Eyri Watari

Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-S5-16 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-0023, Japan e-mail: eyri.watari@cm.ctrl.titech.ac.jp

Hideyuki Tsukagoshi
Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-S5-19 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-0023, Japan e-mail: htsuka@cm.ctrl.titech.ac.jp

A Higher Casting and Jump Motions Realized by Robots Using Magnetic Brake Cylinder
A casting motion or a jumping motion can enhance the traverse ability and agility simultaneously of a mobile robot. This paper describes the development of a novel actuator, based on a pneumatic driving unit, which enables the generation of high-speed motion necessary to realize the motions mentioned above. The proposed actuator, named Magnetic Brake (MB) Cylinder, is composed of a pneumatic cylinder, a permanent magnet, a portable tank, and small valves. The speed of conventional pneumatic cylinders highly depends on the size of the valve which drives it. Since the magnet plays a role to enhance the impulsive release function of pneumatic energy instead of using a big and heavy valve, the pressure inside the cylinder can be kept in high condition, enabling the generation of high velocity with light structure. The height control method of casted objects with the MB Cylinder and its design method are also described in this paper. The analysis of the performance of the MB Cylinder and its simulation method are described for when using the MB Cylinder for both casting motion and jumping motion. After the developed unit is installed on both the casting device and the jumping robot, the validity of the proposed methods is experimentally veried in addition to discussion on its application to rescue operation. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4004889] Keywords: actuators, uid power, jumping robot, pneumatic cylinder, casting motion

Ato Kitagawa
Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1-S5-16 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-0023, Japan e-mail: kitagawa@cm.ctrl.titech.ac.jp

Takahiro Tanaka
Mitsubishi Electric Co, 8-1-1 Tsukaguchi-Honmachi, Amagasaki City, Hyogo 661-8661, Japan e-mail: Tanaka.Takahiro@dx.MitsubishiElectric.co.jp

Introduction

A mobile method of carrying a robot into the mid-air through impulsive energy release is effective to improve both its traverse ability and agility simultaneously. In particular, a jumping motion produced by kicking the ground [1,2] and a casting motion produced by projecting a part of the robot [3] can be a useful means of instantly moving it to a higher position and expanding its mobile range, even if the size of the robot is small. To this end, it is indispensable to develop a light driving unit to produce highspeed motion. Noteworthy facts related to the above are conrmed in the natural world. The jumping power per weight of insects, such as eas or grasshoppers, is larger than that of mammals and birds by more than one order of magnitude. The superior jumping power of insects to other living creatures is speculated to be due to their impulsive release functions of stored energy as well as their instantaneous muscular contractions [4]. If these temporary storage function and impulsive release function of energy are also introduced in driving units of a mobile robot, a strong jumping motion can be implemented. As an example, one can design a driving unit performing a succession of motions through the use of electric motors for storing elastic energy in springs and releasing it impulsively. Actually, it is reported that robots weighing 30 to 100 g with such driving units and the ability to jump to approximately 200 mm height have been developed [5,6]. To increase both the jumping height and the payload, a pneumatic driving unit is effective, since it can easily store energy in light weight and high density conditions. A hopping robot proposed by Raibert [7] and a rolling and jumping robot proposed by the authors of Ref. [8] impulsively released the pneumatic energy stored in tanks through valves and showed the efcacy of highspeed motion produced by a pneumatic cylinder. The latter rolling

and jumping robot weighing 2 kg could jump as high as 1 m by compressed air at the pressure of 0.6 MPa [9]. Moving to much higher position would let a robot instantly approach places where for humans are hard to reach, which might be helpful to gather information from the inside of inaccessible buildings at disasters. For such reason, the authors have proposed a casting type mobile inspector [10] to cast a child machine, equipped with a small camera and microphone, over high obstacles offering a wider inspection than the mobile inspector alone (Fig. 1). Meanwhile, in order to increase the height by the pneumatic driving unit, the nal velocity of the rod, which means the velocity of the rod at its most extended, should be accelerated by keeping the pressure in the cylinder high while the extension of the rod [11]. The general solutions to achieve it include the increase of the inner pressure and the capacity of the tank as well as the use of the valve with high response and large effective cross-sectional area, which results in inducing the increase in the mass of each pneumatic device. Considering the traverse ability, mobility and transportability of the robot carrying such pneumatic devices, it is requested to speed up the nal velocity of the rod without increasing their mass. Therefore, this paper proposes a method of enhancing the impulsive release function in order to accelerate the velocity of the cylinder with the light structure without depending upon the function of the valve and which is capable of being controlled at the same time. In other words, it proposes a novel type of pneumatic driving unit named Magnetic Brake Cylinder (hereinafter referred to as MB Cylinder), its control method and its design method through its performance analysis. Finally, the performed experiments of casting and jumping by the developed prototypes are shown to verify the validity of the proposed method.

