Modelling of flexible link manipulators

The purpose of this work is to present a method for symbolic generation of the dynamic equations within the Hamiltonian formalism of flexible robots with open‐chain linkage mechanisms using the so‐called vector‐parameterization of the SO(3) group as it is quite effective for many rotational degrees‐of‐freedom. The both, an exact treatment and approximated model of the differential equations of motion are considered. The authors step on their long experience of using the vector‐parameterization for modelling of rigid body mechanical systems. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Rigid–flexible interactive dynamics modelling approach

Dynamics modelling of multi-body systems composed of rigid and flexible elements is elaborated in this article. The control of such systems is highly complicated due to severe underactuated conditions caused by flexible elements and an inherent uneven non-linear dynamics. Therefore, developing a compact dynamics model with the requirement of limited computations is extremely useful for controller design, simulation studies for design improvement and also practical implementations. In this article, the rigid–flexible interactive dynamics modelling (RFIM) approach is proposed as a combination of Lagrange and Newton–Euler methods, in which the motion equations of rigid and flexible members are separately developed in an explicit closed form. These equations are then assembled and solved simultaneously at each time step by considering the mutual interaction and constraint forces. The proposed approach yields a compact model rather than a common accumulation approach that leads to a massive set of equations in which the dynamics of flexible elements is united with the dynamics equations of rigid members. The proposed RFIM approach is first detailed for multi-body systems with flexible joints, and then with flexible members. Then, to reveal the merits of this new approach, few case studies are presented. A flexible inverted pendulum is studied first as a simple template for lucid comparisons, and next a space free-flying robotic system that contains a rigid main body equipped with two manipulating arms and two flexible solar panels is considered. Modelling verification of this complicated system is vigorously performed using ANSYS and ADAMS programs. The obtained results reveal the outcome accuracy of the new proposed approach for explicit dynamics modelling of rigid–flexible multi-body systems such as mobile robotic systems, while its limited computations provide an efficient tool for controller design, simulation studies and also practical implementations of model-based algorithms.     

Computer system for kinematic and dynamic analysis synthesis of rigid and flexible multibody systems

In the paper an overview of a general numerical algorithm and program system library for deriving the kinematic constraint equations and dynamic equations of motion, as well as, computation of their first and second order partial derivatives with respect to kinematic parameters of motion, design parameters and mass and inertia characteristics for rigid and flexible multibody systems is presented. These are the main basic computational modules for implementation of kinematic and dynamic synthesis, optimization and design. The main theoretical basis consists in matrix methods for deriving the kinematic constraints and dynamic equations, as well as, the generalized Newton – Euler dynamic equations for rigid and flexible bodies, and finite element discretization in relative coordinates. Block–scheme of the computational procedures and problem oriented program compilation is presented. An example of kinematic synthesis of six–link path generating mechanism with singular points is presented. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Dynamics modelling and Hybrid Suppression Control of space robots performing cooperative object manipulation

Dynamics modelling and control of multi-body space robotic systems composed of rigid and flexible elements is elaborated here. Control of such systems is highly complicated due to severe under-actuated condition caused by flexible elements, and an inherent uneven nonlinear dynamics. Therefore, developing a compact dynamics model with the requirement of limited computations is extremely useful for controller design, also to develop simulation studies in support of design improvement, and finally for practical implementations. In this paper, the Rigid–Flexible Interactive dynamics Modelling (RFIM) approach is introduced as a combination of Lagrange and Newton–Euler methods, in which the motion equations of rigid and flexible members are separately developed in an explicit closed form. These equations are then assembled and solved simultaneously at each time step by considering the mutual interaction and constraint forces. The proposed approach yields a compact model rather than common accumulation approach that leads to a massive set of equations in which the dynamics of flexible elements is united with the dynamics equations of rigid members. To reveal such merits of this new approach, a Hybrid Suppression Control (HSC) for a cooperative object manipulation task will be proposed, and applied to usual space systems. A Wheeled Mobile Robotic (WMR) system with flexible appendages as a typical space rover is considered which contains a rigid main body equipped with two manipulating arms and two flexible solar panels, and next a Space Free Flying Robotic system (SFFR) with flexible members is studied. Modelling verification of these complicated systems is vigorously performed using ANSYS and ADAMS programs, while the limited computations of RFIM approach provides an efficient tool for the proposed controller design. Furthermore, it will be shown that the vibrations of the flexible solar panels results in disturbing forces on the base which may produce undesirable errors and perturb the object manipulation task. So, it is shown that these effects can be significantly eliminated by the proposed Hybrid Suppression Control algorithm.     

