ERIC J. BARTH
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Vanderbilt University
VU Station B 351592
2301 Vanderbilt Place
Nashville, TN 37235-1592
(615) 322-1893, eric.j.barth@vanderbilt.edu
Laboratory for the Design and Control of Energetic Systems: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/dces
_____________________________________________________________________________________
CURRICULUM VITAE
AUGUST 10, 2009
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, August 2000
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia. Advisor: Dr. Nader Sadegh
Dissertation: “Approximating Infinite Horizon Discrete-time Optimal Control Using CMAC
Networks”
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, October 1996
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia. Advisor: Dr. Nader Sadegh
Thesis: “Approximating Discrete-time Optimal Control Using a Neural Network”
Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics, May 1994
University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California. Advisor: The Late Dr. Harry Bingham
Co-advisor: Dr. David Nygren (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Honors thesis: “High Resolution Direct Quantum Detection Energy Sensitive Digital X-ray Imaging”
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dynamic systems and control. Design, modeling and control of mechatronic and fluid power systems,
free-piston internal combustion and free-piston Stirling engines, power supply and actuation for
autonomous robots, and applied non-linear control.
POSITIONS HELD
Assistant Professor, September 2002 – present
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
Research Assistant Professor, July 2000 – August 2002
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant, March 1995 – May 2000
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
Research Assistant, May 1993 – October 1994
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
Undergraduate Research Assistant, May 1992 – May 1993
Department of Physics, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California
PUBLICATIONS AND SCHOLARSHIP
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS (IN PRESS OR IN PRINT)
1.
N. Gulati (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth (50% contribution). “A Globally Stable, Load
Independent Pressure Observer for the Servo Control of Pneumatic Actuators”. IEEE/ASME
Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 14, issue 3, pp.295 – 306, DOI
10.1109/TMECH.2008.2009222, June 2009. Coauthored with Navneet Gulati for his doctoral
work conducted under my direction at Vanderbilt.
2.
M. A. Adams (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth (50% contribution). “Dynamic Modeling and
Design of a Bulk-Loaded Liquid Monopropellant Powered Rifle”. ASME Journal of Dynamic
Systems, Measurement and Control, vol. 130, issue 6, pp.061001-1 – 061001-8, November 2008.
Coauthored with Mark Adams for his master’s work conducted under my direction at Vanderbilt.
3.
Y. Zhu (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth (50% contribution). “An Energetic Control
Methodology for Exploiting the Passive Dynamics of Pneumatically Actuated Hopping”. ASME
Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, vol. 130, issue 4, pp.041004-1 –
041004-11, July 2008. Coauthored with Yong Zhu for his doctoral work conducted under my
direction at Vanderbilt.
4.
Y. Zhu (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth (50% contribution). “Passivity-based Impact and Force
Control of a Pneumatic Actuator”. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and
Control, vol. 130, issue 2, pp.024501-1 – 024501-7, March 2008. Coauthored with Yong Zhu for
his doctoral work conducted under my direction at Vanderbilt.
5.
N. Gulati (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth (50% contribution). “Dynamic Modeling of a
Monopropellant-Based Chemofluidic Actuation System”. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems,
Measurement, and Control, vol. 129, no. 4, pp.435-445, July 2007. Coauthored with Navneet
Gulati for his doctoral work conducted under my direction at Vanderbilt.
6.
J. Riofrio (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth (50% contribution). “A Free Piston Compressor as a
Pneumatic Mobile Robot Power Supply: Design, Characterization and Experimental Operation”.
International Journal of Fluid Power, vol. 8, no. 1, pp.17-28, March, 2007. Coauthored with José
Riofrio for his master’s work conducted under my direction at Vanderbilt.
7.
B. L. Shields (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth (33% contribution), M. Goldfarb. “Predictive
Control for Time-Delayed Switching Control Systems”. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems,
Measurement, and Control, vol. 128, no. 4, pp. 999-1004, December 2006. Coauthored with
doctoral student Bobby Shields, based upon his doctoral work directed by Michael Goldfarb, and
faculty colleague Michael Goldfarb, for funded research with Michael Goldfarb as PI and myself
as Co-PI. All authors were equal contributors.
8.
K. B. Fite (Post-doctoral Fellow), J. E. Mitchell (Research Engineer), E. J. Barth (25%
Contribution), M. Goldfarb. “A Unified Force Controller for a Proportional-Injector DirectInjection Monopropellant-Powered Actuator”. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement,
and Control, vol. 128, no. 1, pp. 159-164, March 2006. Coauthored with Kevin Fite, a postdoctoral fellow directed by Michael Goldfarb, Jason Mitchell, a research engineer, and faculty
colleague Michael Goldfarb, for funded research with Michael Goldfarb as PI and myself as CoPI. All authors were equal contributors.
9.
X. Shen (Graduate Student), J. Zhang (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth (25% contribution), M.
Goldfarb. “Nonlinear Model Based Control of Pulse Width Modulated Pneumatic Servo
Systems”. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, vol. 128, no. 3, pp.
663-669, September 2006. Coauthored with graduate students Xiangrong Shen (doctoral student
directed by Michael Goldfarb) and Jianglong Zhang (master’s student directed by Michael
Goldfarb) and faculty colleague Michael Goldfarb, for funded research with Michael Goldfarb as
PI and myself as Co-PI. All authors were equal contributors.
10. K. A. Al-Dakkan (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth (33% contribution), M. Goldfarb. “Dynamic
Constraint Based Energy Saving Control of Pneumatic Servo Systems”. ASME Journal of
Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control, vol. 128, no. 3, pp. 655-662, September 2006.
Coauthored with doctoral student Khalid Al-Dakkan based upon his doctoral work directed by
faculty colleague Michael Goldfarb. I advised as Co-PI on the funding. All authors were equal
contributors.
11. J. Wu (Graduate Student), M. Goldfarb, E. J. Barth (10% contribution). “On the Observability
of Pressure in a Pneumatic Servo Actuator”. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement,
and Control, vol. 126, pp. 921-924, December 2004. The primary authors were Jianhui Wu
(Goldfarb’s master’s student) and faculty colleague Michael Goldfarb. I provided a few minor
contributions during discussions.
12. M. H. Smith, E. J. Barth (30% contribution), N. Sadegh, G. J. Vachtsevanos. “The Horsepower
Reserve Formulation of Driveability for a Vehicle Fitted with a Continuously Variable
Transmission”. Vehicle System Dynamics, vol. 41, no. 3, pp.157 – 180, March 2004. (Awarded
one of the ten most popular articles of volume 41.) Coauthored with fellow graduate student
Michael Smith while I was a graduate student at Georgia Tech, under the direction of advisors
Nader Sadegh and George Vachtsevanos. One of the ten most popular articles of volume 41.
13. E. J. Barth (33% contribution), J. Zhang (Graduate Student), M. Goldfarb. “Control Design for
Relative Stability in a PWM-Controlled Pneumatic System”. ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems,
Measurement, and Control, vol. 125, no. 3, pp. 504-508, September 2003. A significant revision
of work I originally cast while a post-doctoral fellow under the direction of Michael Goldfarb.
This work became the basis for graduate student Jianglong Zhang’s master’s work directed by
Michael Goldfarb. All authors were equal contributors.
14. M. Goldfarb, E. J. Barth (25% contribution), M. A. Gogola (Research Engineer), J. A.
Wehrmeyer. “Design and Energetic Characterization of a Liquid-Propellant-Powered Actuator for
Self-Powered Robots”. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 254-262,
June 2003. Coauthored with Michael Goldfarb, research engineer Michael Gogola and faculty
member Joseph Wehrmeyer while I was a post-doctoral fellow under the direction of Michael
Goldfarb. All authors were equal contributors.
15. E. J. Barth (55% contribution), N. Sadegh. “The Limited Coupling Approximation with
Application to CMAC Networks”. Smart Engineering System Design, vol. 4, pp. 195-204, 2002.
Coauthored with my doctoral advisor Nader Sadegh for my doctoral work while I was a graduate
student at Georgia Tech.
16. N. Sadegh, G. J. Vachtsevanos, E. J. Barth (50% contribution), D. K. Pirovolou, and M. H.
Smith. “Modeling the glass forming process”. Glass Technology, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 216-218,
December 1997. Coauthored with fellow graduate students Pirovolou and Smith under the
direction of faculty advisors Sadegh and Vachtsevanos while I was a graduate student at Georgia
Tech.
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS (IN REVIEW OR IN REVISION)
17. Y. Zhu, E. J. Barth (50% contribution), “Accurate Sub-millimeter Servo-Pneumatic Tracking
using Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC)”. International Journal of Fluid Power, in
review, July 2009. Coauthored with Yong Zhu as an extension to his doctoral work conducted
under my direction at Vanderbilt.
18. E. J. Barth (100% contribution). “Global Robotic Swarm Search and Navigation using
Deployable Relay Markers”. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, in revision, August 2009. Based on
independent research performed at Vanderbilt.
PEER-REVIEWED CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS (IN PRESS OR IN PRINT)
Full paper reviewed for acceptance
1.
C. Yong, and E. J. Barth. “Modeling and Control of a High Pressure Combined Air/Fuel
Injection System”. 2009 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference and Bath/ASME
Symposium on Fluid Power & Motion Control. Accepted for publication June 2009. Research
director.
2.
M. E. Hofacker, J. Kong, E. J. Barth. “A Lumped-Parameter Dynamic Model of a Thermal
Regenerator for Free-Piston Stirling Engines”. 2009 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control
Conference and Bath/ASME Symposium on Fluid Power & Motion Control. Accepted for
publication June 2009. Research director.
3.
J. A. Willhite and E. J. Barth. “Reducing Piston Mass in a Free Piston Engine Compressor by
Exploiting the Inertance of a Liquid Piston”. 2009 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control
Conference and Bath/ASME Symposium on Fluid Power & Motion Control. Accepted for
publication June 2009. Research director.
4.
A. Pedchenko and E. J. Barth. “Design and Validation of a High-Energy Density Elastic
Accumulator Using Polyurethane”. 2009 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference and
Bath/ASME Symposium on Fluid Power & Motion Control. Accepted for publication June 2009.
Research director.
5.
J. A. Riofrio (Graduate Student) and E. J. Barth. “Experimental Assessment of a Free ElasticPiston Engine Compressor with Separated Combustion Chamber,” Bath/ASME Symposium on
Fluid Power and Motion Control (FPMC 2008), pp. 233-244, September 10-12, 2008. Bath, U K.
NOTE: Winner of the Best Paper Award for the entire Symposium. Research director.
6.
C. Yong (Graduate Student), J. A. Riofrio (Graduate Student) and E. J. Barth. “Modeling and
Control of a Free-Liquid-Piston Engine Compressor,” Bath/ASME Symposium on Fluid Power
and Motion Control (FPMC 2008), pp. 245-257, September 10-12, 2008. Bath, U K. Research
director.
7.
J. A. Riofrio (Graduate Student), K. Al-Dakkan (Visiting Scholar), M. E. Hofacker (Graduate
Student), E. J. Barth. “Control-based Design of Free-Piston Stirling Engines,” Proceedings of the
2008 American Control Conference (ACC), pp. 1533-1538, June 11-13, 2008. Seattle, WA.
Research director.
8.
J. A. Riofrio (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “Design and Analysis of a Resonating Free LiquidPiston Engine Compressor,” 2007 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and
Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2007-42369, November 11-15, 2007, Seattle, WA. Research
director.
9.
C. Yong (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “Real-Time Dynamic Path Planning for Dubins’
Nonholonomic Robot,” 45th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Paper# ThA02.5,
December 13-15, 2006, San Diego, CA. Research director.