2
Contributed by the Mechanisms and Robotics Committee of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF MECHANISMS AND ROBOTICS. Manuscript received January 25, 2010; nal manuscript received May 17, 2011; published online September 26, 2011. Assoc. Editor: Frank C. Park.

Generation of Casting Motion

2.1 Architecture. This study mainly discusses the casting motion generated by a pneumatic cylinder as a simple driving unit to make a robot approach a high place. If the velocity of the NOVEMBER 2011, Vol. 3 / 041002-1

Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics

C 2011 by ASME Copyright V

cylinder with lightweight structure is sped up, the casting height can be enhanced without depleting the mobility of a casting robot shown in Fig. 1, which consists of a robot moving on the ground with pneumatic devices (hereinafter referred to as a parent machine) and a small-sized robot casted by the cylinder of the parent machine (hereinafter referred to as a child machine) [12]. Moreover, the jumping height can be also enhanced when the parent machine kicks the ground with its cylinder to improve its own traverse ability. 2.2 Problems With Conventional Pneumatic Driving Units. For the purpose of accelerating the cylinder with a lightweight structure, the structure of the pneumatic driving unit needs to be reviewed. A conventional pneumatic circuit to drive the cylinder is generally structured to be connected with a pressure source including regulator, a tank for the temporary storage function, a valve for the impulsive release function, and a cylinder for the motion generating function in the order shown in Fig. 2. Although the velocity of the cylinder increases with the improvement of each function, the mass tends to increase simultaneously. For example, the temporary storage function will increase along with the increase of the capacity and pressure within the tank. However, it becomes difcult to maintain the structure light weighted, since it requires a larger capacity and a solid outer structure for higher pressure resistance. While an elongated stroke length enables the increase of the nal velocity of the rod, it induces the increase of the mass of the cylinder as well. Meanwhile, the impulsive release function of the valve, that allows large ow rate as soon as the valve opens, depends upon the response and the cross-sectional area of the valve. If that function is aimed to be enhanced by a solenoid switch valve, the increase of the size and the mass will be unavoidable after all. One of the solutions to enhance the impulsive release function by the small and light valve is the introduction of a pilot-type switch valve with small effective cross-sectional area, which can operate a main valve with large effective cross-sectional area, as shown in Fig. 3(a). This type of structure is well known in the literature. As soon as the pilot valve is switched from the connected condition between the upper stream chamber of the main valve and the tank to the exhausting condition, the main valve opens due to the differential pressure, which results in letting a large amount of compressed air ow to the cylinder [10]. The advantage is that the impulsive release can be promoted without increasing the mass so much as the structure shown in Fig. 2, since a large solenoid valve to drive the main valve is not needed. Accordingly, the authors consider that this principle should be applied to the pneumatic robots more positively. Supposing the application aimed for this research, however, there remain a couple of prob-

Fig. 2

Conventional pneumatic circuit

lems such as the velocity control method of the cylinder and the method of lightening the main valve. As the structure to operate large ow without a large valve, the introduction of an active brake can be considered as shown in Fig. 3(b). Unlike the structure shown in Fig. 3(a), each device is connected in the order of pressure source, small switch valve, tank, and cylinder, while the rod is locked with the brake. The operating sequence can be explained as follows. After the valve opens, the inner pressure of the tank increases. Then, a large amount of compressed air ows from the tank to the cylinder with its rod extended, as soon as the brake is released by an actuator. Due to the brake, this structure can prevent from start extending the rod when the inner pressure of the cylinder is lower than that of the tank. Moreover, the inner pressure does not decrease much even when the rod is extending, since no valve exists between the cylinder and the tank. However, lightening the weight of the actuator for the brake release and decreasing the friction between the brake and the rod are still problems to be solved.

Proposal of MB Cylinder

Although a couple of methods of accelerating the rod can be considered as stated above, structures which valves and actuators can be lightened and those which can control the casting height at the same time cannot be found easily. Accordingly, this paper proposes a novel type of pneumatic driving unit called MB Cylinder as one of the candidates. 3.1 Basic Operation. As shown in Fig. 4, the MB Cylinder is composed of a permanent magnet placed in the cap cover, a ferromagnetic plate attached to the piston, and a tank and a small switch valve connected to it. The basic operation of MB Cylinder is classied into two conditions as follows. When the small switch valve is under the exhausting condition, the piston is attracted to the magnet, so that the rod is completely stored. On the other hand, when the small switch valve is under the pressurized condition, compressed air ows from the pressure source to the tank. Once the pneumatic force which is applied to the piston becomes

Fig. 1 Casting robot to search for victims behind a 2m wall with the casted child machine equipped with a camera

