SUMMARY This paper details the design principles of operation of a pneumatic proximity-to-tactile sensing device for part handling and recognition in a flexible manufacturing environment. The sensing device utilises a densely packed line array of piezoresistive pressure sensors, providing continuous variable outputs. The sensing plane of the device incorporates a corresponding line array of air...

A new contactless pneumatic microfeeder based on distributed manipulation is proposed. By cooperation of dynamically programmable microactuators, the part to be conveyed floats over an air cushion and is moved to the desired location with the desired orientation. CFD simulations are used to test the validity of the proposed concept and refine the design of the microactuators.

For individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI) who depend on a wheelchair for mobility, sitting-acquired pressure ulcers (PUs) are a common and life-endangering complication. In the short time following an SCI, pathoanatomical and pathophysiological changes that affect the weight-bearing tissues of the buttocks may increase the risk for PUs, exposing this already-at-risk population to the addi...

Air-cushion-assisted platforms (ACAPs) are floating supported by both buoyancy pontoon and air cushion, which have merits of wave bending moment reduction, better stability, hydrodynamic performance. However, there is barely a concise method that can quickly predict the motion response ACAPs. In this paper, simplified panel (sPM) was presented for evaluating hydrodynamics The sPM extends conven...