10. Y. Zhu (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “Energy-Based Control of a Pneumatic Oscillator with
Application to Energy Efficient Hopping Robots,” 2006 ASME International Mechanical
Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2006-15015, November 5-10, 2006,
Chicago, IL. Research director.
11. E. J. Barth. “A Cooperative Control Structure for UAV’s Executing a Cooperative Ground
Moving Target Engagement (CGMTE) Scenario,” The 2006 American Control Conference
(ACC), pp. 2183-2190, June 14-16, 2006. Minneapolis, MN. DOI 10.1109/ACC.2006.1656543.
Primary author.
12. Y. Zhu (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “Planar Peg-in-Hole Insertion Using a Stiffness
Controllable Pneumatic Manipulator,” 2005 ASME International Mechanical Engineering
Congress and Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2005-81667, November 5-9, 2005, Orlando, Fl.
Research director.
13. J. Riofrio (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “Experimental Operation and Characterization of a
Free Piston Compressor,” 2005 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and
Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2005-81743, November 5-9, 2005, Orlando, Fl. Research director.
14. N. Gulati (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “Non-Linear Pressure Observer Design for Pneumatic
Actuators,” Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE/ASME, International Conference on Advanced
Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), pp. 783-788, Monterey, CA, 24-28 July, 2005. Research
director.
15. N. Gulati (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “Pressure Observer Based Servo Control of Pneumatic
Actuators,” Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE/ASME, International Conference on Advanced
Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), pp. 498-503, Monterey, CA, 24-28 July, 2005. Research
director.
16. J. Riofrio (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “Design of a Free Piston Pneumatic Compressor as a
Mobile Robot Power Supply,” Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on
Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 236-241, Barcelona, Spain, April 2005. Research director.
17. Y. Zhu (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “Impedance Control of a Pneumatic Actuator for Contact
Tasks,” Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
(ICRA), pp. 999-1004, Barcelona, Spain, April 2005. Research director.
18. E. J. Barth, J. Riofrio (Graduate Student). “Dynamic Characteristics of a Free Piston
Compressor”. 2004 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
(IMECE), IMECE2004-59594, November 13-19, 2004, Anaheim, CA. Research director.
19. M. A. Adams (Graduate Student) and E. J. Barth. “A Compressible Fluid Power Dynamic Model
of a Liquid Propellant Powered Rifle”. 2004 ASME International Mechanical Engineering
Congress and Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2004-59620, November 13-19, 2004, Anaheim, CA.
Research director.
20. K. Fite (Post-doctoral Fellow), J. Mitchell (Research Engineer), E. J. Barth, M. Goldfarb.
“Design and Characterization of a Rotary Actuated Hot Gas Servovalve”. 2004 ASME
International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2004-59727,
November 13-19, 2004, Anaheim, CA. Minor contributor.
21. B. Li (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth, K. Fite, M. Goldfarb. “Design of a Hot Gas Vane Motor”.
2004 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE),
IMECE2004-59581, November 13-19, 2004, Anaheim, CA. Minor contributor.
22. X. Shen (Graduate Student), M. Goldfarb, E. J. Barth. “Nonlinear state-space averaging applied
to the control of pulse width modulated (PWM) pneumatic systems”. Proceedings of the 2004
American Control Conference (ACC), FrA16.3, June 30 - July 2 2004, pp. 4444-4448. Major
contributor.
23. K. Fite (Post-doctoral Fellow), J. Mitchell (Research Engineer), E. J. Barth, M. Goldfarb.
“Sliding mode control of a direct-injection monopropellant-powered actuator”. Proceedings of the
2004 American Control Conference (ACC), FrA16.6, June 30 - July 2 2004, pp. 4461-4466.
Major contributor.
24. B. L. Shields (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth, M. Goldfarb. “Predictive Pressure Control of a
Monopropellant Powered Actuator”. 2003 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress
and Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2003-42743, November 15-21, 2003, Washington, DC. Major
contributor.
25. K. A. Al-Dakkan (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth, M. Goldfarb. “A Multi-Objective Sliding
Mode Approach for the Energy Saving Control of Pneumatic Servo Systems”. 2003 ASME
International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2003-42746,
November 15-21, 2003, Washington, DC. Recipient of the ASME IMECE 2003 Fluid Power
and Technology (FPST) Division’s best paper award. Major contributor.
26. M. Goldfarb, E. J. Barth, M. A. Gogola (Research Engineer), J. A. Wehrmeyer. “Development of
a Hot Gas Actuator for Self-Powered Robots”. Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE International
Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 14-19, pp. 188-193.
Major contributor.
27. E. J. Barth, M. A. Gogola (Research Engineer), M. Goldfarb. “Modeling and Control of a
Monopropellant-Based Pneumatic Actuation System”. Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE
International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 14-19, pp.
628-633. Primary author.
28. K. A. Al-Dakkan (Graduate Student), M. Goldfarb, E. J. Barth. “Energy Saving Control for
Pneumatic Servo Systems”. Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE/ASME International Conference on
Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, 2003. Vol. 1, July 20-24, pp. 284-289. Major contributor.
29. E. J. Barth. “A Dynamic Programming Approach to Robotic Swarm Navigation using Relay
Markers”. Proceedings of the 2003 American Control Conference (ACC), Vol. 6, 4-6 June 2003,
pp. 5264-5269. Primary author.
30. M. Goldfarb, J. Wu (Graduate Student), E. J. Barth. “The Role of Pressure Sensors in the Servo
Control of Pneumatic Actuators”. Proceedings of the 2003 American Control Conference (ACC),
Vol. 2, 4-6 June 2003, pp. 1710-1714. Minor contributor.
31. E. J. Barth, M. A. Gogola (Research Engineer), J. A. Wehrmeyer, M. Goldfarb. “The Design and
Modeling of a Liquid-Propellant-Powered Actuator for Energetically Autonomous Robots”. 2002
ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), IMECE200232080, November 17-22, 2002, New Orleans, LA. Major contributor.
32. E. J. Barth, M. Goldfarb. “A Control Design Method for Switching Systems with Application to
Pneumatic Systems”. 2002 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and
Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2002-33424, November 17-22, 2002, New Orleans, LA. Primary
author.
33. E. J. Barth, J. Zhang (Graduate Student), M. Goldfarb. “Sliding Mode Approach to PWMControlled Pneumatic Systems”. Proceedings of the 2002 American Control Conference (ACC),
8-10 May 2002, pp. 2362-2367. Primary author.
34. M. Gogola (Research Engineer), E. J. Barth, M. Goldfarb. “Monopropellant Powered Actuators
for use in Autonomous Human-Scaled Robotics”. Proceedings of the 2002 IEEE International
Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), vol. 3, pp. 2357-2362. Major contributor.
35. D. C. Foley, N. Sadegh, E. J. Barth, G. J. Vachtsevanos. “Model Identification and Backstepping
Control of a Continuously Variable Transmission”. Proceedings of the 2001 American Control
Conference (ACC), 25-27 June 2001, vol. 6, pp. 4591-4596. Major contributor.
36. E. J. Barth, J. Zhang, M. Goldfarb. “A Method for the Frequency Domain Design of PWMControlled Pneumatic Systems”. Proceedings of IMECE2001, Volume 2: 2001 ASME
International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), IMECE2001/DSC24567, 2001, November 11-16, 2001, New York, New York. Primary author.
37. E. J. Barth, N. Sadegh. “Reduction of Couplings in Multivariate Function Approximation with
Application to CMAC Networks”. Intelligent Engineering Through Artificial Neural Networks:
Smart Engineering System Design: Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic, Evolutionary Programming,
Data Mining and Complex Systems, Vol. 10, Proceedings of the Artificial Neural Networks in
Engineering Conference (ANNIE 2000). ASME Press, 5-8 November 2000, pp. 57-62. Nominated
for Best Paper Award. Primary author.
NON-PEER-REVIEWED CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS
38. E. J. Barth and M. E. Hofacker. “Dynamic Modeling of a Regenerator for the Control-Based
Design of Free-Piston Stirling Engines”. NSF CMMI Grantees Conference, June 22-25, 2009,
Honolulu, HI. Research director.
PATENTS
1.
E. J. Barth (Conceived the invention), Joel A. Willhite (Graduate Student – Aided in the
conception), “High Inertance Liquid Piston”. U.S. Provisional patent application: 61/167,059,
filed April 6, 2009.
2.
E. J. Barth (Conceived the invention), Alexander Pedchenko (Graduate Student – Aided in the
conception), Karl Brandt (Undergraduate Student – Aided in the conception), Oliver Tan
(Undergraduate Student – Aided in the conception), “High Energy Storage Density Elastomeric
Accumulator”. U.S. Provisional patent application: 61/167,073, filed April 6, 2009.
3.
M. Goldfarb (Conceived the invention), E. J. Barth (Conceived the invention), K. Fite (Aided in
the conception), J. Mitchell (Aided in the conception), “Method and Apparatus for High
Bandwidth Rotary Servo Valves”. U.S. Patent #7,322,375, January 29, 2008.
4.
M. Goldfarb (Conceived the invention), J. Wehrmeyer (Conceived the invention), A. Strauss
(Aided in the conception), E. J. Barth (Aided in the conception), “Monopropellant/Hypergolic
Powered Proportional Actuator”. International Patent Application No. PCT/US02/30778, U.S.
Patent #6,935,109, August 3, 2005.
BOOK CHAPTERS
1.
M. Goldfarb, A. Strauss, E. J. Barth, “An Introduction to Micro- and Nanotechnology”. The
Mechatronics Handbook, Ed. Robert Bishop, CRC Press LLC, 2002. Minor Contributor.
TRADE ARTICLES AND PUBLISHED TECHNICAL REPORTS
1.
“CCEFP Research Focus: Project 2B: Free-Piston Engine Compressor, An interview with Eric
Barth, Professor, Vanderbilt University,” Fluid Power Journal (trade magazine), p.46,
November/December 2008
2.
E. J. Barth, “Agent-Based Cooperative Control,” Air Force Research Lab (AFRL/VACA),
Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, Control Theory Optimization Branch, 23 pages, December 2005.
3.
Column mentioning Vanderbilt University, Eric Barth, and Michael Goldfarb entitled, “RocketPowered Robot”, appearing in Technology Review, Vol. 105, No. 10, December 2002/January
2003, p. 18.
INVITED SEMINARS AND TALKS
1.
E. J. Barth, “A System Dynamics Approach to the Design of Free-Piston Engines,” Invited
seminar speaker, November 19, 2009 (to occur), University of Houston, Houston, TX
2.
E. J. Barth, “Research within the NSF Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient
Fluid Power,” Research Experience for Teachers (RET) seminar, June 1, 2009, Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, TN
3.
E. J. Barth, “Project 2B.1: Free Piston Engine Compressor,” NSF Site Visit for the Center for
Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP), April 28-30, 2009, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN
4.
E. J. Barth. “Tesla Turbine as a Compact, Liquid-Fueled Electric Motor Generator,” Program
Review of the Advanced Portable Power Institute (APPI), August 21, 2008, Aberdeen, MD
5.
E. J. Barth, “Research within the NSF Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient
Fluid Power,” Research Experience for Teachers (RET) seminar, June 8, 2008, Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, TN
6.
E. J. Barth, “Project 2B: Free Piston Engine Compressor,” at the Center for Compact and
Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) ERC annual meeting, May 28-30, 2008, Milwaukee School of
Engineering (MSOE), Milwaukee, WI
7.
E. J. Barth, “Project 2B: Free Piston Engine Compressor,” NSF Site Visit for the Center for
Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP), February 20, 2008, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN
8.
E. J. Barth, “Project 2B: Free Piston Engine Compressor Research Update 8/16/07,” given at the
Student Visit for the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, August 16, 2007, Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, TN
9.