Numerical Treatment of Catenary Systems

Simulation is of great importance in the development of railway cable systems. Mathematical models and numerical methods for the computation of both static equilibria and dynamic oscillations of railroad catenaries are being derived. These cable systems form a complex network of string and beam elements and lead to coupled partial differential equations in space and time where constraints and corresponding Lagrange multipliers express the interaction between carrier, contact wire, and pantograph head. For computing static equilibria, two different algorithms are presented, while the dynamic case is treated by a finite element method in space, combined with stabilized time integration of the resulting differential algebraic system. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Spatial Geometric Nonlinearity Spline Beam Element With Nodal Parameters Containing Strains北大核心CSCD

Many slender rods in engineering can be modeled as Euler-Bernoulli beams. For the analysis of their dynamic behaviors, it is necessary to establish the dynamic models for the flexible multi-body systems. Geometric nonlinear elements with absolute nodal coordinates help solve a large number of dynamic problems of flexible beams, but they still face such problems as shear locking, nodal stress discontinuity and low computation efficiency. Based on the theory of large deformation beams’ virtual power equations, the functional formulas between displacements and rotation angles at the nodes were established, which can satisfy the deformation coupling relationships. The generalized strains to describe geometric nonlinear effects in this case were derived. Some parameters of boundary nodes were replaced by axial strains and sectional curvatures to obtain a more accurate and concise constraint method for applying external forces. To improve the numerical efficiency and stability of the system’s motion equations, a model-smoothing method was used to filter high frequencies out of the model. The numerical examples verify the rationality and effectiveness of the proposed element. © 2022 Editorial Office of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics. All rights reserved.     

Motion equations of cooperative multi flexible mobile manipulator via recursive Gibbs–Appell formulation

In this paper, the developed model of an N-flexible-link mobile manipulator with revolute-prismatic joints is presented for the cooperative flexible multi mobile manipulator. In this model, the deformation of flexible links is calculated by using the assumed modes method. In additions, non-holonomic constraints of the robots’ mobile platforms that bound its locomotion are considered. This limitation is alleviated through the concurrent motion of revolute and prismatic joints, although it results in computational complexity and changes the final motion equations to time-varying form. Not only is the proposed dynamic model implemented for the multi-mobile manipulators with arms having independent motion, but also for multi-mobile manipulators in cooperation after defining gripper's kinematic constraints. These constraints are imported to the dynamic equations by defining Lagrange multipliers. The recursive Gibbs–Appell formulation is preferred over other similar approaches owing to the capability of solving the equations without the need to use Lagrange multipliers for eliminating non-holonomic constraints in addition to the novel optimized process of obtaining system equations. Hence, cumbersome simultaneous computations for eliminating the constraints of platform and arms are circumvented. Therefore, this formulation is improved for the first time by importing Lagrange multipliers for solving kinematic constrained systems. In the simulation section, the results of forward dynamics solution for two flexible single-arm manipulators with revolute-prismatic joints while carrying a rigid object are presented. Inverse dynamics equations of the system are also presented to obtain the maximum dynamic load-carrying capacity of the two-rigid-link mobile manipulators on a predefined path. Two constraints, namely the capacity of joint motors torque and robot motion stability are considered as the limitation criteria. The concluded motion equations are used to accurately control the movement of sensitive bodies, which is not achievable through the use of one platform.     