Fig. 3 Possible pneumatic circuits

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Fig. 4

Outline of MB Cylinder

larger than the magnetic attractive force, the piston detaches from the magnet and a large amount of compressed air ows from the tank into the cylinder while its rod extends. The remarkable feature of the MB Cylinder is that the passive brake composed by the magnet plays a role as the impulsive release function instead of the valve, while the small switch valve is used only as a trigger. Accordingly, the velocity of the rod can be accelerated without depending on the response and the effective cross-sectional area of the valve. Furthermore, unlike the active brake shown in Fig. 3(b), no actuator is needed for the brake in the MB Cylinder, so that friction does not arise at the time of release. Meanwhile, the tank used for the MB Cylinder plays a part in mitigating the internal pressure decrease of the cylinder. The key point is how to design the magnet and the small switch valve with light weight, in order to realize an impulsive release function in the same way as using a large valve with high response and large effective cross sectional area, and supposing the MB Cylinder is composed of the same tank and the same cylinder as those of Fig. 2. In the actual design shown in Sec. 5.4, the introduction of the magnet with the material and the structure described in Sec. 5.2 enable for the MB Cylinder to be composed in much lighter in weight than the structure using the valve with the same performance. 3.2 Control of the Casting Height. To fully control the casting height, a degree of freedom that can adjust the nal velocity of the rod is required. Although there are a couple of options as parameters to control the nal velocity, the internal pressure of the tank in the moment when the piston detaches from the magnet, hereinafter referred to as the detaching pressure, is focused in this study from the point of view of controlling the height without any mechanical moving parts, which is expected to offer a design of the MB Cylinder in light weight. In order for the detaching pressure to be changed, adjustment of the magnetic attractive force or that of the pressure receiving area of the piston is required in addition to the basic structure shown in Fig. 4. For example, the magnetic attractive force can be adjusted electrically by the solenoid or mechanically by an actuator that generates force large enough to detach the piston from the magnet. In either method, the mass increase of the device controlling the casting height will be inevitable along with the increase of the requested magnetic attractive force. Accordingly, a method is proposed which controls the detaching pressure by changing the pressure receiving area of the piston. Figure 5 illustrates a simple structure just adding two small components to the one in Fig. 4: an o-ring placed to divide the pressurized chamber into two and a switching valve (Valve 2) put to connect one of the pressurized chambers to the tank. When the piston is attracted to the magnet, the pressurized chamber surrounded by the piston and the cap cover is divided into two chambers by the o-ring, which are the main chamber with the pressure Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics

Fig. 5 Double chamber structure to control the casting height

receiving area of Area A and the control chamber with the pressure receiving area of Area B. If the main chamber is pressurized by the main valve (Valve 1), it is connected to the tank so that only Area A is pressurized. If the control chamber is pressurized by the control valve of Valve 2 as well, both Area A and Area B are pressurized with the same pressure as the tank. In this case, the casting height is controlled by adjusting the opening time of Valve 2 after the operation of Valve 1, as described in below. Notice that the curve graph in Fig. 6 indicates the time variant internal pressure of the tank, after Valve 1 is switched from the initial condition of Fig. 5 to the pressurized one. The graph represents a system with a random size of valve and tank, just to give an idea of the pressure inside the tank and the opening time of valves. (1) The lowest casting height (Fig. 6, case 1): If Valve 1 and Valve 2 are activated at the same time, the pressure receiving area of Area A plus Area B is pressurized, so that the detaching pressure corresponds to be the lowest pressure PL. This happens since the pressurized area of the piston is the largest, needing little force to detach the piston from the magnet.

Fig. 6 Time chart of the control valve to control the casting height

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(2) The highest casting height (Fig. 6, case 3): If only Valve 1 is activated, the pressure receiving area of only Area A is pressurized, so that the detaching pressure matches the highest pressure PH. Since the pressurized area of the piston is the smallest, it is necessary large force to detach the piston from the magnet, hence high pressure is required. (3) The medium casting height (Fig. 6, case 2): If Valve 2 is activated tM seconds after Valve 1 is activated, the detaching pressure allows to be an arbitrary intermediate pressure PM, meeting the condition of PL < P M <PH. Here, tM is expressed as the time delay meeting the condition of tL < tM < tH. In other words, Valve 2 is used as a trigger to detach the piston with an arbitrary pressure, and therefore, the acceleration of the piston can be controlled.