E. J. Barth, “Short Course on Chemofluidics,” given at Vanderbilt for the Center for Compact
and Efficient Fluid Power, August 9, 2007, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
10. E. J. Barth, “NSF Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power: Free
Liquid-Piston Engine Compressor with Separated Combustion Chamber,” Research Experience
for Teachers (RET) seminar, June 6, 2007, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
11. E. J. Barth, “Free Liquid-Piston Engine Compressor with External Combustion Chamber” at the
CCEFP (Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power) ERC annual meeting, April 11, 2007,
Atlanta GA
12. E. J. Barth, “Liquid Fueled Rifles, Robots and UAV’s,” seminar given for the Society of
American Military Engineers, April 11, 2006, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
13. E. J. Barth, “Power Supply and Actuation for Human-scale Autonomous Robots,” seminar given
at University of California Merced, March 2006.
14. E. J. Barth, “Energy Saving Control of Pneumatic Servo Systems,” seminar given at the National
Fluid Power Association, Educator/Industry Summit, Indianapolis, IN, October 24, 2003.
POSTER SESSIONS
1.
E. J. Barth and M. E. Hofacker, “SGER: Green Energy via Control-Based Design of Free-Piston
Stirling Engines”. NSF CMMI Grantees Conference, June 22-25, 2009, Honolulu, HI. Research
director.
2.
E. J. Barth, A. Pedchenko, A. Abidin, K. Brandt, D. Patellis, H. Sinin, O. Tan, “Advanced Strain
Energy Accumulator (ASEA)”. NSF Site Visit for the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid
Power (CCEFP), April 28-30, 2009, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
3.
E. J. Barth, J. A. Willhite, C. Yong “Free-Piston Engine Compressor”. NSF Site Visit for the
Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP), April 28-30, 2009, University of
Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
4.
Thomas B. Carroll, E. J. Barth, “Tesla Turbine as a Compact, Liquid-Fueled Electric Motor
Generator”. Poster session for the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SUGRE),
September 4, 2008, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, Nashville, TN.
5.
E. J. Barth, J. A. Riofrio, C. Yong, J. A. Willhite, “Free Liquid-Piston Engine Compressor with
Separated Combustion Chamber”. Presented at the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power
(CCEFP) ERC annual meeting, May 28-30, 2008, Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE),
Milwaukee, WI.
6.
E. J. Barth, and C. Yong, “Modeling and Control of the Free Liquid-Piston Engine Compressor”.
NSF Site Visit for the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP), February 20,
2008, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
7.
E. J. Barth, J. A. Riofrio, J. A. Willhite, “Free Liquid-Piston Engine Compressor with Separated
Combustion Chamber”. NSF Site Visit for the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power
(CCEFP), February 20, 2008, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
8.
E. J. Barth and J. A. Riofrio, “Free Liquid-Piston Engine with External Combustion Chamber”.
1st Annual Meeting for the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, Georgia Institute of
Technology, April 2007, Atlanta, GA.
9.
E. J. Barth and J. A. Riofrio, “Free-Piston Compressor for Portable Fluid Power Systems”. NSF
Site Visit for the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, University of Minnesota, October
2006, Minneapolis, MN.
10. E. J. Barth and J. A. Riofrio, “Free-Piston Compressor for Portable Fluid Power Systems”. NSF
Proposal Site Visit for the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, University of
Minnesota, November 2005, Minneapolis, MN.
11. M. Goldfarb, E. J. Barth, K. B. Fite, “Monopropellant-Powered Actuation”. NSF Proposal Site
Visit for the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, University of Minnesota, November
2005, Minneapolis, MN
12. M. Goldfarb, E. J. Barth, K. B. Fite, L. Bo, “Chemofluidic Vane Motor/Actuator for SelfPowered Portable Systems”. NSF Proposal Site Visit for the Center for Compact and Efficient
Fluid Power, University of Minnesota, November 2005, Minneapolis, MN
13. Y. Zhu, E. J. Barth, “Planar Peg-in-hole Insertion using a Stiffness Controllable Pneumatic
Manipulator”. National Fluid Power Association, Educator/Industry Summit, October 2005,
Pittsburgh, PA
14. Y. Zhu, E. J. Barth, “Force-based Impedance Control of Pneumatic Actuators”. National Fluid
Power Association, Educator/Industry Summit, October 2004, Scottsdale, AZ
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
SPONSORED RESEARCH
Notes:

CCEFP = Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power, an NSF Sponsored Engineering
Research Center (ERC). The lead institution is the University of Minnesota. Partner research
institutions include the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Purdue University and Vanderbilt University. The CCEFP includes 29 funded
projects, 39 faculty and 56 financially contributing member companies.

For ERC projects, the designation “Project Leader” is utilized rather than “PI” given that each
institution within the ERC has several independently run projects each of a similar size, scope,
and allocation of responsibility as a typical NSF grant.

The research contract for “Precision Pneumatic MRI Compatible Robotic Surgery” is currently
being negotiated in good faith. The project is expected to start Fall 2009.
Award Totals:
$ 768,335
$ 151,935
$ 2,629,660
$ 100,000
$ 3,649,930
Total Research Grant Funding as ERC Projects Leader
Total External Research Grant Funding as PI (does not include ERC funding)
Total External Research Contract Funding as PI (contract under negotiation)
Total Non-External Funding as PI
Total Funding as Investigator with Primary Responsibility
$ 3,201,281
Total Funding as Co-PI (does not include ERC funding)
Projects:
1.
Precision Pneumatic MRI Compatible Robotic Surgery
Eric J. Barth (PI), John Gore (Co-PI), J. Michael Fitzpatrick (Co-PI), Reid Thompson (Co-PI),
Peter Konrad (Co-PI), Benoit Dawant (Co-PI), Robert Galloway (Co-PI), Adam Anderson (CoPI), Michael Miga (Co-PI), Robert J. Webster (Co-PI)
Sponsor: The Martin Companies
Total budget: $2,629,660
Period of Performance: 9/1/09-1/31/13
Responsibility: 90%
Number of students to be supported: 1 Graduate Student, 3 Post-Doctoral Students, all under my
direction.
Outcome: Research contract being negotiated
2.
SGER: Green Energy via Control-Based Design of Free-Piston Stirling Engines
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Total budget: $124,935
Period of Performance: 9/1/08-8/31/10
Responsibility: 100%
Graduate students supported: One graduate student for two years
Status: Currently Funded
3.
Advanced Strain Energy Accumulator
Eric J. Barth (Project Leader)
Sponsor: NSF / University of Minnesota, CCEFP
Total budget: $315,463
Period of Performance: 6/01/08-5/31/11
Responsibility: 100% responsibility and control of this project
Graduate students supported: One graduate student for three years
Status: Currently Funded
4.
Advanced Portable Power Institute (APPI), Phase III
Project: Design and Experimental Assessment of Bi-propellant and JP-8 Based Tesla Turbines for
SOFC Bootstrap Electrical Power Generation Devices
Alvin Strauss (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI), Jim Davidson (Co-PI), Michael Goldfarb (Co-PI)
Sponsor: ARO / Tennessee Technological University
Total budget APPI Phase III: $350,000
Total budget this Project: $48,800
Period of Performance: 10/3/08-2/29/10
Responsibility: 14% (represents my independently run project within APPI Phase III)
Graduate students supported: 25% of one graduate student for one year
Status: Currently Funded
5.
Control Based Design of Free Piston Stirling Engines
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: Vanderbilt Discovery Grant Program
Total budget: $50,000
Period of Performance: 6/1/08-6/30/10
Responsibility: 100%
Graduate students supported: 0 (this grant is mainly for equipment)
Status: Currently Funded
6.
Free Piston Engine Compressor
Eric J. Barth (Project Leader)
Sponsor: NSF / University of Minnesota, CCEFP
Total budget to date: $452,872
Period of Performance: 6/01/06-5/31/11
Responsibility: 100% responsibility and control of this project
Graduate students supported: 3 for two years, 2 for each year after two.
Status: Currently Funded
7.
Advanced Portable Power Institute (APPI), Phase II
Project: Control Theoretic Design of Bi-propellant and JP-8 Based Electrical Power Generation
Devices
Alvin Strauss (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI), Jim Davidson (Co-PI), Michael Goldfarb (Co-PI)
Sponsor: ARO / Tennessee Technological University
Total budget APPI Phase II: $350,000
Total budget this Project: $55,087
Period of Performance: 11/30/07-11/29/08
Responsibility: 16% (represents my independently run project within APPI Phase III)
Graduate students supported: 1 month of Graduate student support
Status: Funded, Concluded
8.
Advanced Portable Power Institute (APPI), Phase I
Project: Control Theoretic Design of Bi-propellant and JP-8 Based Electrical Power Generation
Devices
Alvin Strauss (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI), Jim Davidson (Co-PI), Michael Goldfarb (Co-PI)
Sponsor: ARO / Tennessee Technological University
Total budget APPI Phase I: $399,910
Total budget this Project: $50,000
Period of Performance: 8/7/06-2/29/08
Responsibility: 12.5% (represents my independently run project within APPI Phase III)
Graduate students supported: 0 due to citizenship restrictions
Status: Funded, Concluded
9.
Generalized Framework for the Control of Chemofluidic Actuators
Michael Goldfarb (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Total Budget: $329,889
Period of Performance: 6/1/03 – 5/31/06
Responsibility to the project: 50%
Graduate Students Supported: 2 (1 is Barth’s student)
Status: Funded, Concluded
10. Control of Pneumatic Robots for Interaction Tasks
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: Festo Corporation and the National Fluid Power Association
Total Budget: $27,000
In-kind support from Festo Corporation: $8,719
Period of Performance: 1/1/05 – 12/31/05
Responsibility to the project: 100%
Graduate Students Supported: 1
Status: Funded, Concluded
11. Discovery Grant: Fuel Core Powered Stirling Engine/Alternator for Small-Scale Electric Power
Generation
Eric J. Barth (PI), Michael Goldfarb (Co-PI)
Sponsor: Vanderbilt University.
Total Budget: $50,000
Period of Performance: 5/1/03 – 6/30/05
Responsibility to the project: 90%
Graduate Students Supported: 1 (Barth’s student)
Status: Funded, Concluded
12. A Monopropellant-Powered Actuator for the Development of a Powered Exoskeleton
Michael Goldfarb (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI), Joseph Wehrmeyer (Co-PI), Alvin Strauss (Co-PI)
Sponsor: ARO/DARPA.
Total Budget: $1,586,691
Period of performance: 4/15/01 – 12/31/04
Responsibility to the project: 40%
Graduate Students Supported: 4 (co-directed, but none Barth’s primary graduate students)
Status: Funded, Concluded
13. Development of a 0.22 Caliber Liquid HAN-Glycine-Powered Rifle
Alvin Strauss (PI), Michael Goldfarb (Co-PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI)
Sponsor: ONR
Total Budget: $184,791
Period of performance: 6/1/02 – 5/31/04
Responsibility to the project: 50%
Graduate Students Supported: 1 (Barth’s student)
Status: Funded, Concluded
PROPOSALS SUBMITTED (INCLUDING FUNDED ABOVE)
1.
CPS: MEDIUM: Bridge Monitoring and Health Assessment with Networked Acoustic Emission
Sensors
Akos Ledeczi (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI), Prodyot K. Basu (Co-PI), Sankaran Mahadevan (CoPI), Peter Volgyesi (Co-PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 2/26/09. Total Budget Requested: $1,499,821
Your role and % responsibility: co-PI, 20%
Outcome: Pending
2.
GOALI: A Systems Approach to the Design and Control of Fully-Actuated Free-Piston HCCI
Engines
Eric J. Barth (PI), Kurt D. Annen (PI - Aerodyne)
Sponsor: NSF
Total Budget Requested: $289,848
Date Submitted: 2/15/09
Outcome: Declined
3.
