Papers - Takemura, Kenjiro

Tactile Sense Measurement based on Vibration Information obtained during Active Touch

Emi Asaga, Kenjiro Takemura, Takashi Maeno

IEEE Sensors 2012 (IEEE)   2012.10

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

Control of a Novel Flexible Finger using Electro-conjugate Fluid with Built-in Angle Sensor

Kento Mori, Akihiro Yamaguchi, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Sensors & Actuators A (ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA)  183   75 - 83 2012.08

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted,  ISSN  0924-4247

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An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a kind of functional fluid, which produces a powerful flow when subjected to high DC voltage. It is known that a strong ECF flow is generated under non-uniform electric field, for example, the field with a pair of needle and ring electrodes. The ECF flow could be used as a micro fluid pressure source (an ECF pump) for actuators including an artificial muscle and a flexible finger. However, previous studies on ECF soft actuators only focused on confirmation of the driving principle. This means, an improvement of performance of ECF pumps and a control scheme for ECF soft actuators have yet to be studied in detail. Hence, this study improves the performance of the ECF pump, and proposes a novel control system for an ECF flexible finger. The ECF pump developed in this study, 200.3 mm(3), generates maximum pressure of 92.6 kPa and maximum flow rate of 103.0 ml/min. The flexible finger (empty set 5 mm x 30 mm), driven by the ECF pump, bends 150 degrees with a rise time of 1 s. In addition, we construct a master-slave system using the ECF flexible finger and confirm its performance. (C) 2012 Elsevier By. All rights reserved.

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An Ungrounded Pulling Force Feedback Device Using Periodical Vibration-Impact

Takuya Shima, Kenjiro Takemura

Proc. EuroHaptics 2012 7282 ( 1 ) 481 - 492 2012.06

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Last author, Corresponding author, Accepted,  ISSN  0302-9743

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This paper presents a novel ungrounded force feedback device which is capable of making the user confuse as if a pulling force is displayed by utilizing non-linear characteristics of human perception. The force feedback device is mainly composed of a spring-mass system and a voice coil motor. By hitting a weight against a wall periodically, the device generates a vibration impact to the user. The device is 140 x 41.5 x 41.5 mm3 with total mass of 230 g. A sensitivity of the pulling force perception are evaluated and presented in this paper. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

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Direct Touch Haptic Display Using Immersive Illusion with Interactive Virtual Finger

Maisarah Binti Ridzuan, Yasutoshi Makino, Kenjiro Takemura

Proc. EuroHaptics 2012 7282 ( 1 ) 432 - 444 2012.06

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Last author, Corresponding author, Accepted,  ISSN  0302-9743

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In attempt to improve haptic interaction and manipulation technique in surface computers, we propose an interactive haptic feedback display that utilizes 'direct touch' on a surface computer without using a mediation device. The proposed haptic display lets users interact with the virtual objects inside a pressure-sensitive screen directly using a virtual finger as if the user's finger can penetrate through the screen surface and sink in to the digital world inside the screen, as well as receive haptic feedback direct to their fingers from the display. Using the proposed display, users were able to perceive touch sensation with haptic feedback when they come in contact with virtual object surfaces and discriminate different stiffness using vibratory and pseudo-haptic feedback respectively. This innovation creates a new breakthrough in virtual interaction with more accessible and realistic haptic interaction approach for surface computing. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

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Active Flow Channel Matrix using Electro-conjugate Fluid for μTAS Application

Yoko Abe, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Proc. The 2nd Japan-China Joint Workshop on Fluid Power    45 - 49 2012.05

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

Emergent Design of Dynamical Behavior

Toru Nagata, Kenjiro Takemura, Koichiro Sato, Yoshiyuki Matsuoka

Journal of Advanced Mechanical Design, Systems, and Manufacturing 6 ( 2 ) 274 - 286 2012.03

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

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A Robot Hand Using Electro-conjugate Fluid: Grasping experiment with balloon actuators inducing a palm motion of robot hand

