This thesis presents a novel design paradigm of mobile robots: the Hybrid Mobile Robot system. It consists of a combination of parallel and serially connected links resulting in a hybrid mechanism that includes a mobile robot platform for locomotion and a manipulator arm for manipulation, both interchangeable functionally. All state-of-the-art mobile robots have a separate manipulator arm module attached on top of the mobile platform. The platform provides mobility and the arm provides manipulation. Unlike them, the new design has the ability to interchangeably provide locomotion and manipulation capability, both simultaneously. This was accomplished by integrating the locomotion platform and the manipulator arm as one entity rather than two separate and attached modules. The manipulator arm can be used as part of the locomotion platform and vice versa. This paradigm significantly enhances functionality. The new mechanical design was analyzed with a virtual prototype that was developed with MSC Adams Software. Simulations were used to study the robot’s enhanced mobility through animations of challenging tasks. Moreover, the simulations were used to select nominal robot parameters that would maximize the arm’s payload capacity, and provide for locomotion over unstructured terrains and obstacles, such as stairs, ditches and ramps. The hybrid mobile robot also includes a new control architecture based on embedded on-board wireless communication network between the robot’s links and modules such as the actuators and sensors. This results in a modular control architecture since no cable connections are used between the actuators and sensors in each of the robot links. This approach increases the functionality of the mobile robot also by providing continuous rotation of each link constituting the robot. The hybrid mobile robot’s novel locomotion and manipulation capabilities were successfully experimented using a complete physical prototype. The experiments provided test results that support the hypothesis on the qualitative and quantitative performance of the mobile robot in terms of its superior mobility, manipulation, dexterity, and ability to perform very challenging tasks. The robot was tested on an obstacle course consisting of various test rigs including man–made and natural obstructions that represent the natural environments the robot is expected to operate on.

De nos jours, les entreprises doivent faire face à une situation économique de plus en plus concurrentielle qui les oblige à développer de plus en plus rapidement des produits de plus en plus complexes. C’est dans ce contexte que sont apparus les systèmes mécatroniques, fruits de l’intégration de technologies issues de la mécanique, l’électronique, l’informatique et l’automatique. Ces systèmes mécatroniques sont particulièrement complexes à concevoir pour les bureaux d’étude en raison des niveaux d’intégration fonctionnelle et techniques, nécessitant une forte coordination entre les différents ingénieurs, de différentes disciplines. Il est par conséquent nécessaire de fournir aux concepteurs de nouveaux outils permettant de mieux concevoir, de manière plus efficace, des produits mécatroniques, optimisés tant du point de vue fonctionnel que performanciel. La thèse présentée dans ce mémoire vise à proposer aux concepteurs des outils permettant de concevoir des architectures mécatronique et de les optimiser, dans les phases amont du processus de conception (conception architecturale). Nous présentons dans un premier temps notre démarche de conception globale, comprenant quatre niveaux de conception et permettant, en détaillant progressivement les architectures mécatroniques dans les différents niveaux, de construire plusieurs architectures permettant de répondre à un besoin client, tout en satisfaisant aux normes et législations en vigueur. Dans un deuxième temps, nous proposons une démarche d’optimisation permettant d’employer des techniques d’optimisation combinatoire afin d’automatiser une partie du processus de conception architecturale, en particulier la phase visant à construire les architectures produits à partir d’un ensemble de principes de solution ou de solutions techniques. Nous montrons enfin dans un troisième temps l’application des étapes de notre démarche globale, ainsi que de notre démarche d’optimisation combinatoire, afin de résoudre un problème visant à développer une éolienne de moyenne puissance pour l’alimentation d’un gîte de montagne. / Nowadays, industries should face a more and more competitive economic situation that forces them to faster develop increasingly complex products. This is in this context that appeared mechatronic systems, the fruit of the integration of technologies from mechanical, electrical, computer and control engineering. These mechatronic systems are particularly complex to design for R&D designers as they require strong coordination between the engineers from different specialities to reach the required levels of functional and technical integration. It is therefore necessary to provide new design tools and approaches to better and more efficiently design mechatronic products and optimize their functionalities as well as their performance. The thesis presented in this manuscript aims to provide design approaches to the designers to design and optimize mechatronic architectures from the early design phases (embodiment design). We first present our global design approach, with four design levels to build and gradually detail mechatronic architectures to meet customer needs as well as the standards and legislation. Secondly, we propose an combinatorial optimization-based approach to computerize some parts of the architectural design process, especially the phase where architectures are built from a set solution of principles or technical solutions. We finally show how the design and optimization approaches have been applied to solve a design problem aiming to develop a medium power wind turbine for supplying a mountain cottage.