Advanced Strain Energy Accumulator
Eric J. Barth (Project Leader)
Sponsor: NSF / University of Minnesota, CCEFP
Date submitted: 6/15/08. Total budget requested: $298,745
Your role and % responsibility: 100% responsibility and control of this project
NOTE: This was not submitted through the office of sponsored research – this was an internal
competition to the ERC. Each proposal was reviewed by about 15 senior faculty. More than 20
proposals were submitted, 5 were funded.
Outcome: Funded
4.
SGER: Green Energy via Control Based design of Free-Piston Stirling Engines
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 6/6/08. Amount requested: $124,935
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Funded
5.
Control Based Design of Free-Piston Stirling Engines
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Date submitted: 3/1/08. Amount requested: $200,553
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Declined
6.
Control Based Design of Free Piston Stirling Engines
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: Vanderbilt Discovery Grant Program
Date submitted: 11/9/07. Amount requested: $50,000
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Funded
7.
Control Based Design of Free Piston Stirling Engines
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 10/01/07. Amount requested: $198,560
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Declined
8.
REU Site: Research Experiences in Fluid Power for Undergraduates
Durfee (PI, UMN), Barth (PI, VU), Lumkes (PI, Purdue), Paredis (PI, GT), Loth (PI, UIUC),
Jiang (PI, NCAT), Medhat (PI, MSOE)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 9/17/07. Amount Requested: $433,650 (Total)
Number of students to be supported: 14 total, 2 at each of 7 sites
Outcome: Declined
9.
Control Based Design of Free Piston Stirling Engines for Spacecraft Power
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: NASA (NRA Number: NNC07ZRP001N)
Submitted: 5/9/07. Amount Requested: $275,085
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Declined
10. Control Based Design of Free Piston Stirling Engines
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 2/15/07. Amount requested: $201,419
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Declined
11. Agent-Based Cooperative Control
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 3/1/06. Amount requested: $210,474
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Declined
12. Collaborative Research: Energy Storage and Compliance in Locomotor Control
Eric J. Barth (PI – Vanderbilt), Roger Quinn (PI – Case Western)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 10/03/05. Amount requested: $193,801
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Declined
13. CAREER: Agent-Based Cooperative Control
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 7/20/05. Amount requested: $466,485
Number of students to be supported: 2
Outcome: Declined
14. Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power
Names of investigator(s) at Vanderbilt: Michael Goldfarb (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 7/05
Amount requested: $17.8M (Vanderbilt: $1,618,074, Barth: $809,037)
Lead Institution: University of Minnesota
Core Partner Institutions: Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University, University of
Illinois Urbana Champaign, Vanderbilt University
Number of students to be supported: 4 (Barth = 2)
Outcome: Funded
15. Control of Pneumatic Robots for Interaction Tasks - Supplement
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: Festo Corporation
Submitted: 5/05. Amount requested: $5,000 (Supplement to existing center)
Number of students to be supported: 1 for 1.5 months
Outcome: Funded
16. Control of Pneumatic Robots for Interaction Tasks
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) Education Committee.
Submitted 11/15/04. Amount requested: $5,000.
Number of students to be supported: 1 for one month.
Outcome: Funded
17. Control of Pneumatic Robots for Interaction Tasks
Eric J. Barth (PI).
Sponsor: Festo Corporation (as a supplement to the NFPA award).
Submitted 11/15/04. Amount requested: $17,000 plus in-kind equipment support.
Number of students to be supported: 1 for 6 months.
Outcome: Funded
18. Development of a small scale hot gas vane motor
Michael Goldfarb (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI).
Sponsor: Vanderbilt Discovery Grant Program.
Submitted 10/19/04. Amount requested: $50,000 over two years.
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Declined
19. CAREER: Framework for the Control of Pneumatic Systems
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted 7/21/04. Amount requested: $432,907 over five years.
Number of students to be supported: 1 Graduate for 5 years, 1 Graduate for 3 years, 1
undergraduate for 5 years.
Outcome: Declined
20. A Hot Gas Vane Motor for Portable Power Generation
Michael Goldfarb (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI), Kevin Fite (Co-PI).
Sponsor: NSF (joint NSF/intelligence community), SGER program in Approaches to Combat
Terrorism (ACT).
Submitted 6/11/04. Amount requested: $189,286 over 1 year.
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: recommendation by panel to fund, Declined due to insufficient resources in program.
21. Global Robotic Swarm Navigation Using Deployable Sensor Nodes
Eric J. Barth (PI).
Sponsor: NASA (Submission invited after mandatory pre-proposal phase).
Submitted 10/3/03. Amount requested: $175,941 over three years.
Number of students to be supported: 1.
Outcome: Declined
22. CAREER: Control of Pneumatic Actuators for Industrial Assembly Tasks
Eric J. Barth (PI).
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted 7/23/03. Amount requested: $482,499 over five years.
Number of students to be supported: 1 Graduate for 5 years, 1 Graduate for 3 years, 1
undergraduate for 5 years.
Outcome: Declined
23. Sensors: Temperature-Based Control of Precision Pneumatic Actuation
Michael Goldfarb (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI).
Sponsor: NSF.
Submitted 3/6/03. Amount requested: $354,302 over three years.
Number of students to be supported: 2.
Outcome: Declined
24. Sensors: Robotic Navigation Using Deployable Sensor Nodes
Eric J. Barth (PI).
Sponsor: NSF.
Submitted 3/6/03. Amount requested: $290,701 over three years.
Number of students to be supported: 2.
Outcome: Declined
25. Biologically-Inspired Decentralized Neurocontrol for Robust Mobility of Long Endurance
Chemofluidically- Actuated Legged Robots
Michael Goldfarb (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI).
Sponsor: DARPA, Defense Sciences Office (DSO)
Submitted 11/21/02. Amount requested: $1,572,813 over 5 years.
Number of students to be supported: 2
Number of research staff to be supported: 1
Outcome: Declined
26. Generalized Framework for the Control of Chemofluidic Actuators
Michael Goldfarb (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI).
Sponsor: NSF
Submitted: 11/15/02. Amount requested: $353,555 over three years.
Number of students to be supported: 2
Outcome: Funded
27. Fuel Core Powered Stirling Engine/Alternator for Small Scale Electric Power Generation
Eric J. Barth (PI), Michael Goldfarb (Co-PI), Jonathan Goodman (Dept. of Chemistry, Co-PI).
Sponsor: Vanderbilt Discovery Grant Program
Submitted: 11/4/02. Amount requested: $99,600 over two years
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Funded ($48,000 over two years, Co-PI from Chemistry removed due to rules of the
grant).
28. Development of a 0.22 Caliber Liquid HAN-Glycine-Powered Rifle
Alvin Strauss (PI), Michael Goldfarb (Co-PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI).
Sponsor: ONR
Submitted: Jan 2002. Amount requested: $149,791 over one year.
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Funded
PRE-PROPOSALS OR WHITE PAPERS
1.
Precision Pneumatic MRI Compatible Robotic Surgery
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: The Martin Companies
Submitted: 5/29/09. Amount requested: $2,629,660 over three years
Number of students to be supported: 1 Graduate Student, 3 Post-Doctoral Students
Outcome: Research contract being negotiated
2.
Solving the Battery Problem for Untethered Service Robots: Chemofluidic Actuation
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: Honda Initiation Grant
Submitted: 5/1/06. Amount requested: $49,999
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Declined
3.
Scalable, Decentralized Algorithms for Cooperative Control of Autonomous Agents
Eric J. Barth (PI – Vanderbilt), Suhada Jayasuriya (PI – Texas A&M University)
Sponsor: AFOSR
Submitted: 2/15/06 (White paper – not through Office of Sponsored Research)
Amount requested: N/A (no budget on white paper)
Number of students to be supported: 1
Outcome: Full proposal not invited due to budgetary limitations (but encouraging comments
received)
4.
Advanced Portable Power Institute
Lead Institution: Tennessee Technological University
Participating Institutions/Organizations: University of Missouri at Columbia, International
Technology Center, Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt: Alvin Strauss (PI), Eric J. Barth (Co-PI), Jim Davidson (Co-PI), Michael Goldfarb
(Co-PI)
Sponsor: DoD
Submitted: May 2005 (estimated)
Amount requested: $1,000,000 (Vanderbilt: $330,000 est. over 12 or 18 months - TBD)
Number of students to be supported: TBD
Outcome: Funded
5.
Pressure Observers for Condition Monitoring and Control
Eric J. Barth (PI)
Sponsor: National Fluid Power Association (NFPA)
Submitted: 1/28/05 as a pre-proposal
Outcome: Full proposal not invited
6.
From 2% to 100%: Enabling the Complete Screening and Interception of Weapons Grade
Nuclear Material in Containerized Cargo
Eric J. Barth (PI), Michael Goldfarb (Co-PI), in collaboration with NucSafe LLC, a defense
contractor in Oak Ridge, TN.
Sponsor: HSARPA
Submitted: 3/1/04 as a white paper. Amount requested: $1,640,889 over three years.
Number of students to be supported: 4.
Outcome: Full proposal not invited
7.
From 2% to 100%: Enabling the Complete Screening and Interception of Weapons Grade
Nuclear Material in Containerized Cargo: Active Damping of the Detector Technology
Eric J. Barth (PI), Michael Goldfarb (Co-PI).
Invited by and submitted 4/9/04 to Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) and NucSafe LLC
for inclusion in a larger proposal.
Outcome: Not Funded
8.
Global Robotic Swarm Navigation Using Deployable Sensor Nodes
Eric J. Barth (PI).
Sponsor: DARPA (office: IPTO)
Submitted: 4/2/03 as a white paper.
Outcome: Full proposal not invited
9.
Global Robotic Swarm Navigation Using Deployable Sensor Nodes
Eric J. Barth (PI).
Sponsor: DOD (PEO STRI)
Submitted: 3/28/03 as a pre-proposal.
Outcome: Full proposal not invited.
FELLOWSHIPS
1.
Dynamic Programming Based Control of Multiple Autonomous Unmanned Air Vehicles
ASEE Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship program
AFRL/VA, Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Period of performance: 5/16/05 – 8/5/05
Summary: Participated in a 12 week research position at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton.
Conducted research regarding cooperative control of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Outcome: Awarded
2.
Dynamic Programming Based Control of Multiple Autonomous Unmanned Air Vehicles
ASEE Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship program
AFRL/MN, Eglin Air Force Base
Submitted: 1/7/05
Outcome: Awarded (award declined)
GRADUATE STUDENT ADVISING
Ph.D. Students Graduated
1.
José A. Riofrío, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering
Dissertation Title: “Design, Modeling and Experimental Characterization of a Free Liquid-Piston
Engine Compressor with Separated Combustion Chamber”
Date of Graduation: December 2009
2.
Yong Zhu, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering
Dissertation Title: “Control of Pneumatic Systems for Free Space and Interaction Tasks with
System and Environmental Uncertainties”
Date of Graduation: December 2006
3.
Navneet Gulati, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering
Dissertation Title: “Modeling and Observer-Based Robust Control Design for Energy-Dense
Monopropellant Powered Actuators”
Date of Graduation: December 2005
M.S. and M.Eng. Students Graduated
1.
Taib Tariq Mohamad, Master of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
Thesis Title: “Design and Fabrication of a Pneumatically Actuated Quadruped”
Date of Graduation: May 2007
2.
José A. Riofrío, M.S. Mechanical Engineering
Thesis Title: “Design and Implementation of a Free Piston Compressor”
Date of Graduation: December 2005
3.
Mark Adams, M.S. Mechanical Engineering
Thesis Title: “Dynamic Modeling of a Bulk-Loaded Liquid Monopropellant Rifle”
Date of Graduation: August 2004
Current Students
1.