Performance Analysis
Fig. 8 Model of the heat transfer from the tank to the cylinder

To investigate design parameters affecting on the casting height, the performance of MB Cylinder is analyzed with the transient state of the internal pressure of the cylinder and of the tank taken into consideration. 4.1 Model of the MB Cylinder. The casting motion by MB Cylinder is considered after classied into three processes (i) to (iii) as shown in Fig. 7. (i) The equations representing the phenomenon from the time when the MB Cylinder starts pressurization to the moment just before the piston collides with the upper end of the cylinder are induced. The heat transmission from the pressure source to the cylinder through the valve and tank is hypothesized as shown in Fig. 8. These hypotheses are as follows: Hypothesis 1: The absolute temperature of the surroundings and of the pressure source is 293K. Hypothesis 2: The energy that ows into the tank and that into the cylinder are equivalent to the total energy supplied by the pressure source and the heat energy that ows from each wall surface [13]. Hypothesis 3: The state of air follows the adiabatic change between just before and just after it ows into the tank and into the cylinder. Hypothesis 4: There is dissipated energy caused by Coulomb and viscous friction between the seal on the piston and the cylinder internal wall. From the model of Fig. 8 and from its hypotheses, the basic equations for the tank and for the cylinder can be stated through

the rst law of thermodynamics, energy conservation, gas equation, and volumetric ow rate assuming the inlets as orices. This is an analytical model necessary for simulating all parameters of the MB Cylinder. These basic equations are shown in Ref. [11], in which the authors performed similar analysis just for the cylinder. In this case, it is necessary to consider the existence of the tank, which does not produce external work, but has the property of accumulating energy. The equation of motion of the piston-rod and that of the child machine are expressed as follows for the MB Cylinder: When An PC P0  FM mr mK g, x0 When An PC P0 > FM mr mK g, mr mK x APC P0 mr mK g f cx _ (2) (1)

Here, An represents the pressure receiving area of the piston, which is modied according to the targeted casting heights. For example, if An A, the casting height is the lowest. If they are modied from An A0 to An A by the timing of valve 2 activated, higher casting heights are simulated. (ii) Supposing the velocity of the rod against the ground just before the piston collides the upper end of cylinder is expressed as vmax, the velocity of the child machine just after colliding is considered as vmax as well. (iii) The casting height h of the child machine casted with the initial velocity vmax is obtained by the conservation law of energy as follows:

1 mK gh mK v2 max 2

(3)

For the jumping motion, these equations are modied, considering inelastic collision of the piston with the upper end of the cylinder, as shown in Ref. [11]. 4.2 Preparation for Simulation. The basic equations described in Sec. 4.1 and in Ref. [11] are rearranged for implementing into simulations. To begin with, the parameters related to the cylinder should be taken into account. Velocity v of the rod against the ground and the internal volume changing rate of the cylinder are expressed by the following relationships: Transactions of the ASME

Fig. 7

Processes of casting with the MB Cylinder

041002-4 / Vol. 3, NOVEMBER 2011

Table 1

System parameters

MB Cylinder

mr = 0.198[kg], mK = 0.360[kg] aC = 100 [W=K], aT = 300 [W=K] SC = 6.2710-5 [m2], ST = 5.4510-6 [m2] A0 = 10610-6 [m2], A= 67910-6 [m2] L 16310-3 [m] FM = 35[N] (size:/26/205.9) VT = 4.6210-4[m3] c=60(Ap)1=2[Ns=m] f =220(Ap)1=2 [N] g 9.81 [m=s2] PS =0.46 [MPa abs],P0 =0.10 [MPa abs] T0 = 293 [K] R 287 [J=kg K], cv 716 [J=kg K] q 1.29 [kg=m3]

Fig. 10

Casted height of child machine with different masses

Experiment Conditions

dPT RTT 1 qQT QC j 1aT T0 TT VT dt

(11)

dx v dt dVC Av dt

(4) (5)

From Eqs. (1) and (2), following equations for the acceleration of the piston are obtained: When An PC P0  FM mr mK g, dv 0 dt and when An PC P0 > FM mr mK g, dv AP P0 mr mK g f cv dt mr mK (7) (6)

These equations are used to simulate the unknown nine parameters, x, v, VC, GC, GT, TC, TT, PC, and PT, used either for analysis as for designing the MB Cylinder. Simulations were performed with these equations using the Runge-Kutta algorithm. Notice that system parameters were given as shown in Table 1, so that they resemble the conditions of the actual device. Among them, it is known that the larger the inner diameter of the cylinder is, the higher the coulomb friction and viscous friction become [14]. In this simulation, the coulomb friction and the viscous friction were assumed to be proportional to the circumference of the cylinder p with a 2 Ap rate, based upon the data obtained from experiments. The heat conductivity ratio was given, referring to Ref. [15]. 4.3 Verification Through Basic Experiments. In order for the effectiveness of the above simulation method to be veried, both transient characteristics and static ones were evaluated through basic experiments and were compared with the results of simulation. Figure 9 indicates the variation of the internal pressure of the tank through the time when valve 1 was activated until the child machine was casted up 0.8 s later. In this experiment, the pressure gauge was placed within the tank to measure its pressure. Although 50 Hz of noise was observed in the experimental values, which is considered to be caused by the electrical power source, it followed a similar pattern as the simulation results, and the errors between them were within less than 8%. Figure 10 provides the

