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This paper defines the efficiency similarity of different motor driving devices. Based on the efficiency function characteristics which can be approximately considered a concave, non-negative function through the origin, we present a kind of optimal control method for a felt driven by three different motors in paper machine. It gives the minimum total power consumption. The optimal control method is to keep the same torque rate for each motor driving device. This method is independent of the linearity or nonlinearity of the system and has no need for the system’s state equation or transfer function. Since the shapes of efficiency functions in nature are similar, the conclusion can also be applied to the energy optimization of other general devices.

After introducing the principle of ventilation and dehumidification for closed steam hood, the key and difficulty points of its control are analyzed. Aiming at the production line of coating white board with surface sizing and high steam consumption, DCS system of steam hood based on SIMATIC S7-300 PLC is designed. The hardware structure and control algorithms are illustrated in detail. The control system has been applied on the paper machine with nearly 10 board paper plants of the coating white board paper base in Fuyang, Zhejiang province, and the good energy-saving control effect has been obtained.

In this paper, Genetic Algorithm (GA) method has been applied in the moisture control system for auto tuning (PID) parameters. Proportional – Integral – Derivatives control scheme is used to provide an efficient and quiet easier in control engineering applications. Most of the PID tuning methods are used as manually which is difficult and time consuming. Genetic Algorithm which leads to improve the efficiency of tuning of process. The proposed algorithm is used to tune the PID parameters and its performance has been compared with Fuzzy logic techniques.Compare to the fuzzy logic technique dynamic performance specfications such as rise time, peak time and peak overshoot optimal values produced by GA. The plant model represented by the transfer function is obtained by the system identification tool box.

Proportional – Integral – Derivatives control scheme is used to provide an efficient and quiet easier in control engineering applications. Most of the Conventional PID tuning methods are used in manually which is difficult and time consuming. Soft Computing Technique is used to overcome this problem by using Fuzzy logic technique. In this research focuses dynamic performance specification is such as rise time, settling time and peak over shoot. This paper proposes to compare conventional and non-conventional techniques and the result of this comparison, The non-conventional technique (Fuzzy logic) has optimal dynamic performance. The plant model is represented by the transfer function, is obtained by the system identification tool box.

Paper tension is the most important control parameter in roll material production that directly impacts the printing quality of the web offset. Based on the closed-loop paper tension control theory, by conducting a research into the simulation of paper tension control system with MATLAB/SIMULINK, presented the closed-loop control diagram about the paper tension control system. Under different control parameter, the value of the overshoot, respond speed and residual of the system varies. As a result, the quantitative research on the simulation of the system offers a valid means in improving the control accuracy.

The precondition of improve the printing press velocity is to maintain the minimum vibration of infeed unit within the range of press speed. Taking advantage of the equivalent relation between the formula of infinitesimal energy and the classic beam theory, the vibration of convey paper belt can be converted into the problem of the beam be stretched and be compressed, and then we utilize the finite element simulation technology to conduct model analysis for the convey paper belt. When the numerical of the belt speed gain ,both the vibration and shape distortion reach the maximum, as well as speed of the infeed unit will be influenced most.

This paper analyzes the bag-making process and control requirements of paper and yarn compounding bag-making machine (PYCBMM). The overall control scheme is established. Configuration software WinCC Flexible 2008, Siemens touch panel MP377, Siemens PLC S7-200, Siemens frequency converter MM440, rotary encoder, color sensor, and other elements are synthetically applied to design the PYCBMM control system. During 12 months commissioning operation, the control system is stable, reliable, and easy to operate. All the technical indices outperform the design requirements.

The stock approach system of Chinese high speed tissue paper machines and the configuration of measuring and control points are specified. After introducing the control of absolute dry pulp quantity, the control scheme of Fuzzy-PID composite is implemented. The application result indicates that the scheme proposed is feasible and effective

This paper based on multi-agent technology, according to automobile safety airbag roll bag station production technology, at first adopt TS fuzzy neural regression network to distributed modeling for the controlled object, the methods of combining supervision learning and reinforcement learning are used, according to multi-agent external reinforcement signals and the value function of evaluate network ,using adaptive genetic co-evolution algorithm to optimize the action network, so can adapt to the mutational environment, and engineering application supply the proof about the effectiveness of the control strategy.