Chao Yong, Ph.D candidate
(Student inherited from K. Frampton)
Expected Date of Graduation: December 2010
2.
Joel (Andy) Willhite, Ph.D. candidate
Expected Date of Graduation: 2011
3.
Mark Hofacker, M.S. candidate
Expected Date of Graduation: May 2010
4.
Alexander Pedchecnko, M.S. candidate
Expected Date of Graduation: 2011
THESIS COMMITTEES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
William Russell Longhurst, Ph.D. committee, current
Jason Mitchell, Ph.D. committee , current
Liyun Guo, Ph.D. committee, current
Frank Sup, Ph.D. committee, graduated August 2009
Kenneth Mitchell (CE), Ph.D. committee, graduated August 2009
6.
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20.
Andrew Bouchard, M.S. committee, graduated May 2009
Abhijit Barman, Ph.D. committee, graduated December 2008
Bo Li, Ph.D. committee, graduated August 2008
Tuomas Wiste, M.S. committee, graduated December 2007
Bibhrajit Halder, Ph.D. committee, graduated May 2007
Chakradhar Byreddy, Ph.D. committee, graduated May 2007
Peter Schmidt, Ph.D. committee, graduated May 2007
Frank Sup, M.S. committee, graduated May 2007
Bo Li, M.S. committee, graduated May 2007
Xiangrong Shen, Ph.D. committee, graduated 2006
Bobby Shields, Ph.D. committee, graduated December 2004
Joshua Schultz, M.S. committee, graduated August 2004
Khalid Al-Dakkan, Ph.D. committee, graduated August 2003
Richard Tantaris, Ph.D. committee, graduated May 2003
Jianwei Wu, M.S. committee, graduated 2002
UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING ACTIVITIES
1.
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6.
7.
Faculty advisor for 27 members of the Mechanical Engineering class of 2010
Faculty sponsor and mentor to five senior design (ME242) students: Karl Brandt, Oliver Tan,
Danielle Patelis, Abdullah Zainal Abidin and Hafizah Sinin (EE). Project title: “Design of an
Advanced Strain Energy Accumulator”. This activity is linked to educational outreach within the
NSF ERC for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power. Funds in the amount of $5k for the students’
portion of this project are provided through one of my grants with the ERC. Spring 2009
Faculty sponsor and mentor to three senior design (ME243) students: Colin Roper, Rob Carter
and David Harju (EE). Project title: “Design of a Pneumatic Hexapod Robot”. Sponsor role
included obtaining approximately $8k on in-kind equipment donations from Festo Corporation.
This activity was also linked to educational outreach in the NSF ERC for Compact and Efficient
Fluid Power. Spring 2007
Faculty advisor for 31 members of the Mechanical Engineering class of 2006
Faculty advisor for VU Motorsports SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) student chapter. Fall
2002 to 2007.
SAE Mini Baja East Event, May 2003. – Traveled with the women’s VUMotorsports baja team
and Phil Davis to the competition held at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Number of
students attending trip: 7. The team had some bad luck in the endurance race and broke a chain
but still came in 22nd overall. The team did very well in a number of the individual events - tied
for 2nd in the mud bog, 5th in acceleration, 6th in top speed, tied for 8th in land maneuverability,
21st in water maneuverability, and tied for 10th in suspension and traction. 50 teams competed in
the competition.
Faculty mentor for 12 students in ES 130 Introduction to Computing in Engineering, Project:
Mechanical Prosthetic Arm, Fall 2002
UNDERGRADUATE INDEPENDENT STUDY
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Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), paid research position for the ERC, Ricardo
Reina, “Advanced Strain Energy Accumulator”, Summer 2009.
VUSE SRP (Summer Research Program) for Engineering Undergraduate Students, Alia Farhana
Abdul Ghaffar, “Control Based Design of a Free Piston Stirling Engine,” Summer 2009.
ME 209A, Independent Study, Muhammad Afiq Mohd Zaid, “Design of an Inertance Nozzle for a
Free Liquid Piston Engine”, Spring 2009.
ME 209C, Independent Study, James Kong, “Stirling Engine Regenerator Design and Testing”,
Spring 2009.
VUSE SUGRE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) program, Thomas Carroll, “Tesla
Turbine as a Compact, Liquid-Fueled Electric Motor Generator,” Summer 2008.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Ryan Baggett, “Tesla Turbine”, Spring 2008.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Steven Blackmon, “Liquid Free-Piston Stirling Engine”, Fall 2007.
ME 209A, Independent Study, Robert (Kit) Buckley, “Conceptual Design for Free Piston
Compressor with Two Combustion Chambers”, Fall 2007.
ME 209A, Independent Study, Matthew Casavant, “Free-Piston Compressor Ferrous Plate
Attachment Design”, Fall 2007.
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), paid research position for the ERC, Robert (Kit)
Buckley, “Free Piston Engine”, Summer 2007.
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), paid research position for the ERC, Steven
Blackmon, “Free Piston Engine”, Summer 2007.
ME 209B, Independent Study, Matthew Casavant, “Free Piston Engine”, Fall 2006.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Jonathan Web, “Free Piston Engine”, Fall 2006.
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), paid research position for the ERC, Matthew
Casavant, “Design of Free Piston Engines”, Summer 2006.
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), paid research position for the ERC, Steven
Blackmon, “Design of Free Piston Engines”, Summer 2006.
ME 209C, Independent Study, John Ware, “Formula SAE”, Spring 2006.
ME 209C, Independent Study, John Ware, “Formula SAE”, Fall 2005.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Caitlin Connelly, “Baja SAE”, Spring 2005.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Jennifer Avril, “Baja SAE”, Spring 2005.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Matthew White, “Formula SAE”, Spring 2005.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Caitlin Connelly, “Baja SAE”, Fall 2004.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Jennifer Avril, “Baja SAE”, Fall 2004.
ME 209A, Independent Study, Christopher Lee, “Baja SAE”, Fall 2004.
ME 209C, Independent Study, James Leonzio, “Formula SAE”, Spring 2004.
ME 209C, Independent Study, William Erwin, “A Liquid Propellant Powered Rifle”, Fall 2003.
Presenting his work on this project, Erwin won first place (cash prize $500) in the ASME Region
XI Old Guard student presentation and an all-expense paid trip to compete in the national
competition at the ASME winter annual meeting in Washington DC. He was awarded fourth place
in the national competition with a cash prize of $500.
ME 209A, Independent Study, Chris Powell, “SAE”, Fall 2003.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Jason Newquist, “Baja SAE”, Fall 2003.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Mathew White, “Formula SAE”, Fall 2003.
ME 209C, Independent Study, James Leonzio, “Formula SAE”, Fall 2003.
ME 209C, Independent Study, William Erwin, “A Liquid Propellant Powered Rifle”, Spring
2003.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Cameron Smith, “Women’s Baja SAE”, Spring 2003.
ME 209C, Independent Study, Catherine Iezzi, “Women’s Baja SAE”, Spring 2003.
ME 209C, Independent Study, David Livingston, “Formula SAE”, Spring 2003.
ME 209C, Independent Study, James Bryan, “Formula SAE”, Spring 2003.
SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION, UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL AND DEPARTMENT
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
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American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE)
National Fluid Power Association (NFPA)
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Division and Committee Membership
 Vice Chair of the ASME Fluid Power Systems and Technology (FPST) Division, 2009 – 2010.
(Rising Chair)
 Executive Committee Member, ASME Fluid Power Systems and Technology Division (FPST),
2004 – present.
 Member of the Robotics Technical Committee, ASME Division of Dynamic Systems and Control
(DSCD), 2007 – present.
 Member of Mechatronics Technical Committee, ASME Division of Dynamic Systems and
Control (DSCD), 2007 – present.
 Primary Member of the Mechatronics Technical Committee, ASME Division of Dynamic Systems
and Control (DSCD). 2006 – present.
 Member and vice-chair of the Fluid Power Control Panel, ASME Division of Dynamic Systems
and Control (DSCD). 2003 – 2005.
 Member of the Robotics Panel, ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division (DSCD), 2000 –
2005.
Conference Activities
 Member of the Conference Editorial Board, ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division
(DSC), 3 year term: 2009 – 2011.
 Chair, Session: ASME/Bath Fluid Power Symposium: System Design, Dynamic Systems and
Control Conference, 2009.
 Co-Chair, Session: ASME/Bath Fluid Power Symposium: Pump Design, Analysis and
Application, Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, 2009.
 Co-Organizer and Chair, Invited Session: Modeling and Control of Fluid Power Systems,
American Control Conference (ACC), 2008.
 Co-Chair, Session: Novel Applications and New Techniques/Tools for Analysis, ASME
International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), 2007.
 Program Committee Member, 2007 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced
Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2007).
 Program Committee Member, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and
Systems (IROS), October 9-14, 2006, Beijing, China.
 Co-Chair, Session: Control of Autonomous Aerial Systems, American Control Conference (ACC),
2006.
 Service Award, ASME Fluid Power Systems and Technology Division (FPST), 2005.
 Program Committee Member, 2005 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced
Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2005), July 24-28, 2005, Monterey, California, USA.
 Division Representative, Fluid Power Systems and Technology Division, Organized all 7 sessions
in the division, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE),
2005.
 Co-Organizer, Topic: Fluid Control Systems, 1 Session, Dynamic Systems and Control Division,
ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), 2005.
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Conference Committee, ASME Fluid Power Systems and Technology Division (FPST). Attended
the ASME Technology Executives Conference (TEC) in Pittsburgh, PA, Mar 4-6th, 2005 to help
identify future directions for the FPST division.
Topic Organizer and Chair, Invited Session: Fluid Power and Diagnostics, joint session of the
Fluid Power Systems and Technology Division and Dynamic Systems and Control Division,
ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), 2004.
Co-Organizer and Chair, Session: Control of Fluid Power Systems, American Control Conference
(ACC), 2004.
Co-Organizer, Invited Session: Advanced Control of Fluid Power Systems, joint session of the
Fluid Power Systems and Technology Division and Dynamic Systems and Control Division,
ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), 2003.
Chair, Session: Systems and Control, American Control Conference (ACC), 2003.
Reviewer
 Reviewer for NASA EPSCoR proposals
 Review panel for NSF Control Systems Program (within CMMI)
 Peer Reviewer for ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control
 Peer Reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation
 Peer Reviewer for IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics
 Peer Reviewer for International Journal of Smart Engineering System Design
 Peer Reviewer for ISA Transactions
 Peer Reviewer for Vehicle System Dynamics
 Peer Reviewer for International Journal of Control and Intelligent Systems
 Peer-Reviewer for Simulation Transactions of the Society for Modeling and Simulation
 Peer-Reviewer for Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part I, Journal of Systems and Control
Engineering
 Peer Reviewer for ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition (IMECE)
 Peer Reviewer for American Control Conference (ACC)
 Peer Reviewer for the IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent
Mechatronics (AIM)
 Peer Reviewer for IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)
 Peer Reviewer for IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
 Peer-Reviewer for the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
(IROS)
 Peer-Reviewer for the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) World Congress
SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL AND DEPARTMENT
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University: Member of the Graduate Faculty Delegate Assembly
School: Presentations at Committee of Visitors meeting and Parent’s weekend
School: VUSE open house host
School: Faculty advisor for VU Motorsports SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) student
chapter. Fall 2002 – 2007
Department: Organizer of the Graduate School Q&A Panel for Juniors and Seniors, 10/30/08, 1hr.