Nas linhas de montagens industriais, a fim de atender os requisitos de mercado e de ciclo de vida dos produtos, os requisitos de manufatura e as novas tecnologias presentes nos equipamentos indicam a necessidade de reconfiguração e reprogramação do fluxo de processos de forma cada vez mais frequente. Atualmente, uma das opções para implantar um sistema de manufatura flexível, capaz de reagir às mudanças que ocorrem no processo de fabricação, consiste na utilização de tecnologias que forneçam maior flexibilidade, capacidade de reutilização e menor custo. Neste contexto, os robôs baseados em módulos mecatrônicos podem ser uma alternativa em relação aos manipuladores convencionais, pois apresentam uma estrutura cinemática flexível, podendo se adaptar às mudanças das linhas de produção, nas indústrias de manufatura. O presente trabalho apresenta uma proposta para o desenvolvimento de módulos mecatrônicos para a montagem de robôs manipuladores modulares, baseada em um procedimento sequencial composto das seguintes etapas: (a) elaboração do projeto mecânico modular; (b) projeto dos sistemas eletrônicos e de atuação para cada módulo; (c) definição dos agentes mecatrônicos; e (d) descrição dos modelos matemáticos e os algoritmos de comunicação entre módulos mecatrônicos. Nesta pesquisa apresenta-se um estudo no qual os módulos mecatrônicos utilizam energia de origem pneumática e são constituídos por unidades independentes utilizadas na formação de estruturas robotizadas as quais permitem a montagem de diferentes arquiteturas. Um estudo de caso é apresentado para ilustrar a construção de um robô modular cartesiano. Este robô é construído por meio de acoplamentos de módulos mecatrônicos e gerenciado pela associação dos agentes mecatrônicos presentes no sistema, os quais equacionam a cinemática da estrutura formada, planejam a trajetória a ser executada e disponibilizam informações que podem ser utilizadas para o controle, supervisão e proteção do sistema por exemplo. A arquitetura proposta permite a reconfiguração dos recursos de hardware e software, de forma que todos os módulos do robô podem ser reorganizados e/ou substituídos, dependendo da função, aplicação para as quais se destinam. / In industrial manufacturing lines, in order to meet the market requirements and life cycle of manufactured products, the manufacturing requirements and the present of new technologies in equipment, indicate the need for reconfiguration and reprogramming processes, which are becoming more frequent. Currently, one of the options to deploy a flexible manufacturing system that is capable of reacting to changes in the manufacturing process is the use of technologies that provide greater flexibility, reusability and lower cost. In this context, the robots based on mechatronic modules can be an alternative to conventional manipulators, since they have a flexible kinematic structure, which can adapt to the changes in production lines in manufacturing industries. This paper presents a proposal for the development of mechatronic modules for assembly robots modular manipulators, based on a sequential procedure consists of the following steps: (a) Develop a modular mechanical design; (b) design electronic systems and operations for each module; (c) definition of mechatronic agents; and (d) a description of mathematical models and algorithms of the communication between mechatronic modules. This research presents a study where the mechatronic modules use pneumatic energy and consist of independents units used in the formation of robotic structures, thus allowing the assembly of different architectures. In a case study, the construction of a modular Cartesian robot is presented. This robot is built by mounting the mechatronic modules and is managed by mechatronic agents present in the system (Multi-Agent System). This system obtains the kinematic equations of the formed structure, realize the path planning, and provide information that can be used for the control, like supervision and protection system for example. The proposed architecture allows reconfiguration of hardware and software resources, so that all robot modules can be rearranged and/or replaced, depending on the function or, the final application.

