The International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science (IFToMM) held the\r\nInternational Symposium on Robotics and Mechatronics (ISRM 2009) as the first in a series of conference events promoting robotics and mechantronics in the Asian IFToMM community. The first event was held in Hanoi University of Technology on Sept. 21–23, 2009.

We outline problems and potential solutions for feasible human-machine interfaces using cable-based parallel manipulators for physiotherapy applications. From an engineering perspective, we discuss the design constraints related to acceptance by patients and physiotherapist users. To date, most designs have focused on mobile platforms that are designed to be operated as an end-effector connected to human limbs for direct patient interaction. Some specific examples are illustrated from the authors’ experience with prototypes available at Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics (LARM), Italy.

Lion dance is a very popular and lively Chinese traditional art form. A robotic project in Singapore has been dedicated to the design and demonstration for similar traditional art forms using modern mechatronics technology. This paper deals with a novel six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) hybrid manipulator with high stiffness, high loading capability and high dexterity, mimicking the lion dancer’s upper body motions along with the lion head movements. The design of the hybrid manipulator consists of a 2-DOF torso structure in serial configuration and a 4-DOF dual arm structure in parallel configuration. The combined 6-DOF hybrid manipulator can support the weight and dynamics of the lion head during the lion dance performance. Forward kinematics of the manipulator has been formulated and visualized for design purposes. Inverse kinematics of the hybrid manipulator were analytically derived for real-time motion control. Based on the design and modeling, a complete hybrid manipulator has been fabricated, implemented into the robotic lion, and successfully demonstrated for real robotic lion dance performance.

This paper presents the development of a coarse-fine dual precision positioning stage to achieve long travel range and high accuracy. The fine stage is arranged in series with a coarse stage. The key in the fine stage design is the choice of a toggle mechanism for a tight mechanical loop with high stiffness and compactness. We designed the toggle mechanism for reduction of the displacement to suppress signal noises. The performance of the coarse and fine stages was verified with an optical encoder and capacitive sensor, respectively. The measurement results show that the dual mechanism has a travel range of 1 mm and resolution of 30 nm.

The purpose of this study was to build a flexible mechanical system with a hydrostatic skeleton. The main components of this system are two type flexible bags. One is a structural bag with constant inner pressure. The other is an actuator bag with controlled inner pressure. To design the system, it was necessary to estimate both structural deformation and driving force. Numerical analysis of flexible bags, however, is difficult because of large nonlinear deformation. This study analyzed structural strength and driving force of flexible bags with the nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) software ABAQUS. The stress concentration dependency on the bag shape is described and the driving force is calculated to include the large deformation. From the analytical results, this study derives an empirical equation of driving force. The validity of the equation was confirmed by condition-changed analyses and experimental results.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common malignancy in China. As microwave ablation (MWA) is an effective method for liver cancer, a robotic surgical system with ultrasound-directed was designed to assist surgeons on positioning the needles. This robotic system includes a surgical robot with 5 degrees of freedom, a workstation for path-planning and image processing, a conventional 2D ultrasound device, and an electromagnetic (EM) tracking system. Surgery space, clinical operation requirements and optimal mechanical structure are the key factors to be considered in designing a medical robot suitable for use by surgeons. Based on the mechanics of the needle placement robot, we have conducted detailed kinematic analysis, including a combined numerical algorithm and coordinate mapping. Finally, the feasibility of the needle placement robot has been validated by experiment.

Feature extraction from vibration signals has been investigated extensively over the past decades as a key issue in machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. Most existing methods, however, assume a linear model of the underlying dynamics. In this study, the feasibility of devoting nonlinear dynamic parameters to characterizing bearing vibrations is studied. Firstly, fuzzy sample entropy (FSampEn) is formulated by defining a fuzzy membership function with clear physical meaning. Secondly, inspired by the multiscale sample entropy (multiscale SampEn) which is originally proposed to quantify the complexity of physiological time series, we placed approximate entropy (ApEn), fuzzy approximate entropy (FApEn) and the proposed FSampEn into the same multiscale framework. This led to the developments of multiscale ApEn, multiscale FApEn and multiscale FSampEn. Finally, all four multiscale entropies along with their single-scale counterparts were employed to extract discriminating features from bearing vibration signals, and their classification performance was evaluated using support vector machines (SVMs). Experimental results demonstrated that all four multiscale entropies outperformed single-scale ones, whilst multiscale FSampEn was superior to other multiscale methods, especially when analyzed signals were contaminated by heavy noise. Comparisons with statistical features in time domain also support the use of multiscale FSampEn.

This paper mainly discusses the problem of ground-borne vibrations due to the planned line 8 of Beijing metro which passes under the National Measurement Laboratory. A lot of vibration sensitive equipments are placed in the laboratory. It is therefore necessary to study the impact of vibrations induced by metro trains on sensitive equipments and important to propound a feasible vibration mitigation measure. Based on the coupled periodic finite element-boundary element (FE-BE) method, a 3D dynamic track-tunnel-soil interaction model for metro line 8 has been used to predict vibrations in the free field induced by trains running at variable speeds between 30 km/h and 80 km/h. Four types of track structures commonly used on the Beijing metro network have been considered: (1) high resilience direct fixation fasteners, (2) Vanguard fasteners, (3) a floating slab track and (4) a floating ladder track. For each of these track types, the vibration isolation efficiency has been compared. The results of the numerical study can be used to predict vibrations in nearby buildings and to decide upon effective vibration countermeasures.

Evidence gained from previous field tests conducted on drilled shaft foundation shows that using drilling slurries to stabilize a borehole during the construction may influence the interfacial shear strength. This paper deals with an exhaustive study of the effects of drilling slurries at the contact between soil and concrete. This study involved adapting a simple shear apparatus and performing approximately 100 experimental tests on the interaction between two types of soils; clay and sandy clay and five specimens of concrete with different surface shapes. It also involved using bentonite and polymer slurries as an interface layer between soil and concrete. Results showed that an interface layer of bentonite slurry between clay and concrete decreases the interfacial shear strength by 23% and as an interface layer between sandy clay and concrete, bentonite increases interfacial shear strength by 10%. Using polymer slurry as an interface layer between clay and concrete decreases the interfacial shear strength by 17% while using it as an interface layer between sandy clay and concrete increases the interfacial shear strength by 10%. Furthermore, the data show that using bentonite and polymer slurry as an interface layer between clay and concrete decreases the sliding ratio by 50% to 60%, while increasing the sliding ratio by 44% to 56% when these are used as an interface layer between sandy clay and concrete.