Panel: Barth, Goldfarb, Li, Sarkar, Walker, Webster, Withrow
Department: Organizer of ME External Advisory Meeting, 2007 – present
Department: Chair of the Industrial Relations Committee, 2006 – present
Department: Organizer of ME Junior and Senior Dinners, 2006 – present
Department: Ad Hoc committee to revamp design sequence of curriculum, 2006 – present
Department: Wrote and administered controls problems on the Dynamic Systems and Control
Ph.D. Preliminary Examination for Mechanical Engineering, Fall 2003 – present
Department: Host for Summer Academic Orientation Program, 2006
Department: Secretary for departmental meeting minutes, 2002 – 2004
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Department: Contributed ABET course assessment materials
Department: Contributor to the ME Newsletter
CONSULTING
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The Martin Companies, Nashville, TN
RESEARCH NARRATIVE
ERIC J. BARTH
My lab, the Laboratory for the Design and Control of Energetic Systems, seeks to apply a system
dynamics and control perspective to problems involving the control and transduction of energy.
This scope includes multi-physics modeling, control methodologies formulation, and modelbased or model-guided design. The space of applications where this framework has been applied
includes nonlinear controllers and nonlinear observers for pneumatically actuated systems, a
combined thermodynamic / system dynamics approach to the design of free piston engines of
both internal combustion and external heat source varieties, modeling and model-based design
and control of monopropellant systems, and energy-based approaches for single and multiple
vehicle control and guidance.
My contributions to the scientific literature can be classified into three broad disciplines: 1)
dynamic systems modeling, 2) control methods, and 3) model-based design. My work is
experimental in nature whereby theoretical tools and models have been developed for general
classes of applications and validated experimentally. The common thread to nearly all of my
work is a physics-based approach centered on fundamental energetic principles. It is easiest to
discuss these arranged by application topic given that many topics contain interwoven aspects
from modeling, controls, and design.
1.0 PNEUMATICALLY ACTUATED SYSTEMS
Pneumatic actuation presents a number of features not seen in typical robotic actuators. These
features include a high mass specific power density relative to electromagnetic actuators, inherent
compliance and backdrivability, and the ability to controllably store and regenerate absorbed
mechanical power. To fully exploit these unique features, model-based control methodologies
needed to be developed. The work described below makes contributions with regard to 1) modelbased energetically derived control methodologies for proportionally controlled pneumatic
actuation systems, 2) nonlinear observers to reduce the number of feedback sensors required, and
3) switching and PWM control methodologies for the use of inexpensive and simple on/off valves
for motion control.
1.1 Model and energy-based control methods
The features mentioned above present opportunities for new model-based control methodologies
that can exploit the unique dynamics of pneumatic actuators. Such dynamics are exploited for
impact and force control during contact tasks [J4]1, modulating the mechanical stiffness of a
pneumatic actuator [C12], applying impedance control without the need for a force sensor [C17],
utilizing the energy storing capability for efficiency and robust hopping of legged robots
[J3][C10], separating the functionality of the two mass flows into/out of the actuator’s two sides
for purposes of energy saving by using a non-standard valve configuration [J10][C25][C28], and
precision motion control via model-reference adaptive control (MRAC) [J17].
Control of the interaction force between a robot manipulator and its environment is critical not
only for the successful execution of many industrial tasks such as polishing, deburring, etc, but
also for the interaction of robots and humans in the same physical space for applications at home
1
“J”, “C” and “P” designations refer to the “Journal”, “Conference”, and “Patent” subsections of the
“Publications and Scholarship” section of this dossier respectively.
and in the medical industry (i.e., entertainment, service, rehabilitation and surgical robotics).
Maintaining a stable and safe interaction force is the key aspect among these applications. The
mathematical formalism of passivity can be used to treat such problems in a general manner given
that a detailed model of the environment being interacted with can be avoided if it can be said to
be energetically passive. The work of [J4] applies concepts of passivity for impact and force
control of a pneumatic actuator interacting with a passive environment. A pseudo-bond (bond
graph modeling) is developed for pneumatic actuation systems controlled by a 4-way
proportional valve, and is utilized to prove that a class of simple control laws results in stable
interaction with a passive environment. This work extends results in the literature from hydraulic
actuation systems to pneumatic systems. The general result of this work is important for any
proportionally controlled pneumatic system interacting with a passive environment. This has
broad application in human-machine interfaces (the human has been shown to be mathematically
passive when interacting with systems such as haptic displays), robotic control of interaction
tasks found in industrial applications, pneumatically actuated legged robots, or multi-degree-offreedom pneumatically actuated robotic platforms where safety and stability of interaction is
paramount (such as medical robotics).
Apart from a passivity formulation, impedance control has also been successfully utilized for the
control of interaction tasks. Impedance control is capable of dealing with free-space, constrained
motion during contact, and the transition of intermittent contact, with a single control law.
Typically, impedance control requires a load cell for the measurement of the interaction forces.
The work of [C12] and [C17] present two approaches that take advantage of the natural
compliance inherent in pneumatic actuation to avoid the need for a costly load cell. The true
physical stiffness of the actuator (as opposed to an impedance relationship being imposed in
closed-loop) is specified by regulating the sum of the pressures on both sides of the actuator.
Controllable actuation forces are simultaneously specified by controlling the difference of the
pressures according to a specified impedance relationship. Pressure tracking is achieved via
sliding mode control. The result is sensorless (no load cell) manipulation that is robust and gentle
for contact tasks with an imprecisely known environment.
The ability to manipulate the true physical stiffness of a pneumatic actuator can also be used to
save energy during the control of pneumatic servo systems [J10][C25][C28]. In a manner similar
to the work above regarding impedance control, actuation energy of a pneumatic actuation system
can be minimized by specifying a low impedance or stiffness. This is again accomplished via a
non-standard valve configuration where a standard 4-way proportional valve is replaced with two
3-way proportional valves. This non-standard valve configuration allows an extra control degreeof-freedom into the system whereby the impedance of the actuator can be independently
specified. A dynamic constraint on the 2-norm of the pressure vector (the pressures in each side
of the actuator) maintains only the output impedance required to track a desired trajectory, and
thereby minimizes the required mass flow rate of air coming from a high pressure source.
In addition to being able to specify the stiffness of a pneumatic actuator, pneumatic actuators are
one of the few forms of actuation that store energy directly in the actuator. This stored energy is
in the form of pneumatic potential energy of the pressurized gasses in each side of the cylinder.
This energy storing capability presents the possibility of a conservative actuator; typical
actuators, such as motors, are energetically non-conservative whereby either delivering or
absorbing mechanical power consumes energy from the source. The combination of energy
storage, variable stiffness, and high power density makes pneumatic actuation an interesting
candidate for untethered legged robots executing a cyclic gait. Hopping was studied as a
fundamental motion contained in many gaits that can exploit these three unique features of
pneumatic actuation [J3][C10]. The basic control strategy is to control the pressure in the upper
chamber of the pneumatic cylinder to specify the hopping frequency, while controlling the
pressure in the lower chamber of the cylinder to overcome losses in the system to sustain
consistent hopping. The control strategy takes advantage of the natural passive dynamics of the
upper chamber to provide much of the required actuation forces and natural stiffness, while the
remaining forces needed to overcome the energy dissipation present in a non-ideal system with
losses are provided by a nonlinear control law for the charging and discharging of the lower
chamber of the cylinder. This result is significant in that it presents a method for controlling a
“naturally” conservative actuator (true energy regeneration) with a specifiable natural frequency.
Series elastic actuators are another method present in the literature with true variable compliance,
but require an intricate mechanical design of the actuator. The use of pneumatic actuators presents
less “device overhead” and additionally takes advantage of a pneumatic actuator’s higher power
density than nearly all other forms of actuation besides hydraulic actuation.
Other work in the control of pneumatic systems includes sub-millimeter tracking precision
obtained using model reference adaptive control [J17]. This work compensates for friction and
unknown payload by adaptively estimating three friction parameters. Due to the nature of the
system model, the adaption of these three friction parameters also scales the inertia of the model
and therefore also adapts to different loads. The required force predicted by the model is then
tracked by a robust sliding mode force controller. The positioning accuracy is experimentally
shown to be better than 0.05 mm. This result is significant for enabling applications requiring
precision pneumatic servo positioning systems. Important applications include MRI compatible
robotics where pneumatic actuation systems can be made of materials that present no image
distortion. Such a robotic platform would allow intra-operative robotic surgery with live MR
images guiding the surgeon. This exciting work will be supported by a $2.6M research
contract currently under negotiation for which I am PI, and will bring to bear all of my
work in the control of pneumatic systems.
1.2 State Observers
Pneumatic actuators are governed by nonlinear dynamics. Thus, robust precision motion control
of pneumatic systems requires model-based control techniques that in turn require full-state
knowledge of the system. For measuring pressure states, pneumatic servo systems require two
expensive pressure sensors per actuated degree-of-freedom. The inclusion of such pressure
sensors often makes pneumatic systems economically non-competitive with most electromagnetic
servo-systems. My work on pressure state observers for pneumatic systems helps alleviate such
shortcomings. The nonlinear observer work is then coupled to my work on the nonlinear control
of servo-pneumatic actuation systems to present a viable pneumatic option to a variety of
applications.
My early work in pressure-state observers started as collaborative work investigating the
theoretical conditions for observability [J11][C30]. The nonlinear observability analysis showed
that local observability based on the output of the system (motion states) is lost at a number of
points in state-space. This nonlinear observability analysis made no conclusion regarding global
observability, and left open the door to other information channels that could render the system
observable. Further independent work in this area [J1][C14][C15] revealed that the inclusion of
well-modeled valve behavior in an energy-based Lyapunov function, correlated with the
pneumatic potential energy stored in the actuator, yields a pressure observer. This observer is
independent of the load placed on the pneumatic actuator and requires no model of the load.
Theoretical results prove this observer globally stable with respect to observation error.
Experimental results show that a robust nonlinear controller for the motion control of a pneumatic
actuator operating on observed pressures results in a tracking performance that is
indistinguishable from the controller utilizing measured pressures.
1.3 Switching and PWM control
The aim of this collaborative work was to develop control methodologies that would enable the
use of solenoid on/off valves for servo-pneumatic position control. The motivation for this was
twofold: 1) solenoid on/off valves are inexpensive compared to proportional pneumatic valves
and their use could reduce the cost of servo-pneumatic systems, 2) proportional valves control
power flowing to the actuator by dissipating that which is not used and are energetically wasteful,
in the same way as hydraulic spool valves or linear amplifiers are. Two approaches were
developed as control methodologies to command such on/off valves: a pulse-width modulation
(PWM) approach, and a Lyapunov-based switching approach. Both methods, and their variants,
allowed the analytical development of control design for a discrete switching control input
influencing continuous dynamics.
The PWM approach is based on the notion of state-space averaging often used for buck-boost
convertors. Early work on a PWM-based control methodology [J13][C36] pursued a linear,
continuous-time model that captured the dynamics of charging and discharging both sides of the
pneumatic cylinder, including the time delay associated with the valve. The state-space averaging
was accomplished by modeling the PWM switching period with a sample-and-hold. This linear
model in turn enabled the application of simple frequency domain loop shaping to address issues
of performance and stability robustness. An advantage of this method was the lack of the need for
pressure sensors.
This work was also extended to be a true switching control methodology [C32] – meaning that a
fixed PWM period with a percentage of on versus off time was no longer needed. This method
[C32] evaluated a Lyapunov candidate associated with each discrete valve state combination and
selected the combination that led to a negative-definite Lyapunov function derivative with respect
to time. The approach included a model-predictive Lyapunov function based on an LTI model to
compensate for valve time delay. This approach also avoided costly pressure sensors and
improved tracking performance over [J13] and [C36]. This work was also extended to
monopropellant-based actuation systems in [J7] and [C24].