Control of pulp pH value is the key step in the process of washing zinc oxide. Due to the characteristics of large time delay and strong nonlinear, the control of pulp pH value is very difficult. In this paper, aiming at the above problem and according to the features of washing operation of zinc oxide powder, design a control system of a fuzzy controller, secondary fuzzy controller and PI controller.

In this paper based on the model of hybrid excavator that established in the software environment of AMESim, a configuration design and modeling of the power system of the excavator were made，then the several hybrid power system modes and energy-saving mechanisms of hybrid excavator were simulated and analyzed, the energy-saving potentialities of various energy-saving ways were calculated, and a hybrid power configuration mode that suit for present hybrid excavator was put forward.

In the paper we present results of theoretical and experimental research of properties of manipulators with electro hydraulic servo drives with energy sources of limited power. The danger of overloading the power sources and associated functional failures of the drive system are discussed. In order to solve the problem we propose a new structure of the control system and algorithms. This allows to effectively distribute available power between hydraulic drives. These control algorithms are based on a system with variable structure with actual fluid flow feedback. This paper presents analysis of the amplitude of the first harmonic and of oscillation frequency of the total flow in the steady state. This allows to give recommendations how to improve dynamic properties of a hydraulic manipulator. The proposed control laws solve the problem of coordination of motion of links of the manipulator for automatic distribution of power resources. Besides this, it creates favorable conditions for functioning of biotechnical system "human operator - hydraulic manipulator" with limited energy source.

In this paper, a solution for temperature control in a tunnel heat-treatment furnace, used in metallurgy, is presented. The mathematical model of the heating technological process associated to the furnace is expressed using a system of ordinary differential equations and it results through analytical modeling. Based on the determined mathematical model, a temperature control structure which uses the Internal Model Control strategy is proposed. In order to obtain the restrictive control performances imposed by the heat-treatment procedure, the proposed temperature control structure contains two controllers which are tuned using an iterative method and which are used alternatively for the temperature control. The simulations of the temperature control system are presented in a comparative manner, highlighting the main differences between the solution proposed in this paper and the cases of using a classical integer-order controller and a fractional-order controller.

The conventional mobile robotic platforms which either uses wheels or legs are quite familiar and each one of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. The wheeled robot is suitable for only plain and smooth terrain, whereas the legged robot can travel in any kind of terrain but is comparatively slower than the wheeled robot. So, a hybrid of both wheeled and legged platform would be quite suitable for any kind of terrain. The primary focus of this paper is to design and develop a leg-wheel hybrid robotic platform with a concurrent engineering and mechatronics approach to produce results with optimised design metrics at each and every stage of its development. An overall view of the entire mechatronics system is considered for design and development of the robot at each and every stage rather than a sequential engineering approach. This paper details the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the C – Legs which are used in the robot.

In today’s fast paced world, transportation plays a very important role. Of all the different types of transportation available, cars are one of the most common and most preferred means of transportation for the majority of people. The classical Cruise control System maintains the pre-set speed and will also adapt itself to the change in acceleration of the preceding vehicle. But it is not sophisticated enough and reduces its speed to zero in case of critical conditions. In the proposed system, in addition to obstacle detection, a new feature is added which enables the vehicle to switchover to an empty lane when the preceding vehicle is too near or whenever there is a possibility of crash. This paper discusses about the implementation of the same. The main input to the system is the data collected by the ultrasonic sensors fixed to the four sides of the vehicle. The main processing unit analyses the data collected and sends out a control signal to the motor driver in accordance with the algorithm. H-Bridge in this system controls the speed and the direction of the vehicle by giving the appropriate control signal to the motor connected to the wheels. This paper deals with the design of the prototype model of the proposed system. The main control part of our system is realised by the Arduino microcontroller.