Um Maßnahmen zu Verbesserungen an einem mechatronischen Handhabungssystem für den Transport von Windeln vorzunehmen, wäre eine strukturierte Methode vorteilhaft, da aktuell angewandte Vorgehensweisen durch Intuition geprägt sind. Diese intuitiven Vorgehensweisen bergen Nachteile sowohl in der Objektivität als auch bei der Dokumentation. Aus diesem Grund ist für das beschriebene mechatronische Handhabungssystem eine Methode zur Unterstützung des Entscheidungsprozesses entwickelt worden. Mit Hilfe eines Probandentests erfolgte eine erste Überprüfung. Durch die Methode erhält der Anwender eine Schritt für Schritt Anleitung, welche sich durch ein möglichst rationales Vorgehen auszeichnet und in der Lage ist die Wirkung subjektiver Einflüsse bei notwendigen Entscheidungen zu reduzieren.

Nas linhas de montagens industriais, a fim de atender os requisitos de mercado e de ciclo de vida dos produtos, os requisitos de manufatura e as novas tecnologias presentes nos equipamentos indicam a necessidade de reconfiguração e reprogramação do fluxo de processos de forma cada vez mais frequente. Atualmente, uma das opções para implantar um sistema de manufatura flexível, capaz de reagir às mudanças que ocorrem no processo de fabricação, consiste na utilização de tecnologias que forneçam maior flexibilidade, capacidade de reutilização e menor custo. Neste contexto, os robôs baseados em módulos mecatrônicos podem ser uma alternativa em relação aos manipuladores convencionais, pois apresentam uma estrutura cinemática flexível, podendo se adaptar às mudanças das linhas de produção, nas indústrias de manufatura. O presente trabalho apresenta uma proposta para o desenvolvimento de módulos mecatrônicos para a montagem de robôs manipuladores modulares, baseada em um procedimento sequencial composto das seguintes etapas: (a) elaboração do projeto mecânico modular; (b) projeto dos sistemas eletrônicos e de atuação para cada módulo; (c) definição dos agentes mecatrônicos; e (d) descrição dos modelos matemáticos e os algoritmos de comunicação entre módulos mecatrônicos. Nesta pesquisa apresenta-se um estudo no qual os módulos mecatrônicos utilizam energia de origem pneumática e são constituídos por unidades independentes utilizadas na formação de estruturas robotizadas as quais permitem a montagem de diferentes arquiteturas. Um estudo de caso é apresentado para ilustrar a construção de um robô modular cartesiano. Este robô é construído por meio de acoplamentos de módulos mecatrônicos e gerenciado pela associação dos agentes mecatrônicos presentes no sistema, os quais equacionam a cinemática da estrutura formada, planejam a trajetória a ser executada e disponibilizam informações que podem ser utilizadas para o controle, supervisão e proteção do sistema por exemplo. A arquitetura proposta permite a reconfiguração dos recursos de hardware e software, de forma que todos os módulos do robô podem ser reorganizados e/ou substituídos, dependendo da função, aplicação para as quais se destinam. / In industrial manufacturing lines, in order to meet the market requirements and life cycle of manufactured products, the manufacturing requirements and the present of new technologies in equipment, indicate the need for reconfiguration and reprogramming processes, which are becoming more frequent. Currently, one of the options to deploy a flexible manufacturing system that is capable of reacting to changes in the manufacturing process is the use of technologies that provide greater flexibility, reusability and lower cost. In this context, the robots based on mechatronic modules can be an alternative to conventional manipulators, since they have a flexible kinematic structure, which can adapt to the changes in production lines in manufacturing industries. This paper presents a proposal for the development of mechatronic modules for assembly robots modular manipulators, based on a sequential procedure consists of the following steps: (a) Develop a modular mechanical design; (b) design electronic systems and operations for each module; (c) definition of mechatronic agents; and (d) a description of mathematical models and algorithms of the communication between mechatronic modules. This research presents a study where the mechatronic modules use pneumatic energy and consist of independents units used in the formation of robotic structures, thus allowing the assembly of different architectures. In a case study, the construction of a modular Cartesian robot is presented. This robot is built by mounting the mechatronic modules and is managed by mechatronic agents present in the system (Multi-Agent System). This system obtains the kinematic equations of the formed structure, realize the path planning, and provide information that can be used for the control, like supervision and protection system for example. The proposed architecture allows reconfiguration of hardware and software resources, so that all robot modules can be rearranged and/or replaced, depending on the function or, the final application.

