Andrzej Milecki

Poznan University of Technology · Institute of Mechanical Technology

In this paper, a new solution for an electro-hydraulic servo drive is proposed, which consists of two electro-hydraulic servo drives: one with a hydraulic cylinder and one with a hydraulic rotary motor. In the proposed drive, the linear actuator is attached to a horizontal base and the hydraulic motor is mounted on the actuator piston rod. Thus, th...

This paper presents the design of an autonomous humanoid robot designed to optimize and enrich customer service in showrooms, e.g., electronic equipment, mobile network operators, and generally in stores with various articles. The proposed humanoid robot design is distinguished by two key components: a sensor-equipped mobile platform with drives an...

Control systems that ensure robot operation during failures are necessary, particularly when manipulators are operating in hazardous or hard-to-reach environments. In such applications, fault-tolerant robot controllers should detect failures and, using fault-tolerant control methods, be able to continue operation without human intervention. Fault-t...

Silicon-ethanol is a relatively new smart composite in the category of phase-change materials (PCM). It consists of liquid ethanol entrapped in bubbles spread into a silicone rubber matrix, i.e., during cooling. The composite is able to expand significantly when heat is applied and shrink when it is removed. The properties of this material can be u...

In this paper, the application of the policy gradient Reinforcement Learning-based (RL) method for obstacle avoidance is proposed. This method was successfully used to control the movements of a robot using trial-and-error interactions with its environment. In this paper, an approach based on a Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm co...

This paper presents research on the application of magnetic shape memory alloys (MSMAs) in actuator design. MSMAs are a relatively new group of so-called smart materials that are distinguished by repeatable strains up to 6% and dynamics much better than that of thermally activated shape memory alloys (SMAs). The shape change mechanism in MSMAs is b...

Electrohydraulic drives consist of several nonlinear elements, and the use and design of their control system is difficult. One of the most important parameters of the industrial drive is its settling time, which characterizes their dynamics. An interesting control method, which can be used for the improvement of electrohydraulic drive properties,...

This paper presents a study of penetrating a pin into a magnetorheological fluid (MR) cushion focused on the force measurement. The research is supported by detailed finite element analysis (FEA) of the magnetic field distributions in several magnetic field exciters applied to con- trol rheological properties of the MR inside the cushion. The cushi...

In many heavy machines, the use of high force drives is required. For such tasks, electrohydraulic servo drives with proportional valves are used most often. In these valves, the proportional electromagnets are applied. If high precise control is additionally required, it is necessary to use expensive servo valves or precise stepping motors. In thi...

The paper presents a concept of an actuator, based on a silicon/ethanol composite placed in the brass bellows. Such actuator is operating based on a change in the physical state of ethanol, which is enclosed in bubbles surrounded by a matrix of silicone rubber. In this paper, the prototype of the actuator is described, and a series of its test resu...

Robots are programmed using either the on-line mode, in which the robot programmer manually controls the movement of the robot indicating individual trajectory points or the off mode, in which the programmer enters the program code with predefined trajectory points. Both methods are not easy to be successfully implemented in practice, which is why...

This article covers the topic of temperature measurement on top of a gas burner fire in order to recognize pot removal from a gas burner and subsequently, to cut off the gas supply. The possibility of applying a factory-mounted thermocouple was investigated with the assumption that its output signal could be used to detect the presence of a pot on...

The article proposes the use of a joystick with the so-called force feedback, called in the English-language terminology as “haptic”, to control a small robot. First, the haptic-type joysticks are briefly described and then their applications in robotics and in teleoperation application are presented. A laboratory stand designed to control a small...

In the paper the investigations performed at the Division of Mechtronic Devices at Poznan University of Technology in the area of application of both: smart materials in electro-hydraulic and electro-pneumatic valves, and new methods to control of hydraulic servo drives, are presented. In a first part the piezo bender actuator is shortly described...

This article focuses on the application of a vision system for a point to point programing of a robotized soldering station. The station is used in the last stage of production for the soldering of elements, applying Through-Hole Technology (THT). In the soldering station a SCARA-type robot is used. The main aim of the usage of the vision system is...

This article is covering the topic of Industry 4.0 which is a name for the new trend of production automation and data exchange in manufacturing systems. The history of industrial revolutions is shortly sketched in the beginning. Then the term “Industry 4.0” and its area of influence is presented. The different solutions used in Industry 4.0 factor...

This paper presents the research results related to the use of the haptic joystick to control the electrohydraulic and electric linear drives. The main aim of this study is to examine the extent to which the use of haptic interface with force feedback and the corresponding control algorithms can contribute to improving the quality and safety of man...

This paper describes a new robotized station for soldering of through-hole elements on printed circuits boards (PCB). The general structure of this station with the SCARA type robot is presented along with the computer-based control system. The software prepared for control and for the programming procedures is described. The developed computer sys...

