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Professor David Branson's Outputs (57)

Kinematics and statics of eccentric soft bending actuators with external payloads (2019)
Journal Article
Yang, C., Kang, R., Branson, D. T., Chen, L., & Dai, J. S. (2019). Kinematics and statics of eccentric soft bending actuators with external payloads. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 139, 526-541. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2019.05.015

Soft bending actuators, born with the considerable capacity of structural flexibility and environmental adaptability, have been widely favored for years. However, the highly nonlinear coupling between force and deformation in such robots are very com... Read More about Kinematics and statics of eccentric soft bending actuators with external payloads.

Assessing worker performance using dynamic cost functions in human robot collaborative tasks (2019)
Journal Article
Smith, T., Benardos, P., & Branson, D. (2020). Assessing worker performance using dynamic cost functions in human robot collaborative tasks. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 234(1), 289-301. https://doi.org/10.1177/0954406219838568

The aim of this research is to develop a framework to allow efficient Human Robot, HR, collaboration on manufacturing assembly tasks based on cost functions that quantify capabilities and performance of each element in a system and enable their effic... Read More about Assessing worker performance using dynamic cost functions in human robot collaborative tasks.

Chatty factories: A vision for the future of product design and manufacture with IoT (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Burnap, P., Branson, D., Murray-Rust, D., Preston, J., Richards, D., Burnett, D., Edwards, N., Firth, R., Gorkovenko, K., Khanesar, M. A., Lakoju, M., Smith, T., & Thorp, J. (2019, May). Chatty factories: A vision for the future of product design and manufacture with IoT. Presented at Living in the Internet of Things (IoT 2019), London, UK

Chatty Factories is a three-year investment by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through its programme for New Industrial Systems. The project explores the transformative potential of placing IoT-enabled data driven syste... Read More about Chatty factories: A vision for the future of product design and manufacture with IoT.

Design and modeling of a soft robotic surface with hyperelastic material (2018)
Journal Article
Chen, L., Yang, C., Wang, H., Branson, D. T., Dai, J. S., & Kang, R. (2018). Design and modeling of a soft robotic surface with hyperelastic material. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 130, 109-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2018.08.010

While most existing soft robots have tentacle-like morphology, this paper extends the morphology of a soft robot from a curve to a surface. The presented robotic surface is fabricated using hyperelastic silicone material, and its morphology and defor... Read More about Design and modeling of a soft robotic surface with hyperelastic material.

Modelling an acuated large deformation soft continuum robot surface undergoing external forces using a lumped-mass approach (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Habibi, H., Yang, C., Kang, R., Walker, I. D., Godage, I. S., Dong, X., & Branson, D. T. (2018, October). Modelling an acuated large deformation soft continuum robot surface undergoing external forces using a lumped-mass approach. Presented at 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Madrid, Spain

Precise actuation of continuum surfaces in combination with continuum robotic arms that undergo large deformation is of high interest in soft robotics but of limited model-based study to date. This work develops this area towards enabling the robust... Read More about Modelling an acuated large deformation soft continuum robot surface undergoing external forces using a lumped-mass approach.

Optimal integration of pneumatic artificial muscles with vacuum-jammed surfaces to characterise a novel reconfigurable moulding system (2018)
Journal Article
Habibi, H., Land, P., Ball, M. J., Troncoso, D. A., & Branson, D. T. (in press). Optimal integration of pneumatic artificial muscles with vacuum-jammed surfaces to characterise a novel reconfigurable moulding system. Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 32, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2018.02.013

Producing mould tooling systems is a considerable proportion of manufacturing cost and time, especially for low volume productions. Producing a reconfigurable mould to shape surfaces into complex geometries with multiple curvatures would obviate the... Read More about Optimal integration of pneumatic artificial muscles with vacuum-jammed surfaces to characterise a novel reconfigurable moulding system.

