CNIC: US-Belgium Engineering Planning Visit: Simplified Models for Bio-inspired Actuators

这一催化新国际合作奖(CNIC)支持塔尔萨大学首席研究员Joshua Schultz和他的美国学生对布鲁塞尔的项目开发访问，以启动与同行在实际动态系统控制(在工程中)的工作，目标是确定最快速和容易地为由模块单元组成的肌肉类执行器产生降阶模型的方法。比利时合作伙伴布鲁塞尔Vrije University的Bram Vanderboright在可变阻抗致动器方面拥有专业知识，该致动器在分层配置的蜂窝致动器方面与PI相辅相成。两位研究人员都对生物启发的招募控制范式感兴趣，在这种范式中，细胞结构和激活模式导致可变阻抗行为和复杂的系统动力学。总之，研究人员计划进行分析和实验，以阐明由较小的模块化副执行器组成的软“细胞”执行器的基本系统动力学原理。合作伙伴将使用平衡实现理论和模拟来处理这一问题，以确定这些类型的系统应该如何配置。初步结果应该指向未来一系列分析和数值系统动力学研究和实验的下一步，这些研究和实验将成为NSF在传感器、动力学和控制领域的后续提案的重点。如果成功，这些方法可能被用来设计损伤容限的机器人，并且需要更少的部件来制造和维护。新的合作预计将促进正在进行的联合研究，以及研究顺应设备和机械动力学的想法。美国研究生和本科生参与海外工作提供了宝贵的职业生涯早期国际研究经验。此外，P.I.计划将这项初步研究产生的原理整合到塔尔萨大学的一门新课程中，该课程以生物启发的机器人基础为主题，以产生更广泛的影响。

This award for Catalyzing New International Collaborations (CNIC) supports a project development visit to Brussels by the principal investigator, Joshua Schultz of the University of Tulsa, and his U.S. students to initiate work with counterparts on the control of real dynamic systems (in engineering) with the goal of determining the most methods that quickly and easily produce a reduced-order model for muscle-like actuators composed of modular units. The Belgian partner, Bram Vanderborght at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels, has expertise in variable impedance actuators that compliments the PI's in hierarchially configured cellular actuation. Both investigators are interested in the biologically inspired control paradigm of recruitment in which the cellular structure and activation patterns give rise to variable impedance behavior and complex system dynamics. Together, the researchers intend to plan analysis and experiments to elucidate basic system dynamics principles of soft "cellular" actuators composed of smaller modular sub-actuators. The partners will approach this using balanced realization theory and simulation to determine how these types of systems should be configured. Preliminary results should point to next steps for a future series of analytical and numerical system dynamics studies and experiments that become the focus of a follow-on NSF proposal in Sensors, Dynamics and Control. If successful, these methods may be used to design robots that are damage tolerant and require fewer numbers of parts to build and maintain.The new collaboration is expected to foster on-going joint research as well as ideas for investigating compliant devices and mechanism dynamics. The participation of U.S. graduate and undergraduate students in the work abroad offers valuable early career international research experience. Furthermore, the P.I. plans to integrate the principles arising from this preliminary research into a new course at the University of Tulsa on foundations of biologically inspired robotics, for broader impact.