This paper presents design concept and implementation of a micro actuating mechanism that uses a single drive to operate many degrees of freedom. The challenge of this research is to reduce the complexity of the multi-dof actuator mechanism in order to optimize its size and weight so that it is small and light enough to be implemented on other robots or automatic systems where mobility is needed. For example, on the development of the automatic tuning system of multi-string music instruments like piano or harp, instead of implementing one actuator to tune each string, this paper proposed an actuator mechanism that uses a single motor to tune several strings at a time. In the proposed actuator mechanism, a new tiny magnetic clutch is designed to control the direction of the rotation. The worm gear trains are selected to hold the position of the rotation with self-locking ability, which helps prevent rotation when the clutch is disengaged. The size and weight of the mechanism are optimized to fit properly on the musical stringed instrument. In this paper, the prototype and analysis of performance of the proposed mechanism is presented.

Robotics has lots of use in the industrial world and has lots of development since the industrial revolution, due to its qualities of high precision and accuracy. This paper is designed to display the qualities in a form of a writing robot. The aim of this study is to construct the system based on data gathered and to develop the control system based on the model. There are four aspects studied for this project, namely image processing, character recognition, image properties extraction and inverse kinematics. This paper served as discussion in modelling the robotic arm used for writing robot and generating theta for end effector position. Training data are generated through meshgrid, which is the fed through anfis.

This paper presents a solution for the real power control, generated by a synchronous generator belonging to a small hydroelectric power plant. The proposed control system is based on the simple feedback structure which contains also, a frequency correction loop. The mathematical models of all the elements from the control structure are detailed. Also, starting from these models, the real power controller (of Proportional – Integral – Derivative type) tuning procedure is presented. In the end of the paper, the simulations results of the control system are presented highlighting the obtained control performances. The proposed solution is a general one and it can be adapted with relative minor changes to any hydroelectric power plant.

This paper presents the implementation and the tuning of PID controller for a mobile platform with differential steering. It presents a mobile platform built in the Department of Industrial Machinery & Equipment, of the Engineering Faculty of Sibiu for an European contest. In a first phase, a brief introduction to PID controller is made, followed by a description of the various robot's components and traction principles underlying locomotion of mobile platforms. At the end the paper contains several principles of tuning the PID controller for the mobile robot.

The low efficiency restricts the development of pulse continuously variable transmission (P-CVT) mainly, so it is an urgent task to reveal the physical essence of P-CVT, find out the main factor of energy loss, optimize the structure and improve the efficiency. In this paper for this problem, the energy model is established, proposing the calculation method of the energy loss in kinematic pair, the energy loss caused by the resistance of lubrication and the energy loss caused by the damping of the materials of transmission machine. And on this basis, the energy loss will be analyzed specifically by taking the Y2 P-CVT for example, pointing out the corresponding measures which can improve the efficiency. Finally, the physical essence of P-CVT is revealed. Therefore, this paper can provide theory for the efficiency analysis and optimal design of P-CVT.

This paper presents the design and construction of a haptic device. This device aims to generate a tactile feedback to the user. The feedback is generated when the user has contact with virtual limits (through a graphical interfaces or electronic cards). These limits could be due to speeding or recklessness from the pilot under conditions of low visibility or turbulence. The paper begin with the design of the lever-shaped cam which has two Degree of Freedom (DOF). It proceeds with the kinematic analysis to obtain the work area. As of workspace is possible to determine the contact point with the geometry of the virtual object. In this event the user will have a tactile feedback, a force or vibration. This force must be minimal, to prevent injury to the user.

The dynamic characteristics of planetary transmissions have a direct influence over the possibilities of industrial robots regarding the imposed trajectory. Also, the conditions specific to the achievement of the transient regime have a significant influence over the positioning accuracy of the robots. In this paper, a comparative approach is proposed, applied to four types of planetary transmissions, concerning the gyration torque distribution and computation. Based on the computation equations presented in this paper, some optimization strategies concerning the response times of the overall kinematic chains are proposed.

