The conventional robot manipulability is decomposed into linear manipulability and angular manipulability so that they may be analysed and visualized in easy way even in the case of 3 dimensional task space with 6 variables. After the Jacobian matrix is decomposed into linear part and angular part, constraint on joint velocities is transformed into linear task velocity and angular task velocity through the decomposed Jacobian matrices. Under the assumption of redundant robot manipulators, several optimization problems which utilize the redundancy are formulated to be solved by linear programming technique or sequential quadratic programming technique. After deriving the solutions of the optimization problems, we give graphical interpretations for the solutions.

The aim of this paper is to suggest a design method of the optimal multivariable $H_{\infty}$ control system using genetic algorithm (GA). This $H_{\infty}$ control system is designed by applying GA to the optimal determination of weighting functions and design parameter $\gamma$ that are given by Glover-Doyle algorithm which can design $H_{\infty}$ controller in the state space. The first method to do this is that the gains of weighting functions and $\gamma$ are optimized simultaneously by GA with tournament method. And the second method is that not only the gains and $\gamma$ but also the dynamics of weighting functions are optimized at the same time by eA with roulette-wheel method. The effectiveness of this $H_{\infty}$ control system is verified by computer simulation.

This paper proposes an adaptive sliding mode control scheme for an autopilot design of Skid-to-Turn (STT) missiles. The feedback linearization controller eliminates nonlinear terms in STT dynamics and makes the entire system linear. But the modeling errors in dynamics and the external disturbances exert bad influence on the performance of the feedback linearization controller. To handle these uncertainties, an adaptive control scheme is developed, where a bound of the uncertainties is estimated by an adaptive law based on a sliding surface. The asymptotic output tracking is proved by using the Lyapunov stability theory. Simulations for STT missiles illustrate the validity of the proposed scheme.

This paper presents a disturbance accommodating sliding mode control for a quarter-car active suspension using an electro-hydraulic actuator. The electro-hydraulic actuator model is nonlinear and uncertain. The hardware constrains on the actuator prevent high gain in a sliding mode control, which deteriorates the force tracking performance. DAC(Disturbance Accommodating Control) is combined with the sliding mode control to improve the tracking performance. DAC observer estimates the pressure due to the actuator uncertainty. The additional control is designed to compensate the estimated pressure. Simulation results show the improved tracking performance with the Proposed control methods.

In this paper, a design method based on evolutionary programming for feedforward neural networks which have a single hidden layer is presented. By using an evolutionary programming, the network parameters such as the network structure, weight, slope of sigmoid functions and bias of nodes can be acquired simultaneously. To check the effectiveness of the suggested method, two numerical examples are examined. The performance of the identified network is demonstrated.

A force-reflecting hand controller can provide the kinesthetic information obtained from a slave manipulator to the operator of a teleoperation system. The goal is to construct a compact hand controller that can provide large workspace and good force-reflecting capability. This paper presents the design and the analysis of a 6-degree-of-freedom force-reflecting hand controller using fivebar parallel mechanism. The forward kinematics of the fivebar parallel mechanism has been calculated in real-time using three pin-joint sensors in addition to six actuator position sensors. A force decomposition approach is used to compute the Jacobian. To evaluate the characteristics of the fivebar parallel mechanism, it has been compared with the other three parallel mechanisms in terms with workspace and manipulability measure. The hand controller using the fivebar parallel mechanism has been constructed and tested to verify the feasibility of the design concept.

Autonomous mobile robots are required to achieve multiple goals while responding quickly to the dynamic environments. An appropriate robot control architecture, which clearly and systematically defines the relationship among the inputs, the processing functions and the outputs, thus needs to be embedded in the robot controller. This paper proposes a kind of hybrid control architecture which combines the key features of the two well-known robot control architectures; hierarchical and behavioral- based. The overall control architecture consists of three layers, i.e. the highest planner, the middle plan executor, and the lowest monitor and behavior-based controller. In the planned situation, only one behavior module is chosen by the logical coordinator in the plan executor according to the way point bin. In the exceptional situation, the central controller in the plan executor issues an additional control command to reach the planned way point. Several simulations and experiments with autonomous mobile robot show that the proposed architecture enables the robot controller to achieve the multiple sequential goals even in dynamic and uncertain environments.

To measure the accurate position of mobile robot, dead-reckoning method using the encoder attached to each wheel is conventionally used, since it is easy to compute and inexpensive to develop. However, that method is useless when slip occurs and error is accumulated with time. This paper proposes a position estimation method using encoder trailer composed of 2 encoders only(ET-2). This method provides accurate position information even when slip occurs, and can reduce accumulated error if we select the proper link lengths of encoder trailer. Experimental results show the performance of ET-2 when slip occurs. Finally, accumulated systematic error from encoder resolution is analyzed in comparison with an existing method with encoder trailer composed of 3 encoders. (As a matter of convenience, we will call the existing encoder trailer ‘ET-3’)

This paper introduces a methodology of active calibration of a camera pose (orientation and position) using the images of cylindrical objects that are going to be manipulated. This active calibration method is different from the passive calibration where a specific pattern needs to be located at a certain position. In the active calibration, a camera attached on the robot captures images of objects that are going to be manipulated. That is, the prespecified position and orientation data of the cylindrical object are transformed into the camera pose through the two consecutive image frames. An ellipse can be extracted from each image frame, which is defined as a circular-feature matrix. Therefore, two circular-feature matrices and motion parameters between the two ellipses are enough for the active calibration process. This active calibration scheme is very effective for the precise control of a mobile/task robot that needs to be calibrated dynamically. To verify the effectiveness of active calibration, fundamental experiments are peformed.

