1,721,196 research outputs found
An electric wheelchair mounted robotic arm - a survey of potential users
No full textThis paper describes the results of a survey which investigated and evaluated the needs and abilities of electric wheelchair users. The results of this survey will be used to develop a low-cost electric wheelchair-mounted robotic arm for use by physically disabled people to facilitate rehabilitation. The survey was undertaken by the author together with staff and students from occupational therapist training colleges, using a four-page questionnaire containing over 110 questions. The questionnaire was developed by the author together with Dr Robin Platts (Director of Orthotics), Mr Ian Bayley (Director of the London Spinal Unit) and senior occupational therapists at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, Middlesex. After a successful trial the questionnaire was used with 50 severely disabled people from various backgrounds and social circumstances. The results of this survey show that the average electric wheelchair user is 40 years old, single (68%), living at home (58%) with family support (69%) and without any paid employment (79%). The most prevalent disability is spinal cord injury (24%) followed by multiple sclerosis (16%). The survey has identified several tasks which electric wheelchair users find impossible to do, and some of these will form part of the design specification. Finally 84% of the survey subjects would consider buying such a robotic ai
Energy conservation techniques: increasing the endurance of small UAVs
No full textAll small Unmanned Aircraft (UA) have severe limitations from a lack of endurance capability. This is a direct result of using battery technologies which are limited in their capacity, current capability, mass and energy density. The most widely used chemistry in small battery powered UAVs is Li-Po with its peak energy density of about 200 Wh/kg. Much research has been directed at finding alternative power sources, from Solar, Hydrogen Fuel Cells to Nuclear batteries. The latest contender is Li-S chemistries which appear to offer energy densities of up to 400 Wh/kg within the next 2 years. Li-S batteries claim to be safer in terms of damage tolerance and the lack of thermal runaway, which can be an issue with the current generation Li-Po batteries. This presentation will outline the alternatives and point towards the likely future direction of this technology. The author will also present other design strategies and design tools which help to promote the efficient use of power within these types of Unmanned Aircraft
Amazon to test drones in UK after rules lifted
No full textAmazon's most extensive drone trials yet will take place in UK airspace after strict flying restrictions were lifted.<br/
Developing heavy-lift drones for last-mile resupply
No full textDevelopments in heavy-lift hybrid drones for last-mile resuppl
IMechE UAS Challenge 2016
No full textUniversity of Southampton particaption in IMechE UAS Challenge 2016 headed by Stephen Prio
From the world's first 3D printed autonomous aircraft to paper UAVs and systems that enable commercial UAV operations.
No full textWhat does the future hold for drones in security and defence?
No full textAs drones and UAVs continue to permeate ever more sectors of society, Government Europa speaks to Dr Stephen Prior, from the University of Southampton, about the potential applications of drones in security and defence
Optimizing small multi-rotor unmanned aircraft: a practical design guide
No full textThis design guide was written to capture the author’s practical experience of designing, building and testing multi-rotor drone systems over the past decade. The lack of one single source of useful information meant that the past 10 years has been a steep learning curve, a lot of self-tuition and many trial and error tests. Lessons learnt the hard way are not always the best way to learn. This book will be useful for the amateur drone pilot who wants to build their own system from first principles, as well as the academic researcher investigating novel design concepts and future drone applications
A novel method of sensing and classifying terrain for autonomous unmanned ground vehicles
No full textUnmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) play a vital role in preserving human life during hostile military operations and extend our reach by exploring extraterrestrial worlds during space missions. These systems generally have to operate in unstructured environments which contain dynamic variables and unpredictable obstacles, making the seemingly simple task of traversing from A-B extremely difficult. Terrain is one of the biggest obstacles within these environments as it could potentially cause a vehicle to become stuck and render it useless, therefore autonomous systems must possess the ability to directly sense terrain conditions. Current autonomous vehicles use look-ahead vision systems and passive laser scanners to navigate a safe path around obstacles; however these methods lack detail when considering terrain as they make predictions using estimations of the terrain’s appearance alone. This study establishes a more accurate method of measuring, classifying and monitoring terrain in real-time. A novel instrument for measuring direct terrain features at the wheel-terrain contact interface is presented in the form of the Force Sensing Wheel (FSW). Additionally a classification method using unique parameters of the wheel-terrain interaction is used to identify and monitor terrain conditions in real-time. The combination of both the FSW and real-time classification method facilitates better traversal decisions, creating a more Terrain Capable system
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