The one degree of freedom (1-DOF) manipulator with nano-resolution is a significant component in the micro-/nano-manipulation. In order to simultaneously achieve a large stroke and high precision, a piezo-driven 1-DOF flexure-based manipulator consisting of an enhanced double Scott-Russell mechanism (EDSRM), a lever type mechanism, and a Z-shaped mechanism is proposed in this paper. Analytical models are developed to examine the kinetostatic and dynamic properties of the manipulator. A finite element analysis is further performed to evaluate the characteristics of the EDSRM and the complete manipulator. The prototype is fabricated on monolithic AL7075, and various experimental tests have been carried out to investigate the correctness of the modeling. The experimental results show that the proposed manipulator has a satisfactory amplification ratio, static stability, and dynamic performance.

A novel pure rotary actuator with a double-layer flexible mechanism (RA-DFM), which is driven by a single piezoelectric ceramic in the lower mechanism and generates rotational motion in the upper mechanism, is proposed in this paper. The output of piezoelectric ceramic is successively amplified using an enhanced double Scott–Russell mechanism and two lever-type mechanisms to obtain a large rotation range. The static, kinematic and dynamic properties of the RA-DFM are numerically analyzed, and the actual output of the piezoelectric is analyzed considering the input stiffness. The geometric parameters of the RA-DFM are optimized based on the constructed numerical models. Finite element analysis has been implemented to validate the correctness of the theoretical models and further evaluate the output property. The simulation results show the maximal rotation angle of the RA-DFM is 15.14 mrad with 0.44% center drift.

Continuum robots have continuous structures and inherent compliance, which can be used for accessing unstructured and confined space in many fields, such as minimally invasive surgery and aero-engine in-situ inspection. A novel cable-driven continuum robot connected by unique offset cross revolute joints is proposed in this paper, which has excellent bending capacity and appropriate torsional stiffness compared with continuum robots connected by revolute joints and spherical joints, respectively. Furthermore, the kinematic modeling and analysis are carried out. The mappings among robot's actuator space, joint space and task space are established step by step. Particularly, an improved inverse kinematics algorithm is proposed by combining the constant curvature method with the numerical iterative method. This combined inverse kinematics algorithm can effectively reduce the error of approximate solution derived by the traditional constant curvature method. Numerical simulations are conducted to verify the proposed algorithm and analyze workspace of the continuum robot. Finally, experimental prototype of the robot is built to verify its excellent bending capacity and the correctness of the proposed kinematic model.

A novel microvibration hammerhead consists of a piezoelectric actuator and a double cross-shape compliant mechanism (DCCM) is presented in this paper. The output force of the piezoelectric actuator can be detected in real time by an inside-installed pressure sensor. A theoretical model including the stiffness, first natural frequency, and stress of the DCCM and the displacement output of the piezoelectric actuator are established, and then they are further analyzed using the finite element analysis method. The effects of the beam thickness on the static and dynamic properties are deeply analyzed and compared. A prototype micro hammering system is constructed by integrating the microvibration hammerhead assembly and controlling system. Various experiments are also carried out to verify the basic performance of the micro hammering system.

Aiming at the fabrication of a micro-textured surface, a novel piezoelectric-driven non-resonant elliptical vibrator is proposed in this paper; the output characteristics could be adjusted by the length change of the tool holder. The flexible mechanism is the primary structure of the vibrator, which includes a lever type mechanism, an enhanced Scott–Russell mechanism, and a T-shaped mechanism. The former two mechanisms are used to enlarge the output of the piezoelectric actuator, and the T-shaped mechanism is applied to transfer the parallel movements to the elliptical trajectory. The theoretical models including the elliptical trajectory, output stiffness, and resonant frequencies are established to investigate the impacts of the tool holder and controlling signals on the output characteristics of the vibrator, which are further validated using the finite element analysis method. A prototype is developed by integrating the non-resonant elliptical vibrator assembly and controlling system. Some experiments are carried out to verify the basic performance and the adjustable properties of the vibrator.

In order to improve detection accuracy while minimizing computational overhead, a modified algorithm is proposed based on the YOLO11n baseline. The innovation incorporates a lightweight ADown module into the P4 and P5 layers of the backbone network, strategically reducing computational complexity. Simultaneously, a multi-scale attention mechanism with parallel structure is integrated into the detection head to enhance feature representation, while a micro-detection head is appended to specifically improve the detection of tiny objects. Based on the classic metrics, including parameter count, mAP@50, mAP@50-95, recall, and FPS, the ablation experiments are performed to validate the improvement of the improved algorithm on the CCTSDB2021 dataset. Furthermore, comparative experiments against traditional YOLO variants are conducted on both CCTSDB2021 and TT100K-2021 datasets. Experimental results demonstrate significant improvements across all evaluated metrics for the improved algorithm, highlighting its exceptional capability to balance high accuracy with minimal computational complexity.