Continued work on the PWM approach resulted in a nonlinear state-space averaging model in
[C33], [C22] and [J9]. This work essentially replaced the empirical model elements of [J13],
[C36] and [C32] with physics-based mass flow and compressibility dynamics. The result was a
nonlinear model that was averaged over the PWM period to arrive at a nonlinear state-space
average model. Sliding mode control theory was then applied to this nonlinear model to formulate
a robust nonlinear controller. Tracking performance was improved, but at the cost of needing two
pressure sensors.
2.0 FREE-PISTON ENGINES
A free-piston engine is an engine with a piston that is not rigidly connected to a crankshaft. As
such, the motion of the “free” piston is dictated by dynamic forces. This dynamically dominant
character is a break from kinematically dominated crank engines. Traditional design and control
of crank engines are highly dependent on the kinematically constrained relationships of and
between the piston position (including the fact that the stroke length is known and fixed), the
valve positions (typically governed by a cam that is kinematically linked to the crankshaft), and
kinematically determined fuel injection and ignition timing. Although some dynamic effects such
as lift duration and timing advance are common features of kinematic engines, the design,
analysis and control of traditional crank engines is dominated by thermodynamic analyses largely
devoid of dynamic effects. The modeling, design and control of free-piston engines require an
approach that is closely linked to the system dynamics of the engine. Further, the dynamically
dominant behavior of the engine intimately links the dynamic nature of the load side of the piston
with the release and transduction of energy on the opposite side. These dynamic relationships
must be considered at the heart of the design of free-piston engines. My work in the area of freepiston engines has focused on two applications: 1) a free-piston engine compressor meant as a
compact power supply for untethered robots, 2) a free-piston Stirling engine meant to be simple
and efficient green energy source. Along with pneumatic systems, my work on free-piston engine
design represents the body of my work. While this work is heavily design oriented and as such
does not generate as many journal papers as other experimental topics, the contributions I have
made represent a shift in thinking regarding the envelopment of dynamics as central to engine
design, as opposed to more conventional thinking where dynamic effects are more peripheral.
2.1 Free-Piston Engine Compressor
The free piston engine compressor is a device that utilizes combustion to compress air into a
high-pressure supply tank. The device is configured such that the transduction from thermal
energy to stored energy, in the form of compressed gas, is efficient relative to other small-scale
portable power supply systems. This efficiency is achieved by matching the dynamic load of the
compressor to the ideal adiabatic expansion of the hot gas combustion products. It is shown that a
load that is dominated by inertia in the early portion of the power stroke provides a nearly ideally
matched load for achieving high thermodynamic efficiency in a heat engine. The device proposed
exploits this fact by converting thermal energy into kinetic energy of the free piston, and then
utilizes this stored kinetic energy to compress and pump air on the opposite side of the piston
toward the end of the stroke. The proposed technology is intended to provide a compact
pneumatic power supply source appropriate for human-scale robots. A significant feature of the
device that lowers its complexity and makes it appropriate for the challenging scale sought is the
fact that high pressure air from the reservoir, along with a high vapor pressure fuel, is utilized to
eliminate the intake and compression strokes of a typical four cycle engine. This allows for a
compact engine without the need for an idle or the complications of a separate starting
mechanism. The combined factors of a high-energy density fuel, the efficiency of the device, the
compactness and low weight of the device, and the use of the device to drive lightweight linear
pneumatic actuators (lightweight as compared with power comparable electric motors) is
projected to provide at least an order of magnitude greater total system energy density (power
supply and actuation) than state of the art power supply (batteries) and actuators (electric motors)
appropriate for human-scale power output. Funding for this work was initially provided by an
internal grant program called the Vanderbilt Discovery Grant. Initial results from this seed
funding helped garner the attention of colleagues for the inclusion of this work in a proposal to
NSF for an engineering research center. This work has since been supported by the Center for
Compact and Efficient Fluid Power.
Early work on the concept of the free-piston engine compressor focused on a combined
thermodynamic / system dynamics model [C18]. The focus was to show that the use of a free
piston engine as an air compressor offers nearly ideal loading characteristics necessary for high
efficiency, in a simple and small package. This early work offered a simulation-based assessment
of the first prototype of the concept (shown in Fig. 1). The dynamic model offered a time-based
analysis of the system that included the interaction of the engine side with the compressor side.
Key dimensions and parameters were able to be designed using this model. The next step was to
build and experimentally verify some aspects of the model of prototype 1, as presented in [C16].
This work also laid out and discussed certain design features of the engine such as: 1)
overexpansion and high efficiency due to the dynamic characteristics of the inertially dominant
“kinetic energy phase” of loading, 2) on-demand start/stop and increased power density over a
typical 4-stroke engine, 3) simplicity and compactness.
pneumatic
power
ports
High pressure
air reservoir
Connecting
Plate
Magnet
Air valve
Compressor 1
Inlet and outlet
check valves
Engine
Return
Springs
Breathe-in
check valve
Spark
(to air reservoir)
Compressor 2
Inlet and outlet
check valves
Exhaust
valve
Magnet
Propane or other
self pumping fuel
Fuel Valve
Figure 1a: Schematic of the first Free Piston Engine Compressor
prototype. Features a central combustion chamber, two
compressor chambers, magnetic latching to hold injection
pressure, kinetic energy return springs.
High pressure
air reservoir
Air Valve
Pneumatic
power
ports
Fuel Valve
Air Valve
Outlet
check valves
Breathe-in
check valve
Breathe-in
check valve
Spark
Air Valve
Mixture Valve
Spark
Magnets
Exhaust
Valve
Figure 1b: Photograph of the first Free Piston Engine
Compressor prototype.
Inlet
check valves
Fuel Valve
Fuel Valve
Propane or other
self pumping fuel
Exhaust
Valve
Ferrous Plate
Magnets
Figure 2a: Schematic of the second Free Piston Engine
Compressor prototype. Features dual combustion and
compressor chambers, magnetic latching to hold injection
pressure.
Figure 2b: Photograph of the second Free Piston Engine
Compressor prototype.
The second experimental prototype of the engine (Fig. 2) was assessed experimentally in [J6] and
[C13]. The experimentally measured PV curve in the combustion side of the device was
compared with an adiabatic expansion and showed good agreement. This result served to validate
the claims regarding the inertial loading and appropriateness of scale. Results were also shown
regarding the position and velocity of the piston, and the pressure increase in the reservoir upon
pumping. The total conversion efficiency, including the cost of reinvesting reservoir air toward
the next combustion cycle, was determined to be 1.99%. Although this number may initially
sound low in terms of conventional IC engines, it must be remembered that this device is both an
engine and a compressor. Standard air compressor efficiencies are typically low. The total
measured fuel specific energy density of the device with this overall measured efficiency is
approximately 920 kJ/kg. When coupled with pneumatic actuators, the fuel specific work is 277
kJ/kg for a one degree-of-freedom system. This compares well with typical rechargeable batteries
possessing an energy density of about 180 kJ/kg, and a source specific work of about 90 kJ/kg
when coupled with a motor and gearhead. The high energy density of the engine-compressor is
further enhanced by the high power density of pneumatic actuators that would contribute to less
actuator mass overhead in an untethered device than electric motors for the same mechanical
power output capability. Therefore, on a systems level, the combined free-piston engine
compressor / pneumatic actuator power supply and actuation system holds the promise of an
order of magnitude higher energetic figure of merit.
Figure 3 below shows the third prototype of the free-piston engine compressor. This device
features a combustion chamber that is separated from the expansion chamber by a magnetically
latching “combustion valve” [C8]. The functionality of this valve essentially replaces that of the
magnetic piston holding force of prototype 1 and 2. The “free” piston of this device is liquid
trapped between two high temperature elastomeric diaphragms. This design change overcomes
the inherent tradeoff between sliding friction and blowby losses seen with traditional sliding
pistons. The elastomeric diaphragm-trapped liquid piston provides perfect sealing with no sliding
friction. The viscous friction losses associated with the fluid and the diaphragm are small. In
addition to reducing losses, the elastic-liquid piston also provides inertial and spring dynamic
elements in a compact arrangement. The work presented in [C8] presents a dynamic model of this
device that includes dynamic element associated with piston inertia, piston spring forces, piston
viscous damping, compressible gas pressure dynamics, and mass flow rate restrictions. Figure 4
shows a schematic of the dynamic energy transduction mechanisms of this prototype.
Figure 3a: Schematic of the third Free Piston Engine Compressor
prototype. Features a separated combustion chamber with a
magnetically latching high flow combustion valve, liquid piston
trapped between two high temperature elastomeric diaphragms.
Figure 3b: Photograph of the third Free Piston Engine
Compressor prototype.
2
Figure 4: Energy transduction path from chemical potential energy to stored pneumatic potential energy of
the Free Piston Engine Compressor (Prototype 3).
Modeling work was extended in [C6] to include combustion rate dynamics and valve motion
dynamics. This work also pursued a simple pressure-based iterative controller. The control of
free-piston engines is in general complicated by the fact that the piston motion is not
kinemtatically constrained and therefore presents a non-fixed stroke length. The measurement of
piston position is also generally difficult to implement in free-piston engines. The approach
presented was therefore based on pressure measurements and iteratively adjusted the air/fuel
valve timing, ignition timing and exhaust valve timing. This controller was shown in simulation
using the full dynamic model developed.
Design work on prototype 3 was extended in [C5] to include an integrated reservoir (Fig. 5) and a
high-flow, low restriction integrated check valve between the compressor chamber and the
reservoir. This work also included the development of an air/fuel ratio and mixture controller,
which was further developed in [C1]. The work presented in [C5] was a significant step forward
and won the overall best paper award at the 2008 Bath/ASME Symposium on Fluid Power and
Motion Control (FPMC 2008).
Figure 5: Photograph of the Free Piston Engine Compressor (Prototype 3) on its
test stand with integrated reservoir.
Following from the work in [C5] and [C6], the experimentally validated dynamic model served as
a valuable tool in revealing appreciable flow losses through the combustion valve associated with
the separated combustion chamber concept. The separated combustion chamber also presented
scavenging problems associated with non-exhausted combustion gases that would influence the
next combustion event. The next prototype of the engine-compressor is shown in Fig. 6 and
discussed in [C3]. This device seeks to overcome the shortcomings of prototype 3. The separated
combustion chamber of prototype 3 initially served as a way to hold the injected air and fuel
before combustion. In addition to losses due to the combustion valve, a large flow orifice check
valve between the compressor chamber and the reservoir was needed to support the large mass
flow rate required by the fast piston dynamics. Prototype 4 [C3] seeks a dynamic solution to the
problems associated with prototype 3 by using a high inertance liquid piston. The notion is that a
high inertance, and therefore slower piston dynamics, can be achieved without a concomitant
increase of piston mass given that inertance scales as length divided by area of the flow section
[P1]. This dynamic solution presents an inertial load large enough to allow the injection of air and
fuel with little piston motion thereby eliminating the need for a separate combustion chamber and
its associated losses. The modified dynamics also result in a lower peak flow rate from the
compressor chamber to the reservoir thereby allowing a smaller check valve with lower flow
losses, and a more balanced device without requiring a dual piston arrangement. This solution
well exemplifies the model-based design principles that spring from the combined
thermodynamic / systems dynamic perspective I have developed for free-piston engines.
Figure 6: High Inertance Free Liquid Piston Engine Compressor (Prototype 4).