In this work, a new 3-PSP type spatial 3-degree-of-freedom parallel mechanism is proposed. And a 6 DOF hybrid manipulator which consists of a 3-PPR type planar 3 DOF parallel mechanism and a new 3-PSP type spatial 3-degree-of-freedom parallel mechanism is proposed. Both 3 DOF mechanism modules have closed-form forward position solutions and particularly, 3-PSP spatial module has unique forward position solution. Firstly, the closed-form position analysis and first-order kinematic analysis for the proposed 3-PSP type module are carried out, and the first-order kinematic characteristics are examined via maximum singular value and the isotropic index of the mechanism. It is shown through these analyses that the mechanism has excellent isotrpic property throughout the workspace. Secondly, position and kinematic analysis of the 3-PPR planar module are briefly described. Thirdly, the forward position analysis for the 3-PPR 3-PSP type 6 degree-of-freedom hybrid mechanism consisting of a 3-PPR planar module and a 3-PSP spatial module is performed along with the analysis of the workspace size and first-order kinematic characteristics. The kinematic characteristics of the proposed hybrid manipulator are compared to those of geometrically similar Stewart manipulator.

In this paper, the fuzzy neural network for the obstacle avoidance, which consists of the straight-line navigation and the barrier elusion navigation, is proposed and examined. For the straight-line navigation, the fuzzy neural network gets two inputs, angle and distance between the line and the mobile robot, and produces one output, steering velocity of the mobile robot. For the barrier elusion navigation, four ultrasonic sensors measure the distance between the barrier and the mobile robot and provide the distance information to the network. Then the network outputs the steering velocity to navigate along the obstacle boundary. Training of the proposed fuzzy neural network is executed in a given environment in real-time. The weights adjusting uses the back-propagation of the gradient of error to be minimized. Computer simulations are carried out to examine the efficiency of the real time learning and the guiding ability of the proposed fuzzy neural network. It has been shown that the mobile robot that employs the proposed fuzzy neural network navigates more safely with and less trembling locus compared with the previous reported efforts.

There has been requested to automate the welding process in shipyard due to its dependence on skilled operators and the inferior working environments. According to these demands, multiple robot welding system for sub-assembly welding line has been developed, realized and installed at Keoje shipyard. In order to realize automatic welding system, robots have to be equipped with a sensing system to recognize the position of the welding panels. In this research, a camera vision system(CVS) is developed to detect the position of base panels for sub-assembly line in shipbuilding. Two camera vision systems are used in two different stages (fitting and welding) to automate the recognition and positioning of welding lines. For automatic recognition of panel position, various image processing algorithms are proposed in this paper.

This paper presents a shape reconstruction method for automatic inspection of the solder joints on PCBs using X-ray. Shape reconstruction from X-ray radiographic image has been very important since X-ray equipment was used for improving the reliability of inspection result. For this purpose there have been lots of previous works using tomography, which reconstructs the correct shape, laminography or tomosynthesis, which are very fast algorithm. Latter two methods show outstanding performance in cross-sectional image reconstruction of lead type component, but they are also known to show some fatal limitations to some kinds of components such as BGA, because of shadow effect. Although conventional tomography does not have any shadow effect, the shape of PCB prohibits it from being applied to shape reconstruction of solder joints on PCB. This paper shows that tomography using Iterative Reconstruction Technique(IRT) can be applied to this difficult problem without any limitations. This makes conventional radiographic instrument used for shape reconstruction without shadow effect. This means that the new method makes cost down and shadow-free shape reconstruction. To verify the effectiveness of IRT, we develop three dimensional model of BGA solder ball, make projection model to obtain X-ray projection data. and perform a simulation study of shape reconstruction. To compare the performance of IRT with that of conventional laminography or tomosynthesis, reconstruction data are reorganized and error analysis between the original model are also performed.

In this paper, we design the robust $H_{\infty}$ controller for water level control of steam generator using a mixed $H_{\infty}$ optimization with model-matching method. Firstly we choose the desired model which has good disturbance rejection performance. Secondly we design a stabilizing controller to keep the model-matching error small and also provide sufficiently large stability margin against additive perturbations of the nominal plant. Simulation results show that proposed robust $H_{\infty}$ controller at specific power operation has satisfactory performances against the variations of load power, steam flow rate, primary circuit coolant temperature, and feedwater temperature. It can be also observed that the proposed robust $H_{\infty}$ controller exhibits better robust stability than conventional PI controller.

KOMPSAT is a three-axis stabilized light weight satellite, and one of the main mission objectives of the KOMPSAT is to conduct scientific and technological analysis in the areas of high resolution imaging and ocean color imaging. This kind of mission requires the satellite to roll up to 45 degrees. Bang-bang control for this rolling maneuver may activate the flexible modes, and therefore cause satellite pointing performance degradation. To deal with this problem, the roll attitude control system, especially for the science mode and maneuver mode of the KOMPSAT, is first verified by numerical simulation. And the open-loop control law for roll maneuver is proposed by use of series expansion and optimization. The proposed control law is applied to KOMPSAT to see its effectiveness.