For the temperature inside the cylinder, the following is obtained: dTC cv TC1 TC qQC aC T0 TC PC Av f cv (8) c v GC dt Consequently, the following equation for the internal pressure of the cylinder is obtained from Eq. (8) and the gas equation dPC RTC1 qQC j 1aC T0 TC jPC Av 1 jf cvv VC dt (9) In the same way, the parameters related to the tank are expressed as follows: dTT cv TT 1 TT qQT QC aT T0 TT c v GT dt (10)

Fig. 9 Transient phenomenon of the pressure inside the tank just after valve 1 was opened

Fig. 11

Design procedure of MB Cylinder

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Table 2 Weight comparison between MB cylinder and conventional cylinder unit of Fig.2 with the same casting height Component Cylinder Magnet Tank Valve Connections Total weight of components MB Cylinder 0.372 kg 0.030 kg 0.200 kg 0.020 kg (SY100) 0.058 kg 0.680 kg Conventional cylinder unit (Fig. 3) 0.372 kg 0.000 kg 0.200 kg 0.380 kg (VP3185) 0.252 kg 1.204 kg

variation of the casting height with the mass of the child machine when it was casted up vertically. The errors between the results of simulation and those of experiments were within only less than 3%. As shown in the above, the experimental results and the simulation ones are approximately the same in both characteristics. Consequently, we can say the effectiveness of this simulation method was veried. Furthermore, ve trials were performed and the margin of error was suppressed to few centimeters.

cover and can be easily mounted by tucking it with the cylinder tube. Furthermore, the outer dimensions indicating the external diameter da, the inner diameter db, and the thickness e of the ring shaped magnet are selected to make the magnet as light as possible, meeting three conditions as follows: (1) da and e should be chosen so that the magnet can be mounted in the maximum available space of the cylinder. p (2) db should be chosen so that it meets db > 2 A0 =p, while A0 is given so that it allows the necessary ow rate of air from the tank to cylinder. The Attractive force FM should satisfy FM < Fmax and besides generate the value closest to Fmax. Here, Fmax presents the force pushing the piston by the compressed air against the attractive force when the internal pressure of the tank is equal to the supplied pressure PS, which is expressed by the following equation: Fmax A0 PS P0 mr mK g f (12)

Designing the MB Cylinder

The MB Cylinder should be designed as light as possible under the restrictions, aimed to generate the targeted casting heights. In this chapter, the selection methods of the components of MB Cylinder, such as the valve and the permanent magnet, are shown, while the design procedures determining the size of the tank and the cylinder are discussed. 5.1 Role and Selection of Valves. As described in Sec. 3.2, two valves such as the prime valve and the control valve are required for the control of the MB Cylinder. Since both of them play roles as a simple trigger, their response and effective crosssectional areas do not affect on the casting height so much. Therefore, no problem occurs, even if arbitrary small valves are selected regardless of other design parameters. However, there remain two concerns caused by selecting small valves, which will be coped with as follows: (1) Dead time before the child machine is casted up: By structuring the prime valve with one 3-port 3-position valve or two sets of 2-port 2-position valves in order to hold the pressure, the dead time is avoidable even with small valves. (2) Internal pressure decrease of the tank while the rod is in extension: Since the MB Cylinder is designed to let the area of the outlet from the tank fully large, the outow from the tank can be considered to be dominant to the inow. Assuming that the inow is close to zero, this research aims at designing the tank and the cylinder to generate a casting as high as possible.

Meanwhile, the attractive force FM acting between Area B and the piston through the space of the magnetic ux density B and the magnetic permeability l is expressed by the following equation: FM 1 2 B A A0 Ar 2l (13)

Strictly saying, the magnetic ux density is affected by the ux leakage and the magnetic resistance. In the actual design, the approximate value of the magnetic ux density is calculated from the residual magnetic ux density and the outer dimensions of the ring shape [16]. In this way, it is possible to estimate the outer dimensions that can generate the targeted attractive force. 5.3 Design Procedure. The procedure of designing the lightest MB Cylinder to generate the targeted casting height consists of following ve steps under design constraints (Fig. 11), which determines the parameters with respect to the tank, the cylinder, and the magnet:

5.2 Selection of Permanent Magnet. Among several kinds of materials for the permanent magnet, the Neodymium magnet is selected in this study for the following reasons: (1) its maximum energy product indicates the largest value of approximately 300 (kJ=m3) among the commercially available magnets, (2) it can generate attractive force almost 20 times greater than the ferrite magnet with the same volume, and (3) it is superior to others in mechanical strength and can sustain collisions with the piston. As for the shape of the magnet, a ring shape is applied, since it provides advantages such as: (1) its cross section is circular so that the magnetic ux is generated axis-symmetrically with respect to the cylindrical axis, (2) its structure can easily separate the pressurized chamber into two chambers such as the inside of the ring for the main chamber and the ring part for the control chamber, and (3) as shown in Fig. 5, it is mounted into the cap 041002-6 / Vol. 3, NOVEMBER 2011