The paper presents methods used to determine the parameters necessary to build a mathematical model of an underwater inspection robot with a crawler drive. The parameters present in the dynamics equation will be determined by means of advanced mechatronic design tools, including: CAD/CAE software and MES modules. The robot dynamics are described by means of type II Lagrange equations for a non-holonomic system. The details of the kinetic and dynamic equation derivation are highly complex and exceed the scope of this paper. In this paper, the authors concentrate on the methods of determining such dynamic equation parameters as: hydrodynamic resistance factor, precise robot volume and weight, frontal cross-sectional surface and mass moments of inertia.

The paper deals with quadrocopter stability in vertical axis. At first, dynamic model of quadrocopter is introduced. In the paper are derived relations for control error in steady state for PD and PID controller. Based on dynamic model the PID controller is designed by optimizing method. Using designed controller the quadrocopter stability in vertical axis was simulated in software Matlab. In the conclusion the results of the simulation are shown.

The main purpose of this work is the presentation reverse task of mechanical systems including active elements. This reserve task is known as synthesis of mechanical system. In result of conducted synthesis was received structures and parameters of a discrete model meeting the defined requirements concerning the dynamic features of the system, in particular, the frequency spectrum. The presented approach i.e. a non-classical synthetic method applied in designing mechanical or mechatronical systems, one (as early as at the design and construction stage) may verify future systems. The aim of this paper is also analysis of obtained system to check relationship between basic system and active subsystem reduction vibrations. This active subsystem was consisted from electric elements. In this paper was used a non-classical method of polar graphs and their relationship with algebra of structural numbers. The use of such a method enables the analysis and synthesis of mechanical systems irrespective of the type and number of the elements of such a system. Active elements give better results (in compare with passive elements) in case of reduction of low frequency vibrations. Presented approach simplifies the process of selecting the dynamical parameters of systems in view of their dynamical characteristics. Thanks to the approach, introduced in this paper, can be conducted as early as during the designing of future functions of the system as well as during the construction of the system. Using method and obtained results can be value for designers of mechanical systems with elements reducing vibrations.

In this paper authors conducted analysis of management features on machine-tools with numerical control using neural network for achieving exactness. Applications of Hopfield networks are discussed in the paper along with application of neuron computers that offer decision making of tasks ticker-coil.

The specific objectives of rehabilitation medicine are maintaining and recovering human body functions, as well as preventing dysfunctionalities by means of kinetic and orthotic techniques and a variety of equipment for support and adaptation. The latter are medical systems facilitating the exercise of muscles at constant or variable speeds according to professional recommendations. The paper presents and discusses the control of rehabilitation equipment designed for the passive mobilisation exercises of joints. The novelty of such equipment resides in its actuation by pneumatic muscles, as well as in its control by means of an SPC 200 controller and WinPISA software. The paper presents a number of examples of rehabilitation programmes and the corresponding motion graphs of the rehabilitation equipment sliding block.

This paper presents the dynamic characteristics and the proposed positioning performance of the system to them investigated experimentally. In this research, we developed the positioning system and we evaluated positioning accuracy. The developed system uses a servo motor for motion actuation. In this paper, we focused on studying the dependency of the positioning error – elementary errors – the position of the conducting element for the mechanism of the transformation of the rotation translation movement, representatively the mechanism screw – screwdriver and on emphasizing the practical consequences in the field of design, regulation and exploitation of the correct identification of all the initial errors in the structure of the mechanism, their character and the selection for an ultimate calculus of these which are of a real practical importance.

In the paper, the problem of designing of mechatronic discrete systems for vibration control has been investigated and generalized. As the design method, the synthesis has been used. Main focus of the paper is given to formalization of the mechatronic structures that contains elements with negative values on different stages of the synthesis process. The study is done based on different distributions methods of dynamical characteristics, dimensionless transformation and retransformation algorithm, simultaneously with verification of possible configurations of connections of piezostack actuators with external electric networks. As the result, various classifications of mechatronic discrete systems and general design constrains have been presented and discussed.

This paper presents the model updating technique for satellite structure by using the vibration environment test data. In the paper, several key technique issues related to the model updating of satellite structure, such as selection of updating parameters, model reduction, damping identification, etc, have been discussed. As an example, the model updating for a satellite central cylinder structure using the shaker vibration environment test results is described. It is proved that the techniques presented are effective for engineering applications.

