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Autobalancing a generalized gravity equilibrator

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Abstract

It is possible to balance a mechanical system in such a way that gravity does not affect the motion. We call these systems gravity equilibrators. Gravity equilibrators find application in areas such as manufacturing, shipping, and mechanical support. Currently, gravity equilibrators have no general means for autobalancing, which is particularly important for applications where a variety of weights may be applied. We present here a general control strategy which increases the usefulness of gravity equilibrators. Experimental results illustrate this improvement in versatility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA

    Jose C. Barajas & Robert A. Paz

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  1. Jose C. Barajas
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  2. Robert A. Paz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jose C. Barajas.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, under Grant Number 0960156.

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Barajas, J.C., Paz, R.A. Autobalancing a generalized gravity equilibrator. Int. J. Dynam. Control 4, 515–526 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40435-015-0173-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40435-015-0173-2

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