A preconditioned low‐rank CG method for parameter‐dependent Lyapunov matrix equations

This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of symmetric large‐scale Lyapunov equations with low‐rank right‐hand sides and coefficient matrices depending on a parameter. Specifically, we consider the situation when the parameter dependence is sufficiently smooth, and the aim is to compute solutions for many different parameter samples. On the basis of existing results for Lyapunov equations and parameter‐dependent linear systems, we prove that the tensor containing all solution samples typically allows for an excellent low multilinear rank approximation. Stacking all sampled equations into one huge linear system, this fact can be exploited by combining the preconditioned CG method with low‐rank truncation. Our approach is flexible enough to allow for a variety of preconditioners based, for example, on the sign function iteration or the alternating direction implicit method. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An isogeometric discontinuous Galerkin method for Euler equations

An isogeometric discontinuous Galerkin method for Euler equations is proposed. It integrates the idea of isogeometric analysis with the discontinuous Galerkin framework by constructing each element through the knots insertion and degree elevation techniques in non‐uniform rational B‐splines. This leads to the solution inherently shares the same function space as the non‐uniform rational B‐splines representation, and results in that the curved boundaries as well as the interfaces between neighboring elements are naturally and exactly resolved. Additionally, the computational cost is reduced in contrast to that of structured grid generation. Numerical tests demonstrate that the presented method can be high order of accuracy and flexible in handling curved geometry. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Existence of solutions to second-order BVPs on time scales

We consider a boundary value problem (BVP) for systems of second-order dynamic equations on time scales. Using methods involving dynamic inequalities, we formulate conditions under which all solutions to a certain family of systems of dynamic equations satisfy certain a priori bounds. These results are then applied to guarantee the existence of solutions to BVPs for systems of dynamic equations on time scales.     

Dynamic analysis of repetitive decision-free discreteevent processes: The algebra of timed marked graphs and algorithmic issues

A model to analyze certain classes of discrete event dynamic systems is presented. Previous research on timed marked graphs is reviewed and extended. This model is useful to analyze asynchronous and repetitive production processes. In particular, applications to certain classes of flexible manufacturing systems are provided in a companion paper. Here, an algebraic representation of timed marked graphs in terms of reccurrence equations is provided. These equations are linear in a nonconventional algebra, that is described. Also, an algorithm to properly characterize the periodic behavior of repetitive production processes is descrbed. This model extends the concepts from PERT/CPM analysis to repetitive production processes.     

A flexible approach to the simulation of hybrid multibody systems

The present works deals with the incorporation of both flexible beam and shell structures into the realm of flexible multibody dynamics. Geometrically exact beam formulations based on classical Simo-Reissner kinematics are suitable for modelling beam-type flexible components in the context of finite-deformation multibody dynamics. So geometrically exact shell formulations are based on Reissner-Mindlin kinematics. In [2], a flexible framework for dealing with flexible structural elements in a multibody context is described. A specific isoparametric finite element discretization of a shell formulation leads to semi-discrete equations of motions assuming the form of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs). A compatible isoparametric formulation of beams has already been developed in [1]. The uniform DAE framework makes possible the incorporation of alternative finite element formulations. In addition to that, various time-stepping schemes such as energy-momentum methods or variational integrators can be applied. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Dynamics of variable-length tethers with application to tethered satellite deployment

The dynamics of variable-length tethers are studied using a flexible multibody dynamics method. The governing equations of the tethers are derived using a new, hybrid Eulerian and Lagrangian framework, by which the mass flow at a boundary of a tether and the length variation of a tether element are accounted for. The variable-length tether element based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation is developed to simulate the deployment of satellite tethers. The coupled dynamic equations of tethers and satellites are obtained using the Lagrangian multiplier method. Several tethered satellite systems involving large displacements, rotations, and deformations are numerically simulated, where the tethers are released from several meters to about 1 km. A control strategy is proposed to avoid slackness of the tethers during deployment. The accuracy of the modeling and solution procedures was validated on an elevator model.     

