasks. Thus the implementation of advanced technology in the field of industrial robotics poses different challenges to those faced by engineers in other fields. The reason for this lies mainly in the fact that robots have to be be able to interact with their environment in some intelligent way. For the robot to be able to accomplish this. it must be able to obtain information about its immediate surroundings. and/or its position in the surroundings. In the case of industrial or other stationary robots. the knowledge about its surroundings are of less importance than its own position and the position of the relevant workpieces in the work space. Traditionally the position of a robot arm is measured using position encoders mounted at the joints of the robot arm. The combination of information obtained from these sensors gives the position of the endpoint of the arm. To ensure that the encoder positions accurately reflect the actual position of the arm. the arms have to be rigid, resulting in a heavy. bulky and costly system. If it were possible to determine the endpoint of a robot arm without using the joints of the arm as reference points, it would be possible to design more flexible robot arms. resulting in less costly and more maneuverable systems. Various solutions were considered for this measurement problem and from these it was decided to investigate the use of inertial measurement technology to determine the endpoint position of a flexible robot arm. To test the use of gyroscopes as feedback sensors in the position control of a flexible robot arm. a small low cost robot arm was developed. The design was based on an articulated robot arm with three degrees of freedom (DOF). The system was designed to be fitted with a flexible arm segment to evaluate the gyroscope-based feedback system. The system was further fitted with traditional position sensors to be used as the benchmark against which the gyroscope-based control system was to be compared. Making use of the traditional position sensors the endpoint of the arm can be accurately placed in a space of :3mm x 4mm x 1mni. When the robot was fitted with the flexible arm segment the gyroscopes were able to measure movement of the flexible ann. which the traditional sensors could not detect. Using the gyroscopes as position feedback. the robot was able to track the potentiometer position within 0.19° under dynamic conditions, but under stationary conditions. the error was 6.50 • Based on the results obtained. it was concluded that the displacement of a robot arm segment can be determined using inertial measurement technology. The low cost sensors used proved the concept. but for reliable operation. higher accuracy sensors would be required aided with information obtained from other sensors. i.e, potentiometers resolvers or other absolute encoders.

This thesis presents the continued design and system integration of a prototype three Degrees-Of-Freedom (DOF) Spacecraft Simulator used in the Proximity Operations Simulator Facility, as part of the Naval Postgraduate School's Spacecraft Robotics Laboratory, to simulate autonomous guidance, navigation and control (GNC) for spacecraft proximity operations and assembly as part of the Autonomous Multi-Agent Physically Interacting Spacecraft project. Several key enhancements of the spacecraft simulator were made including the integration of onboard sensors, improved electrical distribution system, improved command and data handling system, and the design and integration of vectorable thrusters. A pair of independently controlled 360 degree vectorable thrusters is now included in the spacecraft simulator. A control system and thruster mapping algorithm were developed to incorporate the translational and rotational control authority that the vectorable thrusters provide with the rotational control authority of the previously developed Miniature Single-Gimbaled Control-Moment-Gyroscope (MSGCMG). Simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the functionality of the prototype AMPHIS vehicle. The work done in developing the prototype vehicle will enable rapid fabrication of additional vehicles to provide essential hardware-inthe- loop experimentation capabilities for evolving control algorithms, sensors and mating mechanisms to be used for autonomous spacecraft assembly.

Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) technology is advancing rapidly. Gyroscopes, accelerometers and magnetometers, also referred to as an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), has traditionally been associated with aerospace and industrial robotics but is now within every smart phone. The proliferation of these low-cost devices has facilitated countless new applications with many more still unrealised. This dissertation presents work towards this end. A significant contribution of this work was the development of novel Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) algorithms that fuse together sensor data from an IMU to provide an absolute measurement of orientation relative to the Earth. The novel work presented on non-gyro IMU s demonstrated the potential practical benefits of such kinematically redundant sensor arrays. Low-cost MEMS can only be fully utilised if they are combined with a calibration solution to provide precise measurements with a determined accuracy. This dissertation presents a comprehensive calibration solution to the specific requirements of these sensors based on extensive characterisations investigations. The calibration solutions enable sensors costing <10 United States Dollar (USD) to achieve a static pitch/roll accuracy of <10 and a static heading accuracy of <2°. This performance is equivalent to commercial 1M Us costing up to 3000 USD. The AHRS algorithm and sensor calibration works were brought together in the development of three IMU hardware platforms. To date, >500 have been sold and the open-source associated algorithm downloaded> 10,000 times. Each platform addressed a specific design need and together these facilitated a wide range of new applications; demonstrated by the numerous scientific publications that resulted from collaborative projects and user projects.

Thesis. 1977. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND AERONAUTICS. / Includes bibliographical references. / M.S.

Rocking-mass gyroscope consists of an assembly of four cantilever beams with a rigid mass attached to them in the middle subjected to base rotations. Due to the gyroscope effect, the beams undergo coupled flexural-torsional vibrations. The main goal of the research is to develop an accurate model of such a system and along this line a detailed mathematical modeling of the gyroscope is developed. The equations of motion clearly show the presence of the gyroscopic couplings in all cantilever beams. A computer simulation model in its most general form has been developed, to analyze the effectiveness of this type of gyroscope. / UOIT

Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: MEMS; suspension; gyroscope; folded springs; statics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 182-187).