La conception d'un système complexe est une étape cruciale. Ce constat est particulièrement vrai dans le cadre de la conception de systèmes mécatroniques, multi technologies et nécessitant une approche pluridisciplinaire et collaborative. Nous nous plaçons ici dans le cadre de l'Ingénierie Système (IS) qui se focalise sur la définition des besoins et des exigences, la recherche de concepts, puis la définition d'architectures fonctionnelles et organiques d'un système. L'IS promeut pour cela un certain nombre de concepts, de processus et une démarche maintenant éprouvés en industrie, souvent normalisés tout en faisant l'objet de nombreux travaux de recherche. En particulier, nous nous intéressons ici à un processus dit support de l'IS, le processus d'évaluation. Nous nous focalisons particulièrement sur l'évaluation de l'efficacité puis la comparaison des différentes solutions d'architectures fonctionnelles et organiques d'un système mécatronique qui émergent invariablement de la conception. Le but de ce processus est de guider et d'aider au choix, parmi ces architectures candidates mais souvent incomplètes ou à tout le moins immatures en début de conception, d'une solution permettant de maximiser la satisfaction des besoins de toutes les parties prenantes du système. La mise en œuvre de cette évaluation se heurte à plusieurs difficultés. Tout d'abord, la vision consensuelle et unifiée de données, informations et connaissances mais aussi des activités proprement dites d'évaluation, ‘au-dessus' des métiers impliqués dans la conception, reste limitée. C'est un premier verrou traité dans ces travaux car son absence est ainsi un frein à l'évaluation objective et partagée d'une solution. Pour contribuer à cette vision consensuelle, il est proposé un modèle conceptuel des données de l'évaluation en ingénierie système. Ensuite, l'estimation des conséquences des choix tout au long d'une conception résolument itérative et qui procède donc à petits pas, le traitement d'objectifs multiples voire contradictoires et la prise en compte de l'incertitude propre à la conception sont autant de problèmes classiques en conception. C'est le verrou central sur lequel ce travail a porté. L'estimation des choix de conception est traitée d'abord par une formalisation des liens de traçabilité entre les exigences, fonctions et composants de la conception. Cette formalisation est un préalable à la détection et correction des incohérences des liens de traçabilité en vue de l'identification automatisée des impacts potentiels des choix d'élément d'architecture sur les différents critères de satisfaction du système à faire. Une articulation entre les modèles de comportement du système à faire et les modèles de décision est ensuite proposée pour agréger le degré de satisfaction des objectifs de la conception, et ainsi assurer la gestion des objectifs multiples voire opposés des parties prenantes. Des techniques d'évaluation qualitative sont enfin proposées afin de trier les alternatives de solution de conception selon leur degré de satisfaction en tenant compte du niveau de maturité croissant mais incertain de la solution. Enfin, on peut regretter le manque d'un environnement de travail permettant de modéliser le système et de procéder aux analyses et évaluations de la solution. Les deux contributions synthétisées ci-dessus ont donc fait l'objet d'une intégration dans un atelier d'IS existant, offrant ainsi un continuum entre activités de conception et activités d'évaluation. Le résultat est ainsi un guide méthodologie outillé pour l'évaluation de systèmes mécatroniques en conception. Mots clés : Ingénierie Système, conception, évaluation, système complexe, système mécatronique, solution d'architecture, traçabilité, analyse qualitative. / The design step of a complex system is crucial. This observation is particularly true, when considering mechatronic, multi-technological systems, which require a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach. Our work is based on the System Engineering (SE) framework, which focuses on the needs and requirements definition, the conceptual design, and the definition of functional and organic architectures of a system. For this purpose, SE promotes some concepts, processes, and an approach currently widely practiced in the Industry, and even standardized while being a much studied research topic. More precisely, we are interested in a so-called support process of SE, the evaluation process. We are focusing on the effectiveness evaluation and then on the comparison of different functional and organic architecture solutions of a mechatronic system, which emerge invariably from the design. The goal of this process in guiding and helping to choose a solution among candidate architectures, often incomplete or immature in preliminary design, allows maximizing the satisfaction of the systems' stakeholders needs. However, the implementation of this evaluation faces to many