Papers by Gurvinder Singh Virk
Robotics Transforming the Future, 2018
Inspection of mooring chains is an important but dangerous and costly procedure covering inspecti... more Inspection of mooring chains is an important but dangerous and costly procedure covering inspection above and below the waterline. The paper presents initial results from the RIMCAW project which aimed at designing and building an inspection robot able to climb mooring chains and deploy NDT technologies for scanning individual links thereby detecting critical defects. The paper focuses on the design and realisation of the inchworm type novel crawler developed and tested in the TWI Middlesbrough, UK water tank.
Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering, 2017
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Perspectives in Science, 2016
With advances in technology and ageing societal concerns growing, personal care devices are gaini... more With advances in technology and ageing societal concerns growing, personal care devices are gaining importance globally. One such area is lower-limb exoskeletons, used to assist persons to move around for normal daily living. Most of the commercially available assistive exoskeletons use rechargeable Li-ion batteries, which require frequent charging to meet the operational needs. Charging becomes a problem when a person relying on a mobility exoskeleton has to go outdoors for shopping or a leisure walk. Experimental data from ongoing research to develop assistive mobility exoskeletons for elderly persons indicates that, the power required for exoskeletons is around 45-60 W which falls in the output range of hand-crank generators. So use of hand-crank generators as a charging source is discussed. In this work, we develop a mathematical model to investigate the potential of hand-crank devices in charging mobility exoskeletons and to give relation between input cranking speed and output charging power, and estimate the cranking time.
Procedia Manufacturing, 2015
For ageing individuals, declining physical functional capacity can lead to loss of independence, ... more For ageing individuals, declining physical functional capacity can lead to loss of independence, decreased engagement in the community and reductions in quality of life. As such, solutions that can effectively and affordably supplement older adults' diminishing functional capacity, and thus facilitate maintained independence and social participation over time are urgently required. The AXO-SUIT project-funded by the European Commission under the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programmeis developing assistive exoskeleton devices for older adults with impaired mobilityand/ordifficulties in performingactivities of daily living. This paper will report ongoing research which aims to identify end user needs,and thus provide inputs to specify the design requirements of the AXO-SUIT exoskeletons. The objectives of this initial questionnaire study are to identify the functional assistance requirements of potential end users of the AXO-SUIT in terms of mobility, reaching and handling, and fullbody support for performing activities of daily livingat home and in the wider community. The end user requirements identified will be used to formulate functional specifications for the AXO-SUIT lower-body and upper-body subsystems , which will ensure that the AXO-SUIT prototypes will provide for the specific mobility, reaching and handling needs of end users, and also to provide useful insights into the perspectives and needs of end users in relation to assistive exoskeletons in general.
Dynamically stable trajectory synthesis for a biped robot during the single-support phase
... VII. REFERENCES Marchese S., ROBOT BIPEDI Pian fficazione ne1 piano sagittale di traiettorie ... more ... VII. REFERENCES Marchese S., ROBOT BIPEDI Pian fficazione ne1 piano sagittale di traiettorie dinamicamente stabili per la single-support phase, (in Italian) Undergraduate Thesis, Faculty of Engineering, Universita di Catania, Italy, October 2000, unpublished. http:\\piermo. ...
Mobile Robotics, 2009
UWE makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particul... more UWE makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited. UWE makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights. UWE accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement.
Intelligent soft-computing based modelling of naturally ventilated buildings
International Journal of Solar Energy, 2002
The paper presents recent results on the application of the soft computing methodology for modell... more The paper presents recent results on the application of the soft computing methodology for modelling of the internal climate in office buildings. More specifically, a part of a recently completed naturally ventilated building is considered which comprises three neighbouring offices and one corridor within the Portland Building at the University of Portsmouth. The approach adopted uses fuzzy logic for modelling,
Application of Sot-Computing Techniques in Modelling of Buildings
Climbing and Walking Robots, 2005
Reconfigurable robots offer a new approach in robotic systems so that particular solutions can be... more Reconfigurable robots offer a new approach in robotic systems so that particular solutions can be easily put together by integrating suitable modular components. The CLAWAR approach to modular design using concepts of basic modules and super-modules to the cooperative systems are extended to develop a generic methodology for the design environment. A case study is also presented for designing climbing robots for biomedical applications based on this methodology.
Towards the Development of International Safety Standards for Human Robot Interaction
International Journal of Social Robotics, 2010
Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 2010
Several methods of measuring the situation awareness (SA) of a human who is teleoperating a robot... more Several methods of measuring the situation awareness (SA) of a human who is teleoperating a robot are compared for the domain of urban search and rescue (USAR), to identify those that have the greatest potential for developing more reliable and accurate ways of measuring SA for effectively operating robot systems. Such comparative studies are essential because SA has been identified as a key human factors issue since post-September 11, 2001, operations for effective task performance in (tele)robotics. This paper discusses the pros and cons of the main aspects that need to be included in developing reliable SA measurement methods from the related domain of air traffic control, in which SA has a long research history. These methods have been adopted and modified accordingly to address needs of teleoperating robot systems and have been tested in a realistic USAR simulated scenario developed especially for performing these assessments. The results were compared against each other as wel...
The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery, 2005
A novel system for distributed force measurement between the bowel wall and the shaft of a colono... more A novel system for distributed force measurement between the bowel wall and the shaft of a colonoscope is presented. The system, based on the piezoresistive method, involves the integration of soft miniature transducers to a colonoscope to enable a wide range of forces to be sensed. The attached sensing sheath does not restrict the propulsion of the colonoscope nor notably alter its flexibility. The addition of the sensor sheath increases the colonoscope diameter by 15-20% depending on the type of the colonoscope (adult or paediatric). The transducer's accuracy is ¡20 grammes if it is not subjected to extensive static forces. Under large static force conditions the errors may increase to ¡50 grammes. The tactile force measuring sensors have provided preliminary results from experiments on a model of the large bowel. The force measurements confirm the predictions on the location and magnitude of the forces and that most of the forces are exerted whilst the instrument is looping.
