Challenge:
Flexible And Cost-Effective Industrial Plant Emulator
Description - IMDU Multi-DOF
Torsion Module:
The robust Multiple-Degree-Of-Freedom (Multi-DOF)
Torsion Module mounts on the IMDU base unit and consists of a sturdy
torsion frame and four flexible steel shafts. The machined aluminum
torsion frame features a plate equipped with four shafts instrumented
with quadrature optical encoders and are free to spin in low-friction
bearing blocks. When mounted on the IMDU, the shafts are concentric
with the four IMDU shafts.
Four flexible steel members are supplied such that they can be assembled
into the unit to introduce flexible coupling between shafts. The four
shafts can be coupled in series via belts and toothed pulleys to result
in a system with four serial flexible members. One of the motors can
be used as a drive motor while the other can be used to impose disturbances.
This system can be readily used to perform experiments in teleoperation
and haptics. For example, one motor (slave) could be used to drive
a load coupled via the rotary flexible shaft(s) while the other motor
(master) can be used to command the load position as well as to reflect,
through force feedback, load vibrations to the human operator.
Difficulty:
Undergraduate advanced / Graduate / Research