Effect of mechanical preconditioning on the electrical properties of knitted conductive textiles during cyclic loading (2018)
Journal Article
Isaia, C., McNally, D. S., McMaster, S. A., & Branson, D. T. (2019). Effect of mechanical preconditioning on the electrical properties of knitted conductive textiles during cyclic loading. Textile Research Journal, 89(3), 445-460. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040517517748496

This paper presents, for the first time, the electrical response of knitted conductive fabrics to a considerable number of cycles of deformation in view of their use as wearable sensors. The changes in the electrical properties of four knitted conduc... Read More about Effect of mechanical preconditioning on the electrical properties of knitted conductive textiles during cyclic loading.

Model-free control for continuum robots based on an adaptive Kalman filter (2017)
Journal Article
Li, M., Kang, R., Branson, D. T., & Dai, J. S. (2018). Model-free control for continuum robots based on an adaptive Kalman filter. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 23(1), https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2017.2775663

Continuum robots with structural compliance have promising potential to operate in unstructured environments. However, this structural compliance brings challenges to the controller design due to the existence of considerable uncertainties in the rob... Read More about Model-free control for continuum robots based on an adaptive Kalman filter.

Workspace analysis of tendon-driven continuum robots based on mechanical interference identification (2017)
Journal Article
Cao, K., Kang, R., Branson, D., Geng, S., Song, Z., & Dai, J. S. (2017). Workspace analysis of tendon-driven continuum robots based on mechanical interference identification. Journal of Mechanical Design, 139(6), Article 062303. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4036395

Continuum robots have excited increasing attention and efforts from the robotic community due to their high dexterity and safety. This paper proposes a design for a type of multimodule continuum robot equipped with an elastic backbone structure and t... Read More about Workspace analysis of tendon-driven continuum robots based on mechanical interference identification.

Flexible robot sealant dispensing cell using RGB-D sensor and off-line programming (2017)
Journal Article
Maiolino, P., Woolley, R., Branson, D. T., Benardos, P., Popov, A. A., & Ratchev, S. (in press). Flexible robot sealant dispensing cell using RGB-D sensor and off-line programming. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 48, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcim.2017.04.004

In aerospace manufacture the accurate and robust application of sealant is an integral and challenging part of the manufacturing process that is still performed by human operator. Automation of this process is difficult and not cost effective due to... Read More about Flexible robot sealant dispensing cell using RGB-D sensor and off-line programming.

Design of a pneumatic muscle based continuum robot with embedded tendons (2016)
Journal Article
Kang, R., Guo, Y., Chen, L., Branson, D. T., & Dai, J. S. (2017). Design of a pneumatic muscle based continuum robot with embedded tendons. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 22(2), 751-761. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2016.2636199

© 1996-2012 IEEE. Continuum robots have attracted increasing focus in recent years due to their intrinsic compliance that allows for dexterous and safe movements. However, the inherent compliance in such systems reduces the structural stiffness, and... Read More about Design of a pneumatic muscle based continuum robot with embedded tendons.

Dynamics for variable length multisection continuum arms (2015)
Journal Article
Godage, I. S., Medrano-Cerda, G. A., Branson, D. T., Guglielmino, E., & Caldwell, D. G. (2016). Dynamics for variable length multisection continuum arms. International Journal of Robotics Research, 35(6), https://doi.org/10.1177/0278364915596450

Variable length multisection continuum arms are a class of continuum robotic manipulators that generate motion by structural mechanical deformation. Unlike most continuum robots, the sections of these arms do not have (central) supporting flexible ba... Read More about Dynamics for variable length multisection continuum arms.

Modal kinematics for multisection continuum arms (2015)
Journal Article
Godage, I. S., Medrano-Cerda, G. A., Branson, D. T., Guglielmino, E., & Caldwell, D. G. (2015). Modal kinematics for multisection continuum arms. Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, 10(3), Article 035002. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/10/3/035002

This paper presents a novel spatial kinematic model for multisection continuum arms based on mode shape functions (MSF). Modal methods have been used in many disciplines from finite element methods to structural analysis to approximate complex and no... Read More about Modal kinematics for multisection continuum arms.