Fig. 12 Pressure and velocity compared between the MB Cylinder and the conventional cylinder unit with same components

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Fig. 15 Optimal length of the cylinder tube within the specied cylinder volume

Fig. 13

Dual structure of the MB Cylinder

(1) Set a design specication. In other words, the supplied pressure, the mass of the child machine, the mass of the rod, valves to be used, the maximum available space of the tank and the cylinder, and the targeted casting height hd are set. (2) Verify that hd  hmax is satised. If it is not, go back to (1) and modify the design specication. Here, hmax represents the ideal casting height as described in the Appendix. (3) Search for candidates of the combination, such as the volume of tank VT, the pressure receiving area of the piston A, and the stroke length L through the simulation method in Chapter 4, so that the tank and the cylinder can be mounted in the maximum available space and can generate the targeted casting height h satisfying hhd. Here, the detaching pressure of the piston is assumed to reach the supplied pressure and an arbitrary A0 satisfying A0<A is set. (4) Assign a combination of the outer dimensions (da, db, e) of the lightest magnet satisfying the design conditions (1) to (3) in Sec. 5.2 to each candidate of the tank and the cylinder searched in (3). (5) Select a combination among the candidates derived in (4), so that the total mass is the lightest.

A design specication is set as follows. The supplied pressure: PS 0.46 MPa [abs], the mass of the child machine: mk 0.360 kg, the mass of the rod: mr 0.198 kg, the valve to be used: SY100(SMC product), the largest volume of the tank in the maximum available space: VT-max 6.6010-4 m2, the largest pressure receiving area of the piston in the maximum available space: Amax 679106 m2, the longest stroke length: Lmax 16910-3 m and the targeted casting height: hd 4 m. The casting height h 4 m was produced by the MB Cylinder designed according to the procedure in Fig. 11, while the casting height h 1 m was obtained by the conventional driving unit shown in Fig. 2 which was structured by just removing the magnet from the designed MB Cylinder. Table 1 shows the size of the components, and Table 2 shows the weight of each component of the designed MB Cylinder. Simulation results in Fig. 12 suggests that the rod started moving when the internal pressure in the MB Cylinder reached the supplied pressure, and thus the child machine was casted with its pressure kept higher than that in the conventional driving unit. Accordingly, the nal velocity of the rod in the MB Cylinder achieved approximately two times faster than that in the conventional one, even though both units were composed of a cylinder with identical dimensions. To make the conventional driving unit produce the same casting height as MB Cylinder, a valve with larger effective crosssectional area is required instead of the magnet. When selecting VP3185 (SMC product) as the lightest valve satisfying this requirement, the mass structure was as shown in the right column of Table 2, which indicates that the weight of the MB Cylinder is 56% lighter than that of the conventional unit shown in Fig. 2. 5.5 Design Example 2: Designing the Tank and the Cylinder as One Whole Unit. When the total available space of the tank and the cylinder is restricted, it is effective to design a dual

5.4 Design Example 1: Designing the Tank and the Cylinder Independently. In this section, a design example is illustrated which follows the procedure proposed in Sec. 5.3, considering that the maximum available spaces for the tank and the cylinder are independently restricted.

Fig. 14 Optimal cylinder volume to maximize the casting height

Fig. 16 Rapid and safe approach to the collapsed building using the casting device

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Fig. 17 Search inside the collapsed building by the jumping robot

Fig. 19 Simulation and experimental results of the controlled casting height, showing the opening time of the control valve

structure composed of the tank as the outer structure and the cylinder placed inside of it (Fig. 13). Since no connections or tubes between the tank and the cylinder are required, this structure has the advantage of the large effective cross sectional area in the ow passage between them. For example, Fig. 14 illustrates the simulation result when the volume of the cylinder VC is varied under the condition of VTVC 5.55104 m3. Here, the VC maximizing the casting height roughly agrees with the result of the simple algebraic expression detailed in Appendix A, which holds when air is supposed to expand following adiabatic change. This fact suggests us that it is possible to estimate the optimal volume distribution ratio between the tank and the cylinder by the simple calculation. Moreover, Fig. 15 indicates that the casting height changes with the variation of the shape of the cylinder. Hence, it is also necessary to appropriately distribute between the pressure receiving area of the piston and the length of the cylinder tube under the same volume of the cylinder.