Grid-interpolation data pre-processor for radial basis function network solar cell model
International Journal of Energy Research, 2003
... network solar cell model Mohammad AbdulHadi1,n,y, AbdulRahman Al-Ibrahim1 and Gurvinder S Vir... more ... network solar cell model Mohammad AbdulHadi1,n,y, AbdulRahman Al-Ibrahim1 and Gurvinder S Virk2 ... Al-Amoudi (1999) showed that a radial basis function network (RBFN) applied to simulation data generated by a mathematical model of ...
Industrial Robot: An International Journal, 2003
ROBOVOLC is a new robotic system that has been designed to help scientists in the exploration of ... more ROBOVOLC is a new robotic system that has been designed to help scientists in the exploration of volcanoes. It is composed of three subsystems: a rover platform with six articulated and independently actuated wheels; a manipulator arm to collect rock samples, drop and pick up sensors and sample gas; and a pan‐tilt turret with a high resolution camera, video‐camera, infrared camera and a doppler radar for gas speed measurement. This paper contains a short description of the system, following an introduction to the problem and review of the state‐of‐the‐art. Finally, results from the first test campaign on Mount Etna during September 2002 are briefly described.
IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2008
This paper deals with the development and characterization of an innovative domestic heating syst... more This paper deals with the development and characterization of an innovative domestic heating system that is driven by a solar-assisted heat pump to increase system efficiency. A suitable online measurement system of overall observable quantities has been integrated in the plant to give accurate and updated measurements of all the variables that are of interest to the whole system. A more detailed analysis of the quantities that mainly influence system performance has been carried out, and a suitable mathematical model that is able to describe and control the behavior of the interesting phenomena has been developed. The amount of heating energy depends on the local weather conditions. In the thermal plant proposed here, there is a solar energy harvesting device; this kind of plant needs a highly sensitive control system because of the great sensitivity of solar-powered systems to climatic variations. The use of the proposed system allows monitoring and controlling of the heating conditions of domestic houses without high environmental impact and energy costs.
Neuro-Fuzzy-Based Solar Cell Model
IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, 2004
This work describes a hybrid soft-computing modeling technique that facilitates the modeling of n... more This work describes a hybrid soft-computing modeling technique that facilitates the modeling of newly installed solar cells, or solar cells with few historical measured data, over a range of expected operating conditions. The technique uses neuro-fuzzy models to predict solar cell short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage, followed by coordinate translation of a measured current-voltage response. The model can be extended
IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, 2007
Improved solar cell models and control methods using synergies of soft-computing techniques are u... more Improved solar cell models and control methods using synergies of soft-computing techniques are used to demonstrate increased energy efficiencies of photovoltaic (PV) power plants connected to the electricity grid via space-vector-modulated threephase inverters. The models and control strategies are combined to form two new model-based controllers that are more accurate and resilient than existing solutions resulting in increased power production. A radial-basis-function-network (RBFN) model with a neuro-fuzzy regulator applied to a plant well characterized by the conventional solar cell model provided an estimated 1.5% increase in power production over an existing conventional model proportional integral (PI)-regulator combination. A neuro-fuzzy model with a neuro-fuzzy controller applied to a plant poorly characterized by the conventional solar cell model gave an 8.6% increase in power. An analysis of the net contributions to the increased efficiencies shows that the improved models had the most effect on power gains.
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 2006
Advanced control for BEMS: A model-based predictive approach
Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, 1992
... These advances have not taken place without certain operational difficulties; Rouse~, for exa... more ... These advances have not taken place without certain operational difficulties; Rouse~, for example, has identified the chief problem areas as follows: ... Dexter~9~ has investigated the use of rule-based control employing 'fuzzy logic' and its relevance to computer-based facilities ...
Automation in Construction, 1997
"Intelligence" in buildings usually implies facilities management via building automation systems... more "Intelligence" in buildings usually implies facilities management via building automation systems (BAS). However, present-day commercial BAS adopt a rudimentary approach to data handling, control and fault detection, and there is much scope for improvement. This paper describes a model-based technique for raising the level of sophistication at which BAS currently operate. Using stochastic multivariable identification, models are derived which describe the behaviour of air temperature and relative humidity in a full-scale office zone equipped with a dedicated heating, ventilating and airconditioning (HVAC) plant. The models are of good quality, giving prediction accuracies of + 0.25 "C in 19.2 "C and of f 0.6% rh in 53% rh when forecasting up to 15 minutes ahead. For forecasts up to 3 days ahead, accuracies are f 0.65 "C and f I .25% rh, respectively. The utility of the models for facilities management is investigated. The "temperature model" was employed within a predictive on/off control strategy for the office zone, and was shown to substantially improve temperature regulation and to reduce energy consumption in comparison with conventional on/off control. Comparison of prediction accuracies for two different situations, that is, the office with and without furniture plus carpet, showed that some level of furnishing is essential during the commissioning phase if model-based control of relative humidity is contemplated. The prospects are assessed for wide-scale replication of the model-based technique, and it is shown that deterministic simulation has potential to be used as a means of initialising a model structure and hence of selecting the sensors for a BAS for any building at the design stage. It is concluded that advanced model-based methods offer significant promise for improving BAS performance, and that proving trials in full-scale everyday situations are now needed prior to commercial development and installation. 0 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.
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Papers by Gurvinder Singh Virk