Akihiro Yamaguchi, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Sensors & Actuators A (ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA)  174   181 - 188 2012.02

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted,  ISSN  0924-4247

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An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a kind of functional fluid, which produces a jet flow (ECF jet) when subjected to high DC voltage. It is known that a strong ECF jet is generated under nonuniform electric field, for example, the field with a pair of needle and ring electrodes. We developed in our previous study a novel five-fingered flexible robot hand using the ECF. In this study, in order to improve the ECF hand we pay our attention to the flexion of palm because human often grasp an object with the flexion of palm. First, we propose a concept of five fingered robot hand which has balloon actuators driven by the ECF jet to produce the flexion of palm. The actuator is mainly composed of silicone rubber membrane and a rubber base with a slit, so that when the actuator is pressurized, the slit is opened, resulting in making the palm of the robot hand actuate. Finally we conduct grasping experiments based on Cutkosky's taxonomy of human grasping, and demonstrate the robot hand can grasp some objects with various shapes without any complex controller. The height, the width and the mass of the robot hand are approximately 70 mm, 40 mm and 40 g, respectively. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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Impingement Type Micro Fluidic Device using Electro-Conjugate Fluid

Kei Nakagawa, Kento Mori, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

2012 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON MICRO-NANOMECHATRONICS AND HUMAN SCIENCE (MHS) (IEEE)     41 - 45 2012

Research paper (other academic), Corresponding author, Accepted,  ISSN  2474-378X

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An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a kind of dielectric fluid which produces a strong jet flow (ECF jet) when subjected to high DC voltage. Namely, a pair of electrodes generates nonuniform electric field, which induces the ECF jet. It is known that some kinds of ECF may possibly produce an impingement jet which occurs between electrodes. This study proposes an impingement type micro fluidic device whose power source is integrated by using the ECF. We developed a prototype and confirmed our concept.

Control of a Flexible Finger using Electro-conjugate Fluid

Kento Mori, Akihiro Yamaguchi, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Proc. 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics    709 - 714 2011.12

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

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An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a kind of functional fluid, which produces a powerful flow when subjected to high DC voltage. It is known that a strong ECF flow is generated under non-uniform electric field, for example, the field with a pair of needle and ring electrodes. The ECF flow could be used as a micro fluid pressure source (an ECF pump) for actuators including an artificial muscle and a flexible finger etc. However, previous studies on ECF soft actuators only focused on confirmation of the driving principle. This means, an improvement of performance of ECF pumps and a control scheme for ECF soft actuators have yet to be studied in detail. Hence, this study improves the performance of the ECF pump, and proposes a novel control system for an ECF flexible finger. The ECF pump developed in this study generates maximum pressure of 92.6 kPa and maximum flow rate of 103.0 ml/min with 200.3 mm 3. The flexible finger (φ5 mm x 30 mm), driven by the ECF pump, bends 150 deg with a rise time of 1000 ms. In addition, we construct a master-slave system using the ECF flexible finger and confirm its performance. © 2011 IEEE.

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A Robot Hand Using Electro-conjugate Fluid: Imitating a palm motion of human hand using soft balloon actuator

Akihiro Yamaguchi, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Proc. 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics    1807 - 1812 2011.12

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

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An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a kind of functional fluid, which produces a jet flow (ECF jet) when subjected to high DC voltage. It is known that a strong ECF jet is generated under nonuniform electric field, for example, the field with a pair of needle and ring electrodes. We developed in our previous study a novel five-fingered flexible robot hand using the ECF. In this study, in order to improve the ECF hand we pay our attention to the flexion of palm because human hand can grasp an object with the flexion of palm. First, we propose a concept of five fingered robot hand which has balloon actuators driven by ECF jet to produce the flexion of palm. The actuator is mainly composed of silicone rubber membrane and a rubber base with a slit, so that when the actuator is pressurized the slit is opened, resulting in making the palm of the robot hand actuate. When the actuator is pressurized with 20 kPa the rubber slit is opened with approximately 60 deg. Finally we investigate the characteristics of the actuator and introduce it into the ECF robot hand. © 2011 IEEE.

