Engenharia Mecânica
URI permanente desta comunidadehttps://repositorio.fei.edu.br/handle/FEI/23
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3 resultados
Resultados da Pesquisa
- Modeling and optimal control formulation for manual wheelchair locomotion: The influence of mass and slope on performance(2014-08-15) Marko Ackermann; Fabrizio Leonardi; COSTA, H. R.; FLEURY, A. T.A framework to generate predictive simulations is proposed to investigate the influence of system's mass on manual wheelchair locomotion. The approach is based on a model of wheelchair propulsion dynamics and an optimal control formulation. In this study, predictive simulations of steady-state wheelchair locomotion are generated for different combinations of model mass and uphill slope inclination angle. The results show that the influence of system's mass is negligible in level surfaces in steady-state, a finding which agrees with experimental observations in the literature. On the other hand, the results show that the influence of mass on slopes is critical, with large increases in propulsion effort with system's mass, even for slight inclination angles. This shows the importance of reducing wheelchair mass for improving locomotion performance, particularly in overcoming obstacles and ramps. Decreasing the wheelchair's mass may not be sufficient. Therefore, and on the light of these findings, we propose the reduction of system's apparent mass through the implementation of an impedance control scheme in powerassisted wheelchairs.
- A modeling framework to investigate the radial component of the pushrim force in manual wheelchair propulsion(2015-11-25) Marko Ackermann; COSTA, H. R.; Fabrizio Leonardi© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2015.The ratio of tangential to total pushrim force, the so-called Fraction Effective Force (FEF), has been used to evaluate wheelchair propulsion efficiency based on the fact that only the tangential component of the force on the pushrim contributes to actual wheelchair propulsion. Experimental studies, however, consistently show low FEF values and recent experimental as well as modelling investigations have conclusively shown that a more tangential pushrim force direction can lead to a decrease and not increase in propulsion efficiency. This study aims at quantifying the contributions of active, inertial and gravitational forces to the normal pushrim component. In order to achieve this goal, an inverse dynamics-based framework is proposed to estimate individual contributions to the pushrim forces using a model of the wheelchair-user system. The results show that the radial pushrim force component arise to a great extent due to purely mechanical effects, including inertial and gravitational forces. These results corroborate previous findings according to which radial pushrim force components are not necessarily a result of inefficient propulsion strategies or hand-rim friction requirements. This study proposes a novel framework to quantify the individual contributions of active, inertial and gravitational forces to pushrim forces during wheelchair propulsion.
- A comparison of different assistance strategies in power assisted wheelchairs using an optimal control formulation(2016-08-18) CUERVA, V. I.; Marko Ackermann; Fabrizio LeonardiPower assisted wheelchairs are a promising solution to overcome problems associated with manual wheelchair propulsion, such as the incidence of upper limbs injuries and muscle fatigue. However, there are still open questions regarding the most appropriate assistance strategy. The main goal of this paper is to compare three different types of assistance in power assisted wheelchairs: constant force, proportional force and a novel type of assistance inspired on the impedance control theory. The comparison was performed using a simple model and an optimal control formulation that searched for optimal user actuation and controller parameters so as to minimize the user effort. The fairness of the comparison was ensured by imposing an upper bound on the energy consumption by the motors. The results show that the proportional and impedance controlbased strategies are the most appropriate steady state conditions. In typical daily activities such as obstacle avoidance, the impedance control has advantage as it permits a faster system's response.