This paper discusses the implementation of an adaptive fuzzy autopilot for a scale ship model using a Fuzzy Model Reference Learning Controller (FMRLC). Initially, a fuzzy singleton model of the scale ship model is obtained from experimental input and output data gathered from the turning circle manoeuvre. After that, the paper describes how to design a Fuzzy Model Reference Learning Controller (FMRLC) for controlling the directional heading of the scale ship model. At the end, results of the implementation of the adaptive ship autopilot are showed.

This paper presents a danger analysis for a new octahedron-shaped variable-geometry-truss robot structure under collision with a human head. To lower the danger of collision, design modifications featuring a decoupling of the robot’s moved mass with variable passive compliance and damping will be introduced and a possible implementation in the robots drives is shown. The paper closes in presenting the impact force reduction potential of the resulting hydropneumatic actuator.

The disadvantage of Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan power grid operation control mode is that the control effect is poorer and the spare capacity demand is big, this paper puts forward a new coordinated control strategy. First of all, this paper describes the relationship between the load, frequency, the output of generating unit, the tie line power and the area control error relationship of the whole power grid, according to the regional automatic generation control performance assessment criteria, concludes the characteristics of regional unit adjustment. This paper analyzes the contradiction between them, and then proposes a coordinated control strategy between the Beijing-Tangshan power grid and Tianjin power grid. The case simulation results prove the superiority and feasibility of the new coordinated control strategy. Compared with the original, the new strategy reduces the volatility of the unit, shortens the recovery time of frequency, and has a certain practical significance.

The paper is dedicated to analyze the modern expert systems to assess the technical condition of power stations and substations high-voltage equipment. The main problems of modern expert systems and their possible solutions are determined. As the structure and their basic construction principles are considered. Also this paper proposes an algorithm for the expert system model using fuzzy inference on the basis of technical diagnostics and tests. As a case study of assessment of power transformers state based on dissolved gas analysis in the oil is presented.

This paper presents the implementation of a microcontroller-based Harmonic Elimination PWM (HEPWM) switching scheme of a Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter (CHMI) for renewable energy system. This technique applies Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique to allow computation of HEPWM switching angles. The detail description on the microcontroller-based implementation is provided in this paper. The performance of CHMI employing the control strategy based-on the simulation and experimental results are shown for comparison purposes.

An important task of designing the robotic assembly stand is to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the parts mating process. This can be achieved by selection of the appropriate method of assembling and by providing the required accuracy of the devices in the kinematic chain of assembly operation. Using high accuracy equipment and instrumentation leads to an increasing of the probability of correct realization of the process of parts mating, but this greatly increases the cost of assembly stand. The use of too precise and complex equipment to robotize the assembly process can be highly uneconomical. This paper presents a mathematical model that allows the selection of the parameters of the modular assembly robot performing the process of mating parts with flat and cylindrical surfaces, which represent the largest share among all the assembled parts. The presented model allows for the optimal selection of the accuracy of each robot modules which ensures reliable realization of assembly process without unnecessary increasing their accuracy, and therefore the stand cost. In the final part of the paper, the results of the model solution have been presented.

This paper addresses a two-degree-of-freedom control system design for positioning de-vices such as table drive systems based on the predictive functional control (PFC). The aim of the paper is to improve the tracking performance of the previously developed disturbance observer-based predictive functional control (DOB-PFC) system. To this end, we derive a transfer function representation of the PFC controller. On the basis of the representation, we apply the zero phase error tracking controller (ZPETC) as a feedforward preview controller. Experiments using a real table drive system are conducted to compare the proposed control system with DOB-PFC. The experimental results show that the tracking error is greatly reduced compared to DOB-PFC.

It has been proven that the introduction of the systems for continuous control of the equipment technical state is a necessary requirement of the modern maintenance of the critical equipment. The paper proposes the list of the processing facilities applied within the development systems for technical state control. The task of development of the system for recording, storing and displaying oscillographs of the automated electric drives of the wide-strip hot-rolling mill has been defined. The paper offers the analysis of the recording system based on the remote I/O controllers and the system with distributed industrial computers. The most informative-significant signals are listed. The network topology of the decentralized system implemented at the 2,500 mm wide-strip hot-rolling mill of OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works is suggested. Oscillographs of the main coordinates of the mill's electric drives obtained by means of the introduced system are provided.

