A1 Answer ALL parts (a) – (b)

(a) A company that specialises in assistive technologies is designing an automatic

domestic door and window-opening device. It is necessary to select an
appropriate linear actuator that ideally can be used in all versions of the
device.

(i) Estimate a reasonable specification for the actuators and use the
provided figures of merit (see last page) to determine what actuators
could reasonably be used for this task.
(8 marks)

(ii) Describe the different configurations that are possible if these

actuators are stacked. Recommend which configurations will be useful
for this application.
(4 marks)

(iii) Besides the physical specification of the actuator, there are several
other considerations that a company may make when choosing an
actuator. Choose and justify five other selection criteria this company
may make and estimate the relative importance on a scale from 0-10
where 10 is of critical importance. When choosing, consider the
market to which this company will be supplying.
(9 marks)

(iv) Create a Pareto chart, and using this, determine which actuator will be
most appropriate for this technology. State reasons for dismissing
other actuators.
(9 marks)

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(b) A large blower, essentially a powerful fan, is mounted on a flexible frame with
negligible mass rigidly connected to the floor of a building, as shown in Figure
A1-1. The blower’s rotor is unbalanced, and subjects the blower to a
sinusoidally varying vertical load. The blower has a mass of 25 kg. When it is
placed on the frame, the frame deflects by 600 µm. When the blower is
turned on, its rotor spins at 1750 rpm and vibrates violently in the vertical
direction whilst on the frame.

(i) Draw a free-body (lumped-parameter) model of the system and thus

derive the equation of motion.
(6 marks)

(ii) Determine the system’s undamped natural frequency, 𝜔𝑛 , and use

this to estimate the magnitude of the system’s transfer function,
|𝐺(𝜔)|, at the driving frequency. Damping can be assumed to be
negligible.
(6 marks)

(iii) Your assistant has designed some braces, which they say will increase
the stiffness of the frame by a factor of 2, and believes this will reduce
the vibration by about the same factor. Do you accept the proposal?
State and justify your answer.
(8 marks)

Figure A1-1: Schematic of the blower. Note the braces are not part of the original
design, but are included in part (iii)

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A2 Answer ALL parts (a) – (b)

In order to determine what actuators are required to actuate a mechanism, it is

necessary to determine first the kinematic performance of that mechanism.

Figure A2-1: Schematic of robot arm on rotating platform

(a) The robotic arm OA in Figure A2-1 rotates about the z-axis with a constant
angular velocity of ω1 = 0.15 rad/s, while it is rotating downward with a
constant angular velocity of ω2 = 0.2 rad/s. The robot arm OA has an effective
length of 1.1 m and at the instant shown is at an angle of θ2 = 40° about the y-
axis.

(i) Using vectors, determine the velocity of point A located at the end of
the robot arm at the instant shown.
(10 marks)

(ii) Given that the robotic arm OA is moving in a rotating frame,

determine the acceleration of point A located at the end of the robot
arm at the instant shown.
(14 marks)

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(b) Robot arms, such as the robotic arm OA in Figure A2-1, are often actuated
using DC motors. However, such motors often rotate at high speeds and
require a gear train to slow down the rotation of the arm and increase the
available torque. In this scenario, a pair of spur gears, with the pinion gear
attached to the motor and the larger driven gear attached directly to the arm,
actuates the arm. The rotation of the platform can be ignored, i.e. ω1 =
0 rad/s.

(i) The motor and associated pinion gear has a combined moment of
inertia, 𝐽𝑚 and angular velocity, 𝜔𝑚 . The motor can supply a torque
𝑇𝑚 , and there is a resultant load torque, 𝑇𝐴 , about the y-axis acting at
point A on the arm. The robotic arm has mass 𝑀, with centre of mass
a distance 𝐿 from the joint axis. There is damping with a coefficient,
𝐶𝑚 , (in N.m.s/rad) acting on the motor and another with coefficient
𝐶2 , acting on the arm. The load gear has a moment of inertia, 𝐽2 and
angular velocity 𝜔2 , giving a gear ratio of:

𝜔2
𝑟=
𝜔𝑚

Show that the governing equation for the position of the arm, 𝜃2 , as a
function of the motor torque is given by:

𝑀𝐿2
𝑟𝑇𝑚 − (𝐶𝑚 + 𝑟 2 𝐶2 )𝜃̇2 − 𝑟 2 𝑀𝑔𝐿 cos 𝜃2 = (𝐽𝑚 + 𝑟 2 [ + 𝐽2 ]) 𝜃̈2
3
(14 marks)

(ii) It is required that the robot arm OA in Figure A2-1 starts at rest in a
vertical position, rotates about the y-axis and stops in a horizontal
position. The angular velocity follows a simple trapezium profile. Using
your knowledge of the dynamics of the arm, as described by the
equation given in question (i), explain at which point in the cycle the
required motor torque is highest. Justify your answer. Numerical
answers are not required, but can be used to support your answer.
(6 marks)

(iii) It is required that the motion described in (ii) be completed within 2 s.

Choose a reasonable acceleration time and hence determine the
maximum acceleration and velocity that the arm will undergo during
the motion.
(6 marks)

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 Supplementary sheet for question A1(a)
Mechanics and Actuators (ENGR404/ENGR504) 2023
8
10
7
10
6 Piezoelectric→
10
Electroactive polymers
10
5

Moving coil transducer→
Frequency (Hz)

4
10 Magnetostrictor
Solenoid
3
MSM
10 
 Hydraulic
Fluid mass flow
2
10 Pneumatic

1
10
0 Shape memory alloy→
10
-1 Thermal expansion→
10
-2
10 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Force (N)
6
10

5 Piezoelectric Hydraulic
10 
 Pneumatic
4 Thermal expansion 
10

Magnetostrictor Electroactive polymers
3
10 

Force (N)

Solenoid
2 
10
Moving coil transducer

1
Shape memory
10 alloy


0 MSM
10

-1
10

Fluid mass flow
-2
10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Stroke (m)

PAPER ENDS