difficulties. The consensual and unified vision of data, information, knowledge, and evaluation activities, above specialized engineering teams involved in the design, is still limited. Indeed, the lack of this common vision limits the objective and shared evaluation of a given solution. This is a first problem that we are addressing in our work. To contribute to this common vision, a conceptual model of evaluation data in SE is proposed.Subsequently, the estimation of the choices made all along such an iterative design, and which therefore proceeds by small steps, the management of multiple objectives sometimes contradictory and the consideration of the uncertainty inherent to design are classic problems in design. This constitutes the main problem which our work is answering. The estimation of the consequences of design choices on the system performance is first addressed by a formalization of traceability links between the requirements, functions, and components of the design. This formalization is prior to the detection and correction of inconsistencies of traceability links, in order to automatically identify potential impacts of the architectures' elements choices on different satisfaction criteria of the System Of Interest (SOI). An articulation between the SOI behavioral models and decision models is afterwards proposed for aggregating the satisfaction level of the design objectives, and then ensure the management of multiple and even contradictory objectives of the designers. Qualitative evaluation techniques are finally proposed for sorting the alternative design solutions according to their satisfaction level while considering the increasing maturity level but uncertain of the solution.Lastly, we often denote the lack of integrated environment for modeling the system and proceeding to the analyses and evaluations. The two above synthesized contributions have been integrated into a SE framework, offering a continuum between design activities and evaluation ones. The result is thereby a methodological and tooled guide for mechatronic systems evaluation during design. Keywords: System Engineering, design, evaluation, complex systems, mechatronics, architecture solution, traceability, qualitative analysis.

The production of clean water, the generation of nuclear power and the development of chemicals, petro-chemicals and pharmaceuticals all rely on liquid-based processes. They are fundamental to modern society, however the real-time monitoring of such processes is an inherently difficult challenge which has not yet been satisfactorily solved.Current methods of monitoring include on- and off-line spot checks and industrial process tomography. Neither of these methods provides the spatial or temporal resolution required to properly characterise the processes. This research project proposes a new monitoring method for processes which can tolerate foreign objects; a mobile underwater sensor network (MUSN).An MUSN has the potential to increase both the spatial and temporal resolution of measurements and could be used in real-time. The network would be formed by a number of mobile sensor platforms, in the form of micro-autonomous underwater vehicles (uAUVs) which would communicate using acoustics. The demonstrator for the technology is for use in the monitoring of nuclear storage ponds.Current AUV technology is not suitable for use in enclosed environments such as storage ponds due to the size and maneuverability. This thesis presents the research conducted in the development of a new vehicle uAUV. The work presented covers the mechatronic aspects of the vehicle; the design of the hull, propulsion systems, corresponding control circuitry and basic motion control systems. One of the main factors influencing the design of the vehicle has been cost. If a large number of vehicles are used to form a network, the cost of an individual uAUV should be kept as low as possible. This has raised a number of technical challenges as low-cost components are often of low-tolerance. Imbalanced time-varying thrust, low manufacturing tolerances and noisy indirect sensor measurements for the control systems have all been overcome in the design of the vehicle. The outcome of the research is a fully functional prototype uAUV. The vehicle is spherical in shape with a diameter of approximately 15cm, with six thruster units mounted around the equator (increasing the horizontal clearance to 20cm) to provide thrust in four degrees of freedom (surge, sway, heave and yaw). The vehicle has a sensor suite which includes a pressure sensor, digital compass and a gyroscope which provide inputs to the motion control systems. The controllers have been developed and implemented on the vehicle's custom built embedded system. Experiments have been conducted showing that the uAUV is able to move in 3D with closed-loop control in heave and yaw. Motion in surge and sway is open-loop, via a dead-reckoning system.