This article describes the design and testing of a walking robot. In the first stage, the mechanical behaviour of human’s lower limbs during the walk was observed and described to acquire data for the development of a simplified algorithm to control the legs of a walking robot. The second phase was the designing stage of the bipedal walking. Each r...

This article describes a construction and control of the hand prosthesis with a force feedback. Introduction part contains a review of literature within the scope of characteristics of hand prosthesis’ designs. There has been presented different approaches used during creation of artificial hands including diversity of force feedbacks and mechanism...

This paper presents the research on the possibility of control of the 6-axis robot using a brain-computer interface (BCI) based on Steady State Evoked Potential (SSVEP) signals. In the first paragraph, general information about brain-computer communication are presented. In the next paragraph the used in investigations equipment is described. The r...

In this paper simple localization method is proposed which uses radio-frequency identification (RFID) system working with low frequencies. The position of RFID tag is obtained by the recognition system installed on a small cartesian robot. In the robot head a RFID reader is installed. It was assumed that the used components for localization should...

The term haptic is used to indicate the presence of force feedback from the manipulated object to the operator. One of the most commonly used haptic devices are joysticks. Such joysticks can be successfully applied also in communication with drive system, giving the human operator a feel of the output force. In the paper one axis joystick with forc...

The paper presents a new approach to creating interactive simulations for testing tactile interaction with the user, which involves use of a low-cost device. The role of the haptic (touch) device and its functionality is achieved by using a manipulator with a parallel kinematic structure (Delta robot). This required the development of methods of in...

In the paper the newly designed at Poznan University of Technology (PUT) washing machine controller is presented. The com-monly used in washing machines sensors, drives and other input-output elements are briefly described. The designed at PUT controller is based on 32-bit STM32 microcontroller. The used in this controller modules are described and...

The paper describes electrohydraulic spool valves with stepping motors used as electromechanical transducers. A new concept of a proportional valve in which two stepping motors are working differentially is introduced. Such valve changes the fluid flow proportionally to the sum or difference of the motors’ steps numbers. The valve design and princi...

The article describes the manual control system of robot arm using the joystick with magnetorheological brakes, during which the operator observed the robot work with the use of cameras. The construction of the investigations stand, system kinematics and control algorithm were described. In the final part of the article the results of scientific re...

In the paper, a review of the current state of knowledge in the field of brain-machine interfaces based on bio signals, is presented. Different types of bio signals, which can be used to control of devices are shortly characterized. Special attention is given to the use of EEG signals in the most interesting and complex brain-machine interfaces. Th...

The paper describes the methods used in control of electrohydraulic servo drive, in which electro-valve with two stepping motors working differentially is used. This valve changes the fluid flow proportionally to the sum or difference of the motors steps numbers. The design of this valve is presented in the paper. This valve is applied in a electro...

The article describes the design of electrohydraulic valve with two stepping motors working differentially. The valve changes the flow proportionally to the sum of the motors steps. In the paper the application of this valve in a drive is presented and investigations results are shown. This results are compared with results obtained when only one m...

Piezoelectric bending actuators, also known as bimorphs, are characterized by very good dynamic properties and by displacements in a range of a few millimeters. Therefore these actuators are used in a wide range of applications. However their usage is limited because they require supplying amplifiers with output voltage of about 200 V, which are ra...

The article concerns controlling of a 3-axles manipulator by hand movement, recognized by visual system. In the investigations the Kinect sensor was used, which enabled the acquiring of 2D hand images with depth parameter. The OpenCV library was used for recognition of hand position in a real-time computer based control system. The control program...

This paper presents results of studies of an application of a new method of piezo bender actuators modelling. A special hysteresis simulation model was developed and is presented. The model is based on a geometrical deformation of main hysteresis loop. The piezoelectric effect is described and the history of the hysteresis modelling is briefly revi...

This paper presents the design of proportional valve with a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM). The proposed valve is described, and its history is briefly reviewed. Basic equations describing the valve are formulated and its simulation model is implemented in MATLAB-Simulink software. Selected nonlinearities are included in this model. In o...

The word of Mechatronics is already 45 years old. This is an occasion to present the definitions of mechatronics, its history and to show current state of the art in this discipline. The article presents a short overview of the literature related to mechatronics. The development of mechatronics is also illustrated along with development of computer...

The paper describes the research results of modeling and control of proportional valve with synchronous motor type PMSM (Permanent Magnets Synchronous Motor). In the paper, a simulation model of the proposed valve was developed and described. The model included the square root flow characteristics, nonlinearity of the hydraulic actuator, valve dead...

In the paper, the structure of a typical washing machine, from the control point of view, is presented. Basic sensors, measuring elements and measuring methods are shortly described. Also drives and other output elements commonly used in washing machines are briefly presented. At first, the 32-bit STM32 microcontroller structure and then the design...

