162 research outputs found
Review of exoskeletons for medical and service applications: ongoing Research in Europe on Wearable Robots, with focus on lower extremity exoskeletons
No full textPublisher Copyright: © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018.This chapter presents an overview of European research projects that are involved with research and development of wearable robots, with an emphasis on exoskeletons for the legs. The structure and goals of public European Research funding are explained, the general directions of the recent research in wearable robots are summarized, and a more detailed overview of a selection of the larger European R&D projects in this field is provided. It covers exoskeletons for assistive use as well as for training, for medical as well as for service applications.Peer reviewe
Testing Safety of Lower Limbs Exoskeletons: Current Regulatory Gaps
No full textExoskeletons are a growing technology that is increasingly being studied and researched in various application domains. However, new technologies must fit into current regulations, which update more slowly than market needs. This paper analyses the main regulations and standards in which exoskeletons can fit, underlining the gaps and barriers that still exist and may hinder the smooth introduction of exoskeleton technology in the market
Effect of chloroform on in vitro methane production of diets supplemented with nitrate or saponins
No full textReview of The Inklings of Oxford: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Their Friends
No full textReview of Harry Lee Poe [text] and James Ray Veneman [photography], The Inklings of Oxford: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Their Friends (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009). 176 pages. $24.99. ISBN: 9780310285038
Switched LQR control: Design of a general framework
No full textThis thesis studies the Switched Linear Quadratic Regulator (SLQR) problem, over a hybrid (continuous and discrete) dynamical model known as "switched system". The problem is defined as computing the optimal continuous and discrete switching control to minimise a quadratic cost function that weights the states and the continuous controls. The original SLQR problem does not handle constraints on states, continuous or discrete controls, and there is no probabilistic behaviour. This thesis focuses on the discrete dynamics in a SLQR problem. The first part of the thesis describes the SLQR problem with discrete constraints, whereas the second part is dedicated to probabilistic switching behaviour. The problem with discrete constraints is described as finding the optimal hybrid switching policy that minimises a quadratic cost function, weighting states and continuous controls, without violating the discrete constraints. The problem with probabilistic switches is defined as finding the optimal hybrid switching policy that minimises an expected value of a quadratic cost function, weighting states and continuous controls. For the SLQR problem with discrete constraints a general relaxation framework is developed to simplify the representations of the value functions and the corresponding control strategies. It is shown that the closed loop performance of the obtained solution with the relaxation framework can be made arbitrarily close to the optimal solution. For the SLQR problem with probabilistic switches it is shown that a relaxation framework can only be developed when there are no discrete constraints involved. Finally, the thesis concludes with a few case studies to illustrate how the optimal hybrid control sequence is computed.Delft Centre for Systems and ControlMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin
PRODUCT AND PROCESS CERTIFICATION IN IMPERFECTLY COMPETITIVE MARKETS
No full textConsumers, policy makers, and business decision makers are increasingly concerned about food safety and security. In the U.S. meat industry, certification programs could address some of these problems. This study builds a three-sector partial equilibrium model to analyze the distributional effects of implementing a certification program for meat product.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,
Developing systems for high-throughput screening of infectious diseases using zebrafish
No full text Infectious diseases are everywhere around us, and we need to keep improving our knowledge about our defence mechanisms and the evasion strategies of the pathogens. The work in this thesis describes multiple techniques that can contribute to fast screening methods in order to come up with new strategies against infectious diseases. The use of automated micro-injectors in combination with large flow cytometers and automated microscopy has shown added value (chapters 2, 3 & 4) for research questions about (opportunistic) pathogens. The collaboration between scientists of different research areas has proved to be very successful in the development of an easy to use analysis platform for the analysis of RNAseq data (chapter 5). This has led to very detailed description of host molecular expression patterns following infection by these pathogens. This could be used to gain more insight in how biomaterials behave in a host environment in the presence or absence of infection (chapter 6). All together this has led this to a variety of research methods that can be used for studies of infections caused by many bacteria such as S. epidermidis and M. marinum described in this thesis, but, also by other microbes, such as fungi. zebrafish, Staphylococcus-epidermidis, Mycobacterium-marinum, high-throughput,screening, method-development, transcriptome-analysis, molecular-cell-biology, immunology, host-pathogen-interaction; disease-modelsThis research forms part of the Project P5.03 IBIZA of the research program of the BioMedical Materials institute, co-funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic AffairsAnimal science
The Canadian Renewable Energy Laboratory: A testbed for microgrids
No full text(© 2020 IEEE) Nasr-Azadani, E., Su, P., Zheng, W., Rajda, J., Canizares, C., Kazerani, M., Veneman, E., Cress, S., Wittemund, M., Manjunath, M. R., Wrathall, N., & Carter, M. (2020). The Canadian Renewable Energy Laboratory: A testbed for Microgrids. IEEE Electrification Magazine, 8(1), 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1109/mele.2019.2962889This article presents a test facility for design validation of microgrids with high penetration of renewable energy, developed as a joint effort with industry, government, and academia. The Canadian Renewable Energy Laboratory (CANREL) described here is a physical simulation tool for the design, development, and performance testing of islanded and grid-connected microgrid projects. CANREL is equipped with a diesel generator, different renewable energy sources, various renewable energy generation simulators and physical systems, a bidirectional power-flow grid simulator, a battery- based energy-storage system, and controllable resistive?inductive?capacitive and electronic test loads for the design and testing of a variety of microgrid solutions. The test facility provides project performance demonstration and validation services at each stage of a microgrid project development to help utilities and project developers reduce risks. It is also a physical simulation tool for benchmarking microgrid equipment and controllers for research and development purposes. Some facility test results are presented in this article to demonstrate the capabilities of CANREL for simulating a wide range of scenarios.Canadian Solar || Ontario Ministry of Energy Smart Grid Fund
Benchmarking occupational exoskeletons: An evidence mapping systematic review
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)Objectives: To provide an overview of protocols assessing the effect of occupational exoskeletons on users and to formulate recommendations towards a literature-based assessment framework to benchmark the effect of occupational exoskeletons on the user. Methods: PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science database and Scopus were searched (March 2, 2021). Studies were included if they investigated the effect of one or more occupational exoskeletons on the user. Results: In total, 139 eligible studies were identified, encompassing 33, 25 and 18 unique back, shoulder and other exoskeletons, respectively. Device validation was most frequently conducted using controlled tasks while collecting muscle activity and biomechanical data. As the exoskeleton concept matures, tasks became more applied and the experimental design more representative. With that change towards realistic testing environments came a trade-off with experimental control, and user experience data became more valuable. Discussion: This evidence mapping systematic review reveals that the assessment of occupational exoskeletons is a dynamic process, and provides literature-based assessment recommendations. The homogeneity and repeatability of future exoskeleton assessment experiments will increase following these recommendations. The current review recognises the value of variability in evaluation protocols in order to obtain an overall overview of the effect of exoskeletons on the users, but the presented framework strives to facilitate benchmarking the effect of occupational exoskeletons on the users across this variety of assessment protocols.The work presented in this paper was supported by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) under grant no. S000118N SBO Exo4Work project.This article was enriched through work from COST Action 16116: Wearable Robots for Augmentation, Assistance or Substitution of Human Motor Functions, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). The work presented in this paper was supported by the Research Foundation - Flanders ( FWO ) under grant no. S000118N SBO Exo4Work project.Peer reviewe
Assessing Bipedal Locomotion: Towards Replicable Benchmarks for Robotic and Robot-Assisted Locomotion
No full textThis eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contac
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