In this paper, we describe the development and validation of the kinematic analysis of a low low-cost 4-link robot the first of its kind in Nigeria. This study comprises the following key tasks which describe the methodology for the robot development: design and kinematic analysis of the robot mechanism, construction/fabrication and assembly of the robot, system development (computer interface with the robot) and experimental validation of the robot control. The goal of this robot is to pick an object and drop the object in a specified position. The algorithm to control the robot on the computer was coded in Java and simulated in MATLAB/Simulink platform. The robot was experimentally verified and the results are presented in this paper. The experimental results show that robot development is feasible in Nigeria. The contribution of this study will enhance and promote robot control and development in Nigeria and developing third world countries.

The inverted pendulum system is a challenging control problem in the control theory, which continually moves away from a stable state. The paper presents the design of a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller for a single-input multi-output (SIMO) inverted pendulum system and using the Bees Algorithm (BA) to obtain optimal gains for PID controllers. The Bees Algorithm optimizes the gains so that the controller can move the cart to a desired position with the minimum amount of the change in the pendulum’s angle from the vertically upright position during the movement. The tuning aim is to minimize the control responses of the cart’s position and the pendulum’s angle in time domain. MATLAB/Simulink simulation has been performed to demonstrate that the effects on the system performance of PID controllers with optimal gains. The obtained results show that the tuning method by using the Bees Algorithm produced PID controllers successfully within the controller design criteria. Following a description of the inverted pendulum system and the Bees Algorithm, the paper gives the obtained simulation results for the system demonstrating the efficiency of the design.

—Hydropower energy is widely used throughout the world. It is the only renewable energy that is presently commercially practical on the large scale. In order to maintain the hydropower plant in good condition, the performance of the power plant needs to be monitored constantly. Efficiency curve helps in studying the performance of the turbine under various conditions and this is the best way to look for the performance of the power plant. Therefore, this paper presents the relationship between load (MW) and efficiency of each turbine and generator unit. This project uses Microsoft Excel 2010 software to produce a graph from the exact data produced from the database. This paper’s objective is to compare the theoretical performance curve and the calculated performance curve and also to discuss the hydroelectric power plant performance.

This paper reviews neural network control algorithm for power quality improvement. Further, this paper focuses on the neural network control algorithm for DSTATCOM and surveys its area of improvements. Various architectures of Neural Network such as Adaline/Widrow-Hoff, perceptron, Back-propagation (BP), Hopfield, and Radial Basis Function (RBF) that has been reviewed in this paper. It is found that many researches on theoretical works and single phase system are widely performed, whereas its application on distribution network for three phase system is hardly found. Even so much improvement that have been done by researchers theoretically to improve the drawbacks of Neural Network controller; there are still wide gaps for verification through experimental implementation and industrial applications.

This paper presents a new approach for designing the Power System Stabilizer. As in power system network, low frequency oscillation always occurs for a long period of time that will decrease the power transfer capability. Power System Stabilizer known as PSS is being installed as one of the control devices in a generating unit. The conventional PSS (CPSS) is the most commonly used in power system, which uses lead-lag compensation. The lack in CPSS has drawn an interest of designing the new approach of PSS to outperform the conventional one. Thus, Bees Algorithm (BA) which is known as one of the numerous intelligent optimization methods is proposed in this paper. It is appears to aid the system stability by optimizing the PSS parameters tuning. The PSS with the BA approach is labelled as BA-PSS and being tested on single machine infinite bus system (SMIB) in Matlab/Simulink environment. BA-PSS performance is compared with CPSS as to validate the ability of the proposed method to achieve great performance in power system stability enhancement. Different type of mechanical input is being injected into the system and the result shows that BA-PSS is capable to optimize the parameters tuning of PSS. BA-PSS also improved the unstable or poorly stable modes as the system achieve the stability with lower overshoot and less time settling. The superior response of BA-PSS controller proved the ability of BA approach in which is capable to solve the lack in CPSS with better performance in enhancing the system stability.