This paper deals with the virtual modelling and simulation of a complex CNC machine tool feed drive system. The first phase of the study was the modelling of a very complex structure of the feed drive which consists of many elements (position, velocity and current control regulators, actuators, mechanical transmission elements, etc.). All these ele...

The article describes the use of the Model Following Control method to control of electrohydraulic servo drive. In the drive a new, designed by us, proportional valve with a synchronous motor controlled by dedicated power electronics is used. The model of the electrohydraulic servo drive controlled by MFC method prepared in MATLAB-Simulink is descr...

The article describes the use of the Artificial Neural Network for modelling and simulation of electrohydraulic drive. The investigation test stand for this drive is presented and some investigation results are included. The structure of artificial neural network used for modeling is described and shortly discussed. The teaching procedure is descri...

Projecting and designing of automated assembly cells/lines is very complicated process. The rising demand on an assembly high quality, precision, effectiveness and shorter time to market. Puts the high requirements on the all active devices which act at the automated workplace. Assembly robot with its effector influences the effectiveness of the pr...

The article describes the system for supervising of hydraulic manipulator and allowing its work in the event of failure of the primary measuring system. Monitoring system based on the digital camera observes the manipulator and its environment. In case of failure of one of the encoders, the control of the manipulator movement is made by taking a fe...

The paper presents investigation results of a semi-active industrial shock absorber with magnetorheological (MR) fluid, which is capable of controlling the stopping process of moving objects, e.g. on transportation lines. The proposed solution makes it possible to adjust the braking force (by electronic controller) to the kinetic energy of the movi...

Streszczenie: W artykule przedstawiono podstawowe elementy stosowane w pralkach domowych. Opisano krótko sposób ich działania oraz obsługi przez sterownik. W dalszej części przed-stawiono koncepcję własnego sterownika pralki zbudowanego na bazie mikrokontrolera 32-bitowego z rodziny STM32 [1, 2, 3, 4]. Opisano jego budowę, a szczególną uwagę zwróco...

The paper presents the control system, which uses a simple internet camera with PC based markers recognition software for tracking of human hand movement by 2-axis manipulator with electrohydraulic servo drives. Three colour markers are attached to the operator hand and arm, which are tracked by the vision system. It recognizes these markers, calcu...

Control of a small robot by haptic joystick with magnetorheological fluid Abstract In this paper, we investigate the case of the design and implementation of force-feedback system to control a small robot. A 3-DOF haptic joystick with magnetorheological (MR) brakes is employed as a master controller and a robot as a slave system. For such master-sl...

In the paper the one-axis haptic joystick is proposed and described. This joystick utilizes a magnethoreological (MR) brake in order to obtain operator movement opposite force which creates feedback force. The MR brake investigations results are shown. The designed and built joystick was then connected to the computer, and used to control of prepar...

The article is aimed to design and testing of joystick with force feedback used in direct, human control of lifting device. The paper starts with the basic description of designed and tested by us MR rotary brake. Some initial laboratory investigations results of such brakes are presented. The usage of MR brakes in 2 axis joystick is proposed. Such...

In the paper, the discussion is focused on modelling of the electrohydraulic servo drive with stepping motor and electric feedback linkage, which is capable of obtaining very low velocity. The main features of drive operation are described and some specific problem areas, due to the nature of very low velocity movement, are considered. Some importa...

A problem of velocity control of servo drives in the presence of high load changes is described and studied in this article. The rapid fall of load causes an unexpected jump of the movable elements of the machine. The increase of velocity is harmful and may be reduced by usage of electrically controllable dampers. Such dampers employ a magnetorheol...

In the paper, shock absorbers with magnetorheological (MR) fluids were described. These elements can be used in many applications related to vehicle machines such as bumpers, dampers, shock absorbers, vibration eliminators, etc. Basic theoretical relationships which allow design and modelling of MR fluid shock absorbers are shown. Experimental desi...

A semi-active controllable linear magneto-rheological (MR) fluid damper is described and studied in this paper. The damping characteristics of the damper may be adapted in real time to the user's requirements. Such dampers can then be used to eliminate vibrations in applications like vehicles and different machines. In this paper, a simple control...

Semi-active, controllable fluid dampers and their control devices are described and studied in this paper. Such dampers can be used to eliminate oscillations in different servo drive robots and machine tools systems, where their good dynamic parameters are required. In this paper, different control circuits and its influence on MR damper properties...

A semi-active controllable fluid damper is described and studied in this paper. The damper employs magneto–rheological fluid that changes its properties in the presence of a magnetic field. This results in a damper whose characteristics may by adapted in real time to the user's requirements. Such dampers can be used to eliminate oscillations in dif...