Práce se zabývá návrhem jednoúčelového plně automatického zařízení pro automobilový průmysl, které dávkuje silikonovou směs do pouzdra snímače. V první části práce je řešen návrh mechanické části zařízení, zejména manipulátoru pro polohování dávkovací hlavy. K pohonu manipulátoru je využito pneumatických prvků, které jsou řízeny elektrickými signály. Druhá část práce se zabývá řízením stroje, které je realizováno pomocí PLC systému. Obsluha může ovládat zařízení nebo sledovat aktuální stav na dotykovém panelu. V závěru práce je prezentováno skutečné provedení zařízení a propojení s výrobní linkou.

Um Maßnahmen zu Verbesserungen an einem mechatronischen Handhabungssystem für den Transport von Windeln vorzunehmen, wäre eine strukturierte Methode vorteilhaft, da aktuell angewandte Vorgehensweisen durch Intuition geprägt sind. Diese intuitiven Vorgehensweisen bergen Nachteile sowohl in der Objektivität als auch bei der Dokumentation. Aus diesem Grund ist für das beschriebene mechatronische Handhabungssystem eine Methode zur Unterstützung des Entscheidungsprozesses entwickelt worden. Mit Hilfe eines Probandentests erfolgte eine erste Überprüfung. Durch die Methode erhält der Anwender eine Schritt für Schritt Anleitung, welche sich durch ein möglichst rationales Vorgehen auszeichnet und in der Lage ist die Wirkung subjektiver Einflüsse bei notwendigen Entscheidungen zu reduzieren.

This report aims to evaluate a wirelessly controlled robotic arm mounted on a 3-wheel platform that would act as a stabilized camera gimbal. The evaluation is focused on doing experiments to determine the accuracy and repeatability of the robotic arm and to examine if the arm can self-stabilize. Evaluation of the robot was done by 3D-printing a prototype and running experiments using a laser module attached to the robotic arm and measuring the error between the actual obtained points and the target points. The experiments were done on three iterations of the prototype where small changes have been done to the software and hardware components which in the last iteration gave an accuracy of 0,21mm and repeatability of 3,508mm. Stabilization was also achieved with a range of +/- 60 degrees in 3 orientations, roll, pitch and yaw. / Denna rapport utvärderar en fjärrstyrd robot-arm som är monterad på en 3-hjuligplattform som ska fungera som en stabiliserad kamera gimbal. Utvärderingen är utformat på att göra experiment för att bestämma noggrannheten och repeterbarheten av robotarmen och undersöka om robotarmen kan självstabilisera sig. En prototyp har skapats med hjälp av en 3D-skrivare och experiment gjordes genom att montera en laser på robotarmen, där mätningar har gjorts mellan målpunkterna och de erhållna punkterna. Efter 3 iterationer där vissa ändringar har gjorts till hårdvaran och mjukvaran, har en noggrannhet på 0,21mm, och repeterbarhet på 3,508mm åstadkommit. Stabiliseringen har också uppnåtts inom ett intervall av +/- 60 grader i 3 vinkel riktningarna.