Design, Control and Optimization of Robotic Systems with Energy Regeneration

许多工业、消费和医疗产品都涉及群众运动。这些运动是由能源提供动力的，总是涉及加速和减速的循环。传统的制动是一种非常低效的减速方法，因为物体的能量被浪费为热量。相比之下，再生包括将多余的能量捕获并储存到电源中。再生工程在电动汽车和混合动力汽车中是先进的和可见的，但它在移动和工业机器人中的理解和优化利用仍然是一个具有挑战性的研究领域。这项研究的结果有可能在使用许多机器人的工业设施中显著节省能源。轮椅、假肢和外骨骼等以电能为动力的移动生物医学设备是这项研究的另一个目标应用。这些设备的最佳能源利用率将转化为更轻的设备，减少频繁充电的需要。佩戴先进的再生假体的受损者将能够扩大他们的日常活动范围，提高他们的生活质量。本研究将介绍一种明确考虑双向能量流动的系统治疗一般运动控制问题。该项目的智力意义集中在它的普遍性和广泛的适用性上，这与目前关于再生系统的文献大多面向案例形成了对比。该项目的重点是使用超级电容器作为先进再生系统的关键元件。与电池相比，超级电容器具有非常高的功率密度。这意味着能量的提取和回流可以快速实现。这一特征提供了极大的灵活性，可以通过控制，特别是其机械阻抗来改变机器人的动态行为。此外，基于石墨烯的超级电容器的最新进展导致了能量密度接近锂离子电池的器件。这些进展有可能消除某些移动机器人系统中的电池，特别是医疗辅助设备中的电池。该项目将建立一个框架来设计、控制和优化此类系统。该项目有三个目标：1.开发具有先进再生硬件(如超级电容器)的机器人系统的建模、控制和设计的新方法；2.制定和解决基本能量-运动多目标优化问题；3.通过定制的学习机器人实现理论和实践的桥梁。

Many industrial, consumer and medical products involve masses in motion. These motions are powered from energy sources, and always involve cycles of acceleration and deceleration. Conventional braking is a very inefficient method of deceleration because the object's energy is wasted as heat. In contrast, regeneration involves surplus energy capture and storage into the power supply. Regeneration engineering is advanced and visible in electric and hybrid vehicles, but its understanding and optimal utilization in mobile and industrial robotics remains a challenging area of research. The outcomes of this research have the potential for significant energy savings in industrial installations where many robots are in use. Mobile biomedical devices powered from electric energy sources such as wheelchairs, prostheses and exoskeletons are another target application of this research. Optimal energy utilization in these devices will translate into lighter units with a reduced need for frequent recharging. Impaired people wearing advanced regenerative prostheses will be able to extend the range of their daily activities, improving their quality of life.This research will introduce a systematic treatment of general motion control problems with explicit consideration of bidirectional energy flow. The intellectual significance of the project is centered in its generality and broad applicability, which contrasts with the mostly case-oriented current literature on regenerative systems. The project focuses on the use of ultracapacitors as key elements of advanced regenerative systems. In comparison to batteries, ultracapacitors have very high power densities. This means that energy extraction and return can be achieved at fast rates. This feature affords great flexibility to alter a robot's dynamic behavior by means of control, in particular its mechanical impedance. Moreover, recent advances in graphene-based ultracapacitors have resulted in devices with energy densities approaching those of lithium-ion batteries. These advances have the potential for the elimination of batteries in certain mobile robotic systems, particularly in medical assistive devices. The project will establish a framework to design, control and optimize such systems. The project has three goals: 1. development of new approaches for modeling, control and design of robotic systems with advanced regenerative hardware such as ultracapacitors; 2. formulation and solution of fundamental energy-motion multi-objective optimization problems for the same; 3. bridging of theory and practice with a custom-built study robot.