This paper describes a Main control system of the mobile robot TELERESCUER for inspecting coal mine areas affected by catastrophic events. Carried out in a framework of a EU programme of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel under the grant agreement No. RFCR-CT-2014-00002. The main problem is to applicate the very demanding safe requirements of ATEX on the design of the control system including its communication with other robot subsystems. The solving of this problem is presented in this paper.

With the increasing complexity of the space mission, the ability of fast reconstruction of manipulator is more and more important. To solve the problem of space manipulator’s fast reconstruction, this paper designs a novel manipulator that contains mechatronics modular joints and a connecting mechanism. Compared to the traditional manipulator, the manipulator in this paper have the advantage of great convenience of assembling and replacement of the modular joint. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between tolerance ability and structural parameters and computed the tolerance ability after optimization of the connecting mechanism; Using the perturbation method, we conducted the simulation of analysis error. Results show that relationship between the end position error and the error of the modular joints is approximate linear, which providing a theory instruction for the design of manipulator.

The paper presents a stage of the research concerning the development and improvement of a low cost small flexible coordinate measuring machine (CMM) that could be used in the future both in research and industry. Its main advantage could refer to the low cost (only about 30 ÷ 40% of the cost of a CMM in the category on the market, having similar dimensions) in conditions of high performance criteria. This could be possible due to the fact that they were implemented some recycled components in the construction of the robotic drive axes of the machine structure, low cost scanning devices and low cost mechanical systems for fixing and adapting the scanning devices. The research stage presented in the paper is essential for the later stages of research to develop an integrated concept: low-cost, flexibility, precision and efficiency, all criteria referring to a small portable scanning CMM, with possible application in any domain. Specifically, the described research stage refers to evaluate the implementation of some scanning systems, type non-contact low-cost and modern displacement transducers, on the principle of emission of LASER radiation, in terms of scanning accuracy. The reason is that currently these systems are used more and more in the CMMs construction.

ISO 14649 standard, commonly recognized as STEP-NC is a data model interface for computer numerical controllers. STEP-NC goes much further that G codes and has a more comprehensive data model that overcomes the lack of process information in ISO 6983 files (G codes programming). The STEP compliant approach brings the possibility to integrate the machine controller to the overall enterprise information network, with the intention of having bi-directional data flow. This will provide the novel capability for upstream feedback of information from the numerical controller to the design and process areas in the process planning and manufacturing. This paper presents the key concepts of the proposed STEP Convertor of the STEP-CNC Mapping System. The objective of the main system is to take a generic STEP file as the input to drive a CNC machine tool. The main system is broken down into two main sub-systems, STEP Convertor and STEP-NC Translator. This paper will focus solely on the information structure and conceptualization of the STEP Convertor.

This paper summarises the results obtained from a study of the conditions required to achieve self-balanced mechanical systems. The design self-balanced systems composed of single-loop spatial mechanisms with a common drive shaft, is reviewed. The paper explains how the problems are solved by selecting the relative angles of the mechanism's cranks, their number and mutual arrangement. The resulting self-balancing criteria enable the construction of spatial mechanical systems with predetermined levels of residual imbalance.

The paper presents the development of a smart sensor system that is used for measuring pipe network parameters. The developed sensor is intended for use with in pipe inspection robots that can independently explore and evaluate the constructive parameters and the condition of the pipe network. The proposed system is developed around the Atmel ATMega16 microcontroller which is connected to a set of sensors and to the robot. The sensor system was tested using the ROBIN250 mobile robot and the obtained results are presented in the paper.

This paper reviews compensation methods on effects of disturbance forces on positioning accuracy in linear drives system for machine tools applications. Linear motor is directly subjected to disturbances forces acting in the direction of motion giving rise to the needs for alternative robust controllers in order to ensure precision and high tracking performance. This paper investigates effect of cutting forces generated during milling process on tracking accuracy of a linear drive motor. Recent studies are focusing on design of adaptive compensators that provide robustness against system uncertainties while maintaining high degree of precision and accuracy generally required in high performance machining applications.