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Electro-Mechanical Systems Commons

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Clemson University

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Full-Text Articles in Electro-Mechanical Systems

Development Of Low-Cost Triaxial Force Sensor For Measurement Of Human-Exoskeleton Interaction Forces, Hamdan Khan Sarvathullah May 2026

Development Of Low-Cost Triaxial Force Sensor For Measurement Of Human-Exoskeleton Interaction Forces, Hamdan Khan Sarvathullah

All Theses

Contemporary research suggests that shear force is a major contributor to discomfort and pressure injury. However, the variation of shear forces during human-exoskeleton interaction dynamics is a highly unexplored field. The high cost of commercial triaxial force sensors may be a major factor in the notable lack of research in this field. Therefore, in this paper, we present a low-cost, 3D-printed triaxial force sensor designed specifically to measure the triaxial interaction forces between an exoskeleton and its user. The triaxial force sensor uses Carbon-Black/Silicone Rubber (CB/SR) strings to measure shear forces, whereas the normal force is measured with a Force …


Locomotion And Balance Control In A Biped Robot With Continuum Legs And A Kangaroo-Inspired Tail, Gavin A. Platt Dec 2025

Locomotion And Balance Control In A Biped Robot With Continuum Legs And A Kangaroo-Inspired Tail, Gavin A. Platt

All Theses

This thesis work presents the design, testing, and validation of a continuum-legged biped robot equipped with a kangaroo inspired tail for enhanced stability and adaptability. Unlike traditional rigid link robots, this one expands on soft-legged robots and utilizes tendon-driven continuum robots to mimic octopus and kangaroo behavior for locomotion. The robot uses a hierarchical hybrid control framework to implement walking, obstacle avoidance, vaulting, and push recovery behaviors. To test the performance of the robot four sets of experiments were conducted to validate these systems and evaluate how they performed. The results demonstrate stable walking with rhythmic tail load transfer, effective …


Opposed-Piston Two Stroke Engine As A High Power Density Solution In Heavy Duty Applications: An Experimental Evaluation With Diesel And Ethanol, Ankur Bhatt Dec 2025

Opposed-Piston Two Stroke Engine As A High Power Density Solution In Heavy Duty Applications: An Experimental Evaluation With Diesel And Ethanol, Ankur Bhatt

All Dissertations

With an increasing demand to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the conventional powertrain technology is at a saturation point. There is reinvigorated research interest in alternative powertrain designs that offer potentially higher efficiencies and lower engine-out emissions compared to conventional powertrains. The opposed piston two-stroke (OP2S) engine is one such alternative engine architecture that has demonstrated a reduction in engine-out emissions and increased efficiency compared to conventional four-stroke diesel engines. Like any two-stroke engine, the scavenging process and the composition of the internal residuals are predominantly governed by the pressure differential between the intake and the exhaust ports. Without dedicated …


An Efficient Computational Frameworks For Design And Analysis Of Metamaterials, Raj Pradip Khawale Dec 2024

An Efficient Computational Frameworks For Design And Analysis Of Metamaterials, Raj Pradip Khawale

All Dissertations

Advancement in additive manufacturing helps in building artificial lattice structures with unique properties that are not available in naturally occurring materials or in continuum structures. Specifically, beam-based lattices are well known for producing lightweight structures with very high strength, auxetic behavior, and energy absorption capabilities. In recent years, numerous research studies have been conducted on generating algorithms and frameworks to obtain unusual properties based on the variation in the cell geometry and material properties. However, the exploration of the full design space is hampered in practice primarily due to restrictions on cell tiling variation. Additionally, the lattices are very intricate, …


Deep Reinforcement Learning Of Variable Impedance Control For Object-Picking Tasks, Akshit Lunia May 2024

Deep Reinforcement Learning Of Variable Impedance Control For Object-Picking Tasks, Akshit Lunia

All Theses

The increasing deployment of robots in industries with varying tasks has accelerated the development of various control frameworks, enabling robots to replace humans in repetitive, exhaustive, and hazardous jobs. One critical aspect is the robots' interaction with their environment, particularly in unknown object-picking tasks, which involve intricate object weight estimations and calculations when lifting objects. In this study, a unique control framework is proposed to modulate the force exerted by a manipulator for lifting an unknown object, eliminating the need for feedback from a force/torque sensor. The framework utilizes a variable impedance controller to generate the required force, and an …