2.2 Control-Based Design of Free-Piston Stirling Engines
The objective of this work is to apply linear and nonlinear dynamical systems and control design
tools to formulate a systematic design methodology for free-piston Stirling engines. Stirling
engines have unfortunately fallen far short of their historical promises due primarily to low power
density – a heavy engine producing small amounts of useable power – particularly at the sub
10kW scale. The free-piston variety of Stirling engine is recognized as possibly holding the key
to increasing power density without sacrificing the Stirling engine’s characteristic high
efficiency. Historically, the design of Stirling engines has progressed from its original purely
kinematic arrangement, where the relative motion of the displacer and the piston is kinematically
determined, toward a purely dynamic determination – such engines are called free-piston Stirling
engines. By replacing bulky, complicated kinematic linkages with small, lightweight dynamic
elements, free-piston arrangements can be significantly lighter, more compact and operate with
fewer losses, and thereby possess higher power densities than their kinematic cousins.
Unfortunately, this shift toward a dynamic engine has not seen a commensurate development in
the tools needed to realize their design, which has been traditionally from a purely
thermodynamic point of view. Using my approach, control design and analysis tools for linear
and nonlinear systems will fill the current gap in design methods for free-piston Stirling engines
and will provide the understanding and insight necessary to take their designs to the next level of
power density, efficiency and elegance.
As presented in [C7], Stirling engines are recast and reinterpreted from a dynamic systems and
controls perspective by viewing the interacting dynamic system elements in the context of
designing a feedback loop. Initial work indicates that a non-standard control design problem
emerges. For the engine to produce power, there must exist at least two complex-conjugate
closed-loop poles in the right-half plane. Therefore, the control-based design of free-piston
Stirling engines requires seeking instability and instability robustness. Instability in a linear sense
implies an engine that produces power, whereby the true nonlinear system will seek a limit cycle.
This curious unstable design philosophy, and the “controls turned upside down on its head”
nature of the problem, is completely novel. The control-based design methodology is twofold: 1)
apply linear control design tools to design parameter groups of the system as feedback gains, and
2) apply nonlinear dynamical systems analysis tools to verify and refine the design with regard to
the full nonlinear system. Designing for not only instability, but instability robustness accounts
for the inaccuracies in the linear modeling and allows one to transition to nonlinear tools to
ensure necessary conditions for a periodic solution, while knowing that an oscillatory power
producing solution exists about an equilibrium. The modeling work in [C2] and [C38] represent
the early stages of this NSF funded work. Dynamic elements that interact and need to be further
modeled and characterized in future work include: compressible gas dynamics including heat,
work and enthalpy; compressible mass flow rate through orifices and annular regions; heat
transfer in the heater and cooler regions; heat storage and transfer in the regenerator matrix; the
load modeled as broad classes that will elicit the engine to produce power; and characteristics of
the displacer and power pistons such as inertia/inertance, damping/friction and stiffness. The
inclusion of new materials, such as elastic diaphragms or flexure mechanisms, new
configurations, such as trapped liquid pistons, and new dynamic elements and effects will result
in realizing the full potential of the free-piston Stirling concept.
3.0 MONOPROPELLANT SYSTEMS
The motivation for this work is the development of a lightweight power supply and actuation
system appropriate for untethered robotic platforms with system-level energy and power densities
significantly greater than a DC motor and battery combination. Conventional actuation, such as a
battery powered DC motor system, does not possess adequate energy density or power density to
perform significant amounts of mechanical work for significant periods of time autonomously in
a lightweight package. This monopropellant based approach utilizes the catalytic decomposition
of hydrogen peroxide to produce hot pressurized gas for the controlled delivery of mechanical
work utilizing pneumatic actuators [P4].
In contrast to my work on the free-piston engine compressor, the monopropellant based work
seeks a solution at the opposite end of the chemically powered devices spectrum: low convertor
mass with a lower energy density fuel vs. higher convertor mass with a high energy density
source. The monopropellant approach utilizes a simple and compact energy convertor (catalyst
pack) but a lower energy density source (70% hydrogen peroxide with 0.4MJ/kg lower heating
value). The free-piston engine compressor requires an intricate energy convertor (the engine) but
utilizes a fuel with an energy density two orders of magnitude higher (propane with 46MJ/kg
lower heating value). Both design philosophies seek a high system-specific work output – that is,
a large amount of controlled work output per unit mass of the fuel-convertor-actuator system.
Monopropellant systems also encompass the modeling and control work of pneumatic systems as
fundamental constituents. Although monopropellant systems are subject to many of the same
fundamental physics as pneumatically actuated systems, they additionally include catalysis
dynamics, deflagration dynamics, and a more significant influence from heat transfer and thermal
effects. Among these added energetic phenomena, monopropellant systems also share some of the
same model-based design concerns and perspectives as the free-piston engine work.
3.1 Centralized System
The monopropellant power supply and actuation system began with a design that can be referred
to as the “centralized” system. In this system, shown in Fig. 7a and 7b, A tank of liquid
monopropellant is pressurized for purposes of fuel delivery via an inert gas such as nitrogen. A
liquid valve then controllably delivers this monopropellant through a catalyst pack whereby it
spontaneously decomposes into hot pressurized gas. A central tank then stores this hot
pressurized gas where it is distributed via lines to any number of pneumatic actuators.
PRESSURE
SENSOR
FUEL
TANK
HOT GAS
SPOOL
VALVE
PRESSURE
RESERVIOR
CATALYST
PACK
FUEL
VALVE
ACTUATOR
Figure 7b: Photograph of the centralized monopropellant power
supply and actuator arm demonstrator.
Figure 7a: Schematic of the centralized monopropellant power
supply and actuation system.
The motivation and energetic merit of the centralized system in terms of energy and power
density over conventional power supply and actuation was first discussed in [C34]. Also
presented in [C34] was a preliminary demonstrator that could lift 50 lbs. Further design of the
centralized system and initial modeling of the energetics were presented in [C31]. A closed-loop
motion controller was also developed and presented in [C31] to command the hot gas four-way
spool valve to control the actuator’s motion. This early work was significant for not only
developing a physical platform with a custom high-temperature hot gas servo-valve (that shown
in Fig. 7b) but for also attaining closed-loop control. A figure of merit, called the actuation
potential was first introduced in [C26] for assessing the combined system-level energy and power
density of a generic power supply and actuation system. This figure of merit was then applied to
the controlled centralized system. Extended results contained in [J14] showed the system to
possess a significantly higher actuation potential than a DC motor/battery system.
3.2 Direct Injection System
In addition to the “centralized system”, a “direct injection” system was later developed to bypass
some of the main inefficiencies of the centralized system. The direct injection system was first
introduced schematically in [C27], and then fully developed, modeled and controlled in [J7],
[C24], [C23] and [J5]. The centralized system suffered from two primary sources of designdependent inefficiencies: 1) heat loss from the hot gas reservoir, and 2) throttling losses from the
hot gas being controlled proportionally through the four-way hot gas servovalve. The direct
injection system is shown in Fig. 8a and 8b. This concept avoids the heat losses of the hot gas
reservoir by distributing the catalytic release of energy to each of the actuator chambers as they
require it. This entailed placing a small catalyst pack and liquid valve at each piston chamber, and
then required a 3-way hot gas servo valve to control the exhaust flow of gasses from each
actuator. This design circumvents heat loss from a hot gas reservoir by utilizing the hot gas
immediately after its generation. The system also reduces throttling losses by two orders of
magnitude given that the system now throttles liquid monopropellant with a flow power two
orders of magnitude lower than the post-catalyzed hot gas throttled in the centralized system.
Pressure
Sensors
Proportional
Injectors
Fuel Line
Actuator
Hot-Gas 3-way
Spool Valve
Figure 8a: Schematic of the direct injection monopropellant
power supply and actuation system.
Figure 8b: Photograph of the direct injection monopropellant
power supply and actuator arm demonstrator.
Work first introduced in [C27] laid the groundwork for more rigorous dynamic modeling and
control of the system as first applied to the centralized system. In [C27], a dynamic model of the
pressure resulting from the catalytic decomposition of the monopropellant in response to a mass
flow of propellant into the catalyst pack was developed based on fundamental energetic
principles. This dynamic model was then utilized in a model-based control approach for the
controlled pressurization and regulation of the hot gas reservoir via a solenoid on/off liquid valve.
The dynamic model was formalized and extended in [J5] to include both the centralized system
and the direct injection system. The control approach was extended for the direct injection system
in [J7] and [C24] and included a predictive component to compensate for time delays in the
system. The predictive switching controllers of [J7] and [C24] drew upon the Lyapunov candidate
function approach to pneumatic switching control of [C32]. A second version of the direct
injection system was pursued in [C23] where the solenoid on/off propellant valves were replaced
with custom designed and fabricated proportional liquid valves. This design change prompted a
new model-based control technique. A nonlinear sliding mode controller was developed in [C23]
that drew on much of the prior modeling work. Further design work was pursued in [C20] and
[P3] regarding both the 3-way proportional hot gas servo-valve of the direct injection system, and
the 4-way proportional hot gas servo-valve. These designs featured a novel rotary spool that can
be easily linked to a servomotor/gearbox/encoder. The valves also feature several design elements
to accommodate the high temperatures of the hot gas resulting from the catalytic decomposition.
3.3 Other Monopropellant Based Systems
Apart from the power supply and actuation system described above, a monopropellant was used
for two other applications: 1) a bulk-loaded liquid monopropellant powered rifle, and 2) a hot gas
vane motor. The rifle application sought to replace the conventional solid propellant (gunpowder)
in firearms such as the M16-A2 with a liquid propellant that was a stable mixture of hydrocarbon
fuel and hydroxyl ammonium nitrate (HAN). The work of [C19] presented the motivation for this
in dispensing of the brass shell casing in order to lighten the ammunition load of foot soldiers. A
first-principles dynamic model of the interior ballistics combined the deflagration rate of the
monopropellant, the compressible gas dynamics transforming deflagration heat to work, and the
dynamics of motion. An experimental proof of concept device was presented with its
performance compared to the dynamic model predictions. The work of [J2] extended the dynamic
model of [C19] to include non-straight reaction chambers. This extended model was used to
assess the merits of different chamber shapes in decreasing peak pressures in the gun while
maintaining muzzle velocity. The merits of the concept were discussed by combining
experimental data and model performance. The second monopropellant application is that of a hot
gas vane motor intended as a portable direct drive actuator meant to offer a higher system energy
density than a motor/battery combination. This work [C21] presents the preliminary design and
fabrication of the vane motor as well as a simple dynamic model that draws on previous
monopropellant modeling work [C27] and [J14].
4.0 ENERGY-BASED APPROACHES TO VEHICLE CONTROL AND GUIDANCE
The most recent effort in this category is a newly funded project within the Center for Compact
and Efficient Fluid Power entitled, “Advanced Strain Energy Accumulator.” Funding for this
project was awarded from an internal competition of the CCEFP. It was selected as one of five
funded from among more than 20 proposals reviewed by a dozen senior faculty within the ERC.
The goal of the project is to design a new form of hydraulic accumulator for regenerative braking
in a hydraulic hybrid vehicle. The central idea of the project is to utilize strain energy in an
elastomer to store hydraulic energy as opposed storing the energy in the compressible gas of
traditional gas bladder accumulators. When gas bladder accumulators are utilized for high
amounts of energy storage, they suffer from lower than desired efficiencies as well as other
maintenance related issues such as gas diffusion through the diaphragm. The strain energy
accumulator concept is an alternative design that seeks to solve these issues. A study of material
properties of more than 8,500 materials including metals, ceramics, and composites revealed that
certain elastomers have the highest mass-based and volume-based strain energy density of solid
materials. The work presented in [C4] presents an initial design of this concept. A patent
application has also been filed [P2].
Other past work related to vehicles concerns: cooperative control of UAV’s [C11], path planning
for a nonholonomic robot [C9], a dynamic programming approach to robot swarm path planning
[C29][J18], and control methodologies for the control of continuously variable transmission
systems [J12][C35]. All of this work utilizes either direct measures of energy or power, or
Lyapunov energy-like quantities as the basis for their approaches.