Examples of Application

The MB Cylinder proposed in this paper is applicable to various types of robots such as walking robots and manipulators by using several or by integrating with other mechanisms. Here, basic applications are introduced, which are mounted by a single set of MB Cylinder in each machine, such as the parent machine generating the casting motion (Fig. 16) and a jumping robot generating the jumping motion (Fig. 17). These are prototypes aiming at effective search and rescue for survivors inside half collapsed buildings at disaster sites where aftershocks occur continuously after a big earthquake. The parent machine is assumed to cast a child machine into the targeted location of the building, while the jumping robot is expected to collect local information by moving through the terrain and jumping over obstacles. 6.1 Mounting on the Parent Machine to Perform Casting Motion. The developed casting device is composed of a telescopic pole that can be extended from 1 to 2 m, a set of MB Cylinder on its top, and two passive wheels shown in Fig. 18. With this structure, MB Cylinder is supported by both the ground and the operator. Therefore, it is hardly affected by the casting impact. In

addition, the operator can simply adjust the direction of casting by changing the inclination of the pole. The MB Cylinder mounted on the device is composed of the cylinder and the tank in a slim dual structure, thus the sensors and other equipments can be easily attached to its periphery. When a child machine with the mass of mk 56 g was casted vertically by the MB Cylinder designed based on the parameters of Table 2, it was veried that the experimental results of casting height controlled by the method in Sec. 3.2 was similar to the simulation ones as shown in Fig. 19. Based upon these results, the relationship between the opening time of the control valve and the initial velocity of the child machine can be estimated. The Dry Ice Power Cell [17] carried by the operator was used as the pressure source. The total mass of the pressure source was approximately 1 kg including 430 g of the dry ice. When the ow rate was 4 L=min, the pressure less than 0.52 MPa [abs] could be supplied continuously for 57 min. In this case, the parent machine is able to perform theoretically near 400 castings with this MB Cylinder. The laser range nder TRUPULSE200 produced by LASER Technology was installed on the MB Cylinder as the sensor to measure not only the distance to the target but also the angle of elevation. The image of the camera mounted on the child machine allows the alignment of the target with the central axis of the MB Cylinder, and the distance l between the laser range nder and the target and the angle of elevation a relative to the horizon is measured. At this time, the initial velocity v0 and the casting angle of elevation h minimizing consumption energy of casting can be derived.

Fig. 18 Developed MB Cylinder equipped with the pole and the laser range nder

Fig. 20

Trajectory of the child machine to the target

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Fig. 23 Behavior of jumping robot traversing a 1m high obstacle

Fig. 21 Image of the structure of jumping robot with MB Cylinder

After measuring l and a with the laser range nder, it is necessary to tilt the pole so that the angle of elevation of the MB Cylinder becomes h and then to choose the appropriate opening time of the control valve to obtain the initial velocity v0 to cast the child machine. With such a simple structure, it was experimentally conrmed that the child machine could be casted through a gap of the window into the targeted room on the third oor of the building, located 7 m in vertical distance and 2 m in horizontal distance from the parent machine (Fig. 20). Here, ve trials have been performed, within which four were successful. The reason of the failure of one of the trials was not due to the problem of casting height, but due to an error while adjusting the yaw angle.

same dimension as the MB Cylinder let the robot jump only 10% as high as when using the MB Cylinder. In addition, a child machine with the same structure of the jumping robot was also developed. It has 150 mm of length, 100 mm of diameter, weighs 0.33 kg, and it is equipped with a small camera and a dual structure MB Cylinder. The child machine is able to jump as high as ve times its own body height with the MB Cylinder (Fig. 24), and 20% of its own body height with a conventional cylinder with similar dimensions. Accordingly, it could be veried that the MB Cylinder enabled the machine to jump high even with its small structure, since the rod could start moving from the condition where the pressure acting on the piston was raised up to the supplied pressure.

Conclusion and Future Works

6.2 Mounting on a Wheeled Robot to Perform Jumping Motion. The developed jumping robot consists of two active wheels to move rotationally on the ground and a single set of MB Cylinder to jump over the obstacles that cannot be overcome by wheels alone (Fig. 21). Each active wheel is driven by a DC motor of 4.5 W from MAXON. The MB Cylinder was designed with the tank and cylinder independently, and its total mass is 0.65 kg to maximize the jumping height under the restriction of the available space within the wheel diameter of 230 mm. The dimensions of the jumping robot with a small camera for exploration and IR sensors for detecting clearance are shown in Fig. 22, and its mass is 2.35 kg. As the result of the experiment, the robot could jump onto approximately ve times higher obstacle by supplying the pneumatic pressure of 0.52 MPa [abs] through a tube (Fig. 23), after it approached by rotating with its wheels and supported by the camera image. Meanwhile, the conventional cylinder with the

This paper proposed a pneumatic driving unit named MB Cylinder consisting of a permanent magnet, a small lightweight valve, a cylinder, and a tank. Since the magnet was used as a brake and the switch valve as the trigger in this unit, the excellent impulsive release function was generated without being affected by the size and by the response of the valve, and thus the MB Cylinder allowed to be driven with the pressure inside kept high and with light structure. The developed prototype could cast the child machine with the mass of 56 g to 7 m height, weighing 56% lighter than the conventional driving unit with the same function.

