Simulation and Development of an Autonomous Drone for Delivery of Medicines during COVID-19

The main goal of this research paper is to develop an autonomous medicine delivery quadcopter and validate a simulator model for it. It is intended to use this drone in crisis of COVID-19 due to restriction of social distancing and unavailability of regular hospital facilities. A simulator is then modified and used as a pre-mission tool to predict mission outcome and after validation, it will be used to predict complex missions without actually risking the expensive drone. An efficient payload system is designed and constructed for the quadcopter to fulfill its delivery purpose. Once the drone is assembled along with the payload mechanism, its physical parameters are calculated using SolidWorks. The same parameters such as performance coefficients and moments of inertia are then updated in the simulator's quadcopter properties. The equations of motions model used is improved by including physical theoretical effects. In the end, same autonomous delivery mission tests have been done for the real quadcopter and the simulator in order to compare the results and show the effect of improved equations of motion and physical parameters. © 2022 IEEE.

Simulation of Multiple-Degree-of-Freedom Oscillatory Systems within an Undergraduate Project-based Learning Environment

Coupled oscillations can be found throughout the physical world on both micro and macro levels, from oscillating molecules to lattice vibrations in solids, up to the oscillations of macroscopic mechanical or electrical systems. Despite the fact that the dynamics of such systems is governed by forces originating from a variety of potentials, the harmonic-oscillator potential approximation can be used for almost every system close to equilibrium, which makes it fundamental in many fields of physics. The equations of motion of single harmonic-oscillators as well as of one-dimensional linear elastic multiple-degree-of-freedom systems can be solved analytically, which enables a quantitative study of idealized model systems and, furthermore, some qualitative insight into the behavior of more complex real-life systems. Multi-dimensional multiple-degree-of-freedom systems are, in general, no longer accessible to analytical solutions. A perpendicular spring configuration, for instance, introduces a nonlinearity of the Duffing type and can lead to chaotic behavior. In order to engage our students with the analysis of multiple-degree-of-freedom oscillatory systems, an interdisciplinary undergraduate student research project was initiated, which encompassed the development of computer programs for the simulation and visualization of elastically coupled particles aligned in a straight line, as well as for the simulation of two-dimensional arrays of coupled oscillators. The equation of motion of one-dimensional oscillatory systems was solved numerically and - for small systems - analytically in order to test the quality of the numerical integration. In the case of two-dimensional arrays, the conservation of total energy was used for validation. Three teams of three students each took up the challenge and worked simultaneously and competitively on that project, with the additional complication that the team members had to work in different locations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The integration of the coupled systems of differential equations was programmed in C#, with a graphical user interface that provides a display of the vibrating systems, graphs of the mass displacements over time, and phase-space diagrams. The dynamic visual output of the program was designed to provide a playful insight into the behavior of multiple-degree-of-freedom lumped-mass systems. In this paper, the theoretical background, the approach to the problem and the outcome of the undergraduate student projects are presented and discussed. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Multi-Domain Dynamic Modelling of a Low-Cost Upper Limb Rehabilitation Robot

Tracking patient progress through a course of robotic tele-rehabilitation requires constant position data logging and comparison, alongside periodic testing with no powered assistance. The test data must be compared with previous test attempts and an ideal baseline, for which a good understanding of the dynamics of the robot is required. The traditional dynamic modelling techniques for serial chain robotics, which involve forming and solving equations of motion, do not adequately describe the multi-domain phenomena that affect the movement of the rehabilitation robot. In this study, a multi-domain dynamic model for an upper limb rehabilitation robot is described. The model, built using a combination of MATLAB, SimScape, and SimScape Multibody, comprises the mechanical electro-mechanical and control domains. The performance of the model was validated against the performance of the robot when unloaded and when loaded with a human arm proxy. It is shown that this combination of software is appropriate for building a dynamic model of the robot and provides advantages over the traditional modelling approach. It is demonstrated that the responses of the model match the responses of the robot with acceptable accuracy, though the inability to model backlash was a limitation.