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A Flexible Pump Using Electro-Conjugate Fluid for Liquid Cooling of Electronic Chips

Atsushi Yashiki, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Proc. The 15th International Conference on Mechatronics Technology    174 - 179 2011.11

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

A Robot Hand Using Electro-conjugate Fluid

Akihiro Yamaguchi, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Sensors & Actuators A 170 ( 1-2 ) 139 - 146 2011.11

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

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A Bio-inspired Robot Using Electro-conjugate Fluid

Kenichiro Tokida, Akihiro Yamaguchi, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Proc. The 15th International Conference on Mechatronics Technology    85 - 90 2011.11

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

An In-pipe Mobile Robot Using Electro-conjugate Fluid

Akihiro Yamaguchi, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Journal of Advanced Mechanical Design, Systems, and Manufacturing 5 ( 3 ) 214 - 226 2011.10

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

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Control of Bellows Actuator using Electro-conjugate Fluid

Kento Mori, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Proc. The 8th JFPS International Symposium on Fluid Power    488 - 494 2011.10

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

An In-Pipe Mobile Robot Using Electro-conjugate Fluid

Akihiro Yamaguchi, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Proc. The 8th JFPS International Symposium on Fluid Power    456 - 463 2011.10

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

A Robot Finger Using Electro-conjugate Fluid

A. Yamaguchi, K. Takemura, S. Yokota, K. Edamura

Advanced Robotics (TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD)  26 ( 8-9 ) 861 - 876 2011.07

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted,  ISSN  0169-1864

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An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a kind of functional fluid, which produces a jet flow (ECF jet) when subjected to high DC voltage. It is known that a strong ECF jet is generated under a non-uniform electric field (e.g., a field with a pair of needle and ring electrodes (a needle-ring electrode pair)). This study introduces the ECF jet to develop a novel flexible robot finger. First, we propose a concept for a novel robot finger. The robot finger mainly consists of a bending actuator, an ECF tank and ECF jet generators, which could be a micro fluid pressure source of the robot finger. Second, we characterize each component of the robot finger (i.e., the bending actuator and the ECF jet generator). We investigate the influences of electrode parameters on ECF jet generator performance in order to design the finger prototype. Finally we clarify the characteristics of the robot finger. The length, the diameter and the mass of the robot finger are 34.2 mm, 12 mm and 3.8 g, respectively. The robot finger can generate a force of 0.28 N and bend approximately 70 degrees. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2012

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Dominant Factors Inducing Electro-conjugate Fluid Flow

K. Mori, H. Yamamoto, K. Takemura, S. Yokota, K. Edamura

Sensors & Actuators A (ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA)  167 ( 1 ) 84 - 90 2011.05

Research paper (scientific journal), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted,  ISSN  0924-4247

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An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a kind of dielectric fluid which produces a powerful flow (ECF jet) when subjected to high DC voltage. The ECF jet is a promising micro fluid power source for actuators and sensors including micro motors, liquid rate gyroscope, etc., however, these applications are developed upon trials and errors because the theory of the ECF flow has yet to be fully established. In this study we introduce the Korteweg-Helmholtz equation to develop an ECF flow model. Then we hypothesize that the Coulomb force is the dominant factor of the flow, and is occurred by two causes: an inherent dominant charge of fluid and a charge injected from a sharp electrode edge. The hypotheses are proved by the experimental results in this study. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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A Robot Hand Using Electro-conjugate Fluid

Akihiro Yamaguchi, Kenjiro Takemura, Shinichi Yokota, Kazuya Edamura

Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation    5923 - 5928 2011.05

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Corresponding author, Accepted

Wearable Tactile Display using Ultrasonic Vibration

Shunsuke Ninomiya, Kenjiro Takemura

Proc. The 4th International Conference on Manufacturing, Machine Design and Tribology (JSME, KSME)     167 - 168 2011.04

Research paper (international conference proceedings), Joint Work, Last author, Corresponding author, Accepted