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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Design And Control Of A Powered Rowing Machine With Programmable Impedance, Jose Humberto De La Casas Zolezzi Jan 2017

Design And Control Of A Powered Rowing Machine With Programmable Impedance, Jose Humberto De La Casas Zolezzi

ETD Archive

Due to the rise of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, research in human performance and physical activity has received increased attention. Rowing machines are used for performance improvements through concentric exercises, however a combination of concentric and eccentric actions is known to improve the effectiveness of training. In this work, a conventional rowing machine was modified to include an electric motor and a robust impedance control system, enabling programmable impedance with concentric and eccentric capabilities. Eccentric exercises are known to contribute significantly to the efficacy of training and to diminish the detrimental effects of humans operating in microgravity for long …


Forming A Metal Matrix Nanocomposite (Mmnc) With Fully Dispersed And Deagglomerated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (Mwcnts), Mahesh Kumar Pallikonda Jan 2017

Forming A Metal Matrix Nanocomposite (Mmnc) With Fully Dispersed And Deagglomerated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (Mwcnts), Mahesh Kumar Pallikonda

ETD Archive

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) with their exceptional properties will facilitate the Metal matrix composites (MMC) to exhibit good mechanical properties, thermal and electrical conductivities, corrosion resistance, etc. The critical factor that holds the development of the Metal matrix Nanocomposites (MMNC) by using CNTs is the tendency of CNTs to form clusters (agglomerations) due to their high Van der Waals attractions. Due to this factor, low density and other properties of the CNTs, there has been a delay in harnessing their ultimate potential.
Existing literature in contemporary times from the works of few researches in Nanocomposites shows the prevalence of using surfactants …


Piv Analysis Of Wake Structure Of Real Elephant Seal Whiskers, Joseph Antun Bunjevac Jan 2017

Piv Analysis Of Wake Structure Of Real Elephant Seal Whiskers, Joseph Antun Bunjevac

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Seals are able to accurately detect minute disturbances in the ambient flow
environment using their whiskers, which is attributed to the exceptional capability of
their whiskers to suppress vortex-induced vibrations in the wake. To explore potential applications for designing smart flow devices, such as high-sensitivity underwater
flow sensors and drag reduction components, researchers have studied how the role
of some key parameters of whisker-like morphology affect the wake structure. Due to
the naturally presented variation in size and curvature along the length of whiskers,
it is not well understood how a real whisker changes the surrounding flow and the
vortex …


Investigation Of Extremum Seeking Control For Adaptive Exercise Machines, Brahm T. Powell Jan 2017

Investigation Of Extremum Seeking Control For Adaptive Exercise Machines, Brahm T. Powell

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Many muscle rehabilitation regimens are non-adaptive and recommended subjectively by physicians. While there are advantages to having the feedback of a qualified physician, utilizing real-time muscle performance feedback could be beneficial. An extremum seeking control design is proposed to fulfill the need for an automated, load-varying exercise machine that can optimize muscle performance.

Several steps are outlined to contribute to the realization of this goal. First, the extremum seeking control scheme is discussed. Second, the Hill muscle model will be described. Theoretical muscle effort extrema will be derived for selected optimization cases, namely maximizing average squared power by varying load …