Efficient linear solvers for incompressible flow simulations using Scott‐Vogelius finite elements

Recent research has shown that in some practically relevant situations like multiphysics flows (Galvin et al., Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng, to appear) divergence‐free mixed finite elements may have a significantly smaller discretization error than standard nondivergence‐free mixed finite elements. To judge the overall performance of divergence‐free mixed finite elements, we investigate linear solvers for the saddle point linear systems arising in ((P_k)^d,P _k‐1^disc) Scott‐Vogelius finite element implementations of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. We investigate both direct and iterative solver methods. Due to discontinuous pressure elements in the case of Scott‐Vogelius (SV) elements, considerably more solver strategies seem to deliver promising results than in the case of standard mixed finite elements such as Taylor‐Hood elements. For direct methods, we extend recent preliminary work using sparse banded solvers on the penalty method formulation to finer meshes and discuss extensions. For iterative methods, we test augmented Lagrangian and \begin{align*}\mathcal{H}\end{align*} ‐LU preconditioners with GMRES, on both full and statically condensed systems. Several numerical experiments are provided that show these classes of solvers are well suited for use with SV elements and could deliver an interesting overall performance in several applications.© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2013     

Reduction of dimension of optimal estimation problems for dynamical systems with singular perturbations

The possibility of applying the method of integral manifolds to the reduction of optimal filtering problems for systems with low energy dissipation is explored. For such systems, it is shown that the slow subsystem of matrix Riccati differential equations turns out to have a higher dimension than expected, which leads to an increase in the dimension of the reduced problems. An optimal filter is constructed for the Langevin equation and for a dynamic model of a single-link flexible manipulator.     

Dynamic analysis of a micro-resonator driven by electrostatic combs

The dynamic response of a micro-resonator driven by electrostatic combs is investigated in this work. The micro-resonator is assumed to consist of eight flexible beams and three rigid bodies. The nonlinear partial differential equations that govern the motions of the flexible beams are obtained, as well as their boundary and matching conditions. The natural matching conditions for the flexible beams are the governing equations for the rigid bodies. The undamped natural frequencies and mode shapes of the linearized model of the micro-resonator are determined, and the orthogonality relation of the undamped global mode shapes is established. The modified Newton iterative method is used to simultaneously solve for the frequency equation and identify repeated natural frequencies that can occur in the micro-resonator and their multiplicities. The Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization method is extended to orthogonalize the mode shapes of the continuous system corresponding to the repeated natural frequencies. The undamped global mode shapes are used to spatially discretize the nonlinear partial differential equations of the micro-resonator. The simulation results show that the geometric nonlinearities of the flexible beams can have a significant effect on the dynamic response of the micro-resonator.     

Fredholm boundary value problems for perturbed systems of dynamic equations on time scales

This paper offers conditions ensuring the existence of solutions of linear boundary value problems for systems of dynamic equations on time scales. Utilizing a method of Moore–Penrose pseudo‐inverse matrices leads to an analytical form of a criterion for the existence of solutions in a relevant space and, moreover, to the construction of a family of linearly independent solutions of such problems in a general case with the number of boundary conditions (defined by a linear vector functional) not coinciding with the number of unknowns of a system of dynamic equations. As an example of an application of the presented results, the problem of bifurcation of solutions of boundary value problems for systems of dynamic equations on time scales with a small parameter is considered.     

First integrals and exact solutions of the SIRI and tuberculosis models

The first integrals and exact solutions of mathematical models of epidemiology: a susceptible‐infected‐recovered‐infected (SIRI) model and a tuberculosis model with demographic growth are analyzed. These models are represented by systems of first‐order nonlinear ordinary differential equations, and this system is replaced by one which contains a second‐order ordinary differential equation. The partial Lagrangian approach is then utilized to derive the first integrals of these models. Several cases arise. Then, we utilize the derived first integrals to construct exact solutions for the models under investigation and determine new solutions. The dynamic properties of these models are studied too. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling Flexible Manipulators With Motors at the Joints

A computationally efficient recursive model of a flexible manipulator with motors at the joints is described in this paper. The model adopts a mixed Eulerian and Lagrangian formulation of the equations of a flexible body and exploits the chained structure of the equations for a serial manipulator. The dynamic effects of the motors at the joints, including gyroscopic terms, are fully taken into account. Symbolic manipulation is used in a newly developed package, whose performance in detailed reproduction of the dynamic effects due to the interplay between the motors and the flexible links is assessed through simulation. A comparison between the complete model and a simplified one, where the motors are considered as simple inertias rotating around their own axis, has been carried out, using both a time domain analysis and a frequency domain analysis, in order to show the relevance of gyroscopic effects in modelling flexible robots.