Improving Hexapod Platform Pose Accuracy - A Photogrammetry-Based Approach, Sourabh Karmakar Dec 2023

Improving Hexapod Platform Pose Accuracy - A Photogrammetry-Based Approach, Sourabh Karmakar

All Dissertations

The aim of this research is to make a newly constructed Stewart-Gough Platform-based test frame Tiger 66.1 operational by developing control software and estimating the error in its pose accuracy. The accuracy of the platform is affected by one source or multiple sources. The typical error sources are kinematic and structural, some of them originate from manufacturing imperfections, assembly deviations, elastic deformations, thermal deformations, and joint clearances which change the expected kinematic behavior of the manipulator. Also, some non-mechanical errors like transmission error, sensor accuracy, algorithm error, and truncation error in calculation contribute significantly in some cases. Using pose deviations …


Damage Detection With An Integrated Smart Composite Using A Magnetostriction-Based Nondestructive Evaluation Method: Integrating Machine Learning For Prediction, Christopher Nelon Dec 2023

Damage Detection With An Integrated Smart Composite Using A Magnetostriction-Based Nondestructive Evaluation Method: Integrating Machine Learning For Prediction, Christopher Nelon

All Dissertations

The development of composite materials for structural components necessitates methods for evaluating and characterizing their damage states after encountering loading conditions. Laminates fabricated from carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are lightweight alternatives to metallic plates; thus, their usage has increased in performance industries such as aerospace and automotive. Additive manufacturing (AM) has experienced a similar growth as composite material inclusion because of its advantages over traditional manufacturing methods. Fabrication with composite laminates and additive manufacturing, specifically fused filament fabrication (fused deposition modeling), requires material to be placed layer-by-layer. If adjacent plies/layers lose adhesion during fabrication or operational usage, the strength …


Laser Stabilization Through Optical Turbulence, Liam Vanderschaaf May 2023

Laser Stabilization Through Optical Turbulence, Liam Vanderschaaf

All Theses

Laser jitter presents a significant issue in the fields of laser communication and sensing. There are two main categories of positional noise in regards to the instantaneous centroid of a laser propagating over long distances: jitter resulting from optical turbulence and jitter resulting from mechanical vibrations. Optical turbulence was generated using Clemson University’s Variable Turbulence Generator (VTG). The VTG is capable of creating a desired level of optical turbulence that is comparable to atmospheric conditions with fried parameters greater than 0.3 cm. A gaussian laser was transmitted through the VTG and a system of Fast Steering Mirrors and Position Sensing …


An Application Of Optimized Bistable Laminates As A Low Velocity, Low Impact Mechanical Deterrent, Graham Lancaster Dec 2022

An Application Of Optimized Bistable Laminates As A Low Velocity, Low Impact Mechanical Deterrent, Graham Lancaster

All Theses

This research considers the problem of using bistable laminates as a mechanical deterrent to the impending impact of a particle. The structure will be controlled through an algorithm that will utilize piezoelectric devices to activate them in unison with the bistable laminate to successfully deter. A novel experimental setup will be constructed to ensure that the bistable laminate stays fixed when acting as a mechanical deterrent. Piezoelectricity is the main driving force of the bistable laminate to morph and this study will use a Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) actuator that contains piezoelectric ceramic rods in a patch to transfer electrical …


Soft Robotic Arms For Fall Mitigation: Design, Control And Evaluation, Param Malhotra Aug 2022

Soft Robotic Arms For Fall Mitigation: Design, Control And Evaluation, Param Malhotra

All Theses

Most fall mitigation devices present a heavy system that avoid injuries to the user by preventing the impact of a fall. They are dependent on the user capability or on the probability that the user falls in the assumed manner the system was designed for. Often that is not the case, hence this project initiates a novel concept of using soft robotic arms to prevent falls from happening in the first place itself and save the user from any injuries. This thesis describes the prototype and development of a soft continuum robotic backpack system. The system can validate its use …