Sensor data fusion for body state estimation in a bipedal robot and its feedback control application for stable walking.

We report on a sensor data fusion algorithm via an extended Kalman filter for estimating the spatial motion of a bipedal robot. Through fusing the sensory information from joint encoders, a 6-axis inertial measurement unit and a 2-axis inclinometer, the robot's body state at a specific fixed position can be yielded. This position is also equal to the CoM when the robot is in the standing posture suggested by the detailed CAD model of the robot. In addition, this body state is further utilized to provide sensory information for feedback control on a bipedal robot with walking gait. The overall control strategy includes the proposed body state estimator as well as the damping controller, which regulates the body position state of the robot in real-time based on instant and historical position tracking errors. Moreover, a posture corrector for reducing unwanted torque during motion is addressed. The body state estimator and the feedback control structure are implemented in a child-size bipedal robot and the performance is experimentally evaluated.

State derivation of a 12-axis gyroscope-free inertial measurement unit.

The derivation of linear acceleration, angular acceleration, and angular velocity states from a 12-axis gyroscope-free inertial measurement unit that utilizes four 3-axis accelerometer measurements at four distinct locations is reported. Particularly, a new algorithm which derives the angular velocity from its quadratic form and derivative form based on the context-based interacting multiple model is demonstrated. The performance of the system was evaluated under arbitrary 3-dimensional motion.

A low sample volume particle separation device with electrokinetic pumping based on circular travelling-wave electroosmosis.

Particle separation is a crucial step in sample preparation processes. The preparation of low volume samples is especially important for clinical diagnosis and chemical analysis. The advantages of microfluidic techniques have lead them to become potential candidates for particle separation. However, existing microfluidic devices require external pumping sources and extensive geometric patterns to attain high separation efficiency, which is disadvantageous when handling low volume samples. This paper presents a low sample volume particle separation microfluidic device with low voltage electrokinetic pumping based on circular travelling-wave electroosmosis (TWEO). Computational numerical software was utilized to simulate two electrokinetic mechanisms: circular TWEO and dielectrophoresis (DEP). The circular TWEO shear flow generates a velocity gradient in the radial direction which causes a shear stress-induced force to drag particles into the center region of the device. In contrast, the non-parallel electrodes induce negative DEP forces which push polystyrene beads towards the peripheral regions; the magnitude of the DEP forces are dependent on the sizes of the polystyrene beads. We used particles of various sizes to experimentally prove the concept of particle separation. Our experiments show that 15 µm beads are dragged into the center region due to the shear stress-induced force, and 1 µm beads move towards the outer region because of the large negative DEP force. The results show a separation purity of 94.4% and 80.0% for 15 µm and 1 µm beads respectively. We further demonstrated particle isolation from a sample of containing a small proportion of 6 µm beads mixed with 1 µm beads at a concentration ratio of 1 : 300. Therefore, the innovative device developed in this paper provides a promising solution to allow particle separation in sample volumes as low as 50 nL.

Integrated electrofluidic circuits: pressure sensing with analog and digital operation functionalities for microfluidics.

Microfluidic technology plays an essential role in various lab on a chip devices due to its desired advantages. An automated microfluidic system integrated with actuators and sensors can further achieve better controllability. A number of microfluidic actuation schemes have been well developed. In contrast, most of the existing sensing methods still heavily rely on optical observations and external transducers, which have drawbacks including: costly instrumentation, professional operation, tedious interfacing, and difficulties of scaling up and further signal processing. This paper reports the concept of electrofluidic circuits - electrical circuits which are constructed using ionic liquid (IL)-filled fluidic channels. The developed electrofluidic circuits can be fabricated using a well-developed multi-layer soft lithography (MSL) process with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channels. Electrofluidic circuits allow seamless integration of pressure sensors with analog and digital operation functions into microfluidic systems and provide electrical readouts for further signal processing. In the experiments, the analog operation device is constructed based on electrofluidic Wheatstone bridge circuits with electrical outputs of the addition and subtraction results of the applied pressures. The digital operation (AND, OR, and XOR) devices are constructed using the electrofluidic pressure controlled switches, and output electrical signals of digital operations of the applied pressures. The experimental results demonstrate the designed functions for analog and digital operations of applied pressures are successfully achieved using the developed electrofluidic circuits, making them promising to develop integrated microfluidic systems with capabilities of precise pressure monitoring and further feedback control for advanced lab on a chip applications.