Fig. 22

Developed jumping robot equipping MB Cylinder

Fig. 24 Developed child machine equipping a small MB Cylinder, jumping over the obstacle 5 times higher than its own height

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In addition, it was claried that the casting height control was possible by just adding a simple structure to MB Cylinder. Furthermore, its dynamic analysis and design method were also discussed. It was veried that the MB Cylinder was applied not only to the casting motion but also to jumping motion as well. As future project, (1) application of the MB Cylinder to a robot having both casting function and jumping one, and (2) its application to the manipulation with rapid motion will be attempted.

(4) The detaching pressure is assumed to be the same as the supplied pressure. (5) With the rod extended, the volumetric ow of air from the pressure source to the tank is assumed to be zero. Here, (5) is added here just to simplify the calculation. Under the restriction of the maximum available space of the tank and the cylinder, the casting height operated by MB Cylinder under ideal conditions is induced as follows. Assuming expansion through adiabatic change: PV j Ps VT j Pc VT VC j (A1)

Acknowledgment
We are extremely grateful to the people who supported us with our research under the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Urban Areas in the Japanese Ministry of Education and its nancial support. We also appreciate the support by Mr. Daichi Kimura in the development of the prototypes.

The output work W of the cylinder, with the rod extending by compressed air in the tank, is expressed as follows: W
VT VC

Nomenclature
A pressure receiving area of the piston equal to the total of A0, Ar and Area B A0 area of Area A Ar contact area between the pressure receiving surface of the piston and the o-ring c coefcient of viscosity between the piston and the cylinder tube cv specic heat at constant volume FM magnetic attractive force f Coulomb friction between the piston and the cylinder tube GC, GT masses of air within the cylinder and the tank g acceleration of gravity h casting height L total stroke length mk, mr masses of the child machine and the piston-rod P0, PS atmospheric pressure and absolute pressure of the supplied pressure PC, PT absolute pressures within the cylinder and the tank QC, QT volumetric ow rate into the cylinder and the tank qC, qT energy owing into the cylinder and the tank R gas constant of air SC effective cross-sectional area determined by A0 and the ow passage between the tank and the cylinder TC,TT absolute temperature inside the cylinder and the tank uC,uT internal energy of the cylinder and the tank VC,VT volume of the cylinder tube and the tank x displacement of the piston-rod aC, aT product of the area of the wall of the cylinder=tank and thermal conductivity q air density under standard conditions j ratio of specic heat (constant pressure specic heat= constant volume specic heat)

P P0 dV
VT

(A2)

The following relationship is derived by rearranging the above two equations: W Ps fV j VT VC 1j VT g P0 VC 1j T (A3)

The ideal casting height hmax is expressed by the following equation, when W is maximized by appropriately selecting VT and VC in the above expression: hmax Wmax gmr mK (A4)

Here, the parameters VT* and VC* satisfying Wmax vary with the following design conditions: (i) The case where the tank and the cylinder are designed independently: The rate of change of the work for volumetric change of the tank is as follows: o j1 @W Ps n jVT VC VT 1 >0 j @ VT 1 j VT VC (A5)

In the same way, the rate of change of the work for volumetric change of the cylinder is as follows:
j @W VT PS P0 PC P0 > 0 @ VC VT VC j

(A6)

Appendix. Casting Height Under Ideal Conditions

The actual behavior of MB Cylinder is affected by the loss caused by the restriction and the friction between the piston and the cylinder tube, among others. The simulation method described in Chapter 4 takes it into account; hence, it is very effective for predicting the actual casting heights by MB Cylinder precisely. Meanwhile, the ideal casting height without the loss is also important to know the limit of specication and to pursue the improvement of efciency, especially when designing the MB Cylinder. Accordingly, the following ve ideal conditions are assumed: (1) No restriction exists between the tank and the cylinder. (2) The air inside the tank expands into the cylinder, following adiabatic change. (3) Coulomb friction and viscous friction of the piston are assumed to be zero.

From the above, the work of the cylinder W monotonously increases along the increase of VT and VC. Therefore, the work of the cylinder generated under VT* and VC* holds Wmax, when VT* and VC* indicate the maximized values of VT and VC respectively within the available space. (ii) The case where the tank and the cylinder are designed as the dual structure: Considering the following equation: Vall VT VC const: the work of the cylinder W is maximized when VT satises: o dW Ps n  VT j1 1 P0 0 j dVT 1 j Vall (A8) (A7)

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VT* and VC* satisfying the above equation can be expressed respectively by the following equations: VT

 1 P0 j 1 Ps j1 Vall jPs
VC Vall VT

(A9) (A10)

References
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