In the event of a disaster, there is an impending need for robotic assistance in order to conduct an effective search and rescue operation, due to their immediate permissible deployment. In this paper, the development of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) intended for search and rescue applications is presented. The platform for the UAV is a quad-rotor type helicopter, simply referred to as a quadrotor. A plan for the mechatronic system integration was devised to combine the mechanical, electronic and software elements of the research. Once the system was modelled mathematically, a control strategy was implemented to achieve stability. This was investigated by creating a MATLAB ^® Simulink ^® numerical model, which was used to run simulations of the system.

This paper presents the investigation of the modelling and control of a quad-rotor helicopter and forms part of research involving the development of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to be used in search and rescue applications. Quad-rotor helicopters consist of two pairs of counter rotating rotors situated at the ends of a cross, symmetric about the centre of gravity, which coincides with the origin of the reference system used. These rotors provide the predominant aerodynamic forces which act on the rotorcraft, and are modelled using momentum theory as well as blade element theory. From this, one can determine the expected payload capacity and lift performance of the rotorcraft. The Euler-Lagrange method has been used to derive the defining equations of motion of the six degree-of-freedom system. The Lagrangian was obtained by modelling the kinetic and potential energy of the system and the external forces obtained from the aerodynamic analysis. Based on this model, a control strategy was developed using linear PD controllers. A numerical simulation was then conducted using MATLAB® Simulink®. First, the derived model was simulated to investigate the behaviour of the rotorcraft, and then a second investigation was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the implemented control system. The results and findings of these investigations are then presented and discussed.

This paper looks at various existing upper limb prostheses both from the commercial and research area. It assesses what has been achieved in the commercial field as well as its shortcomings. State-of-the-art research on upper limb prosthetics is reviewed and the progress over the last decade is touched on briefly. The paper then considers haptic feedback and myoelectric control, two cutting-edge technological fields within the field of prosthetics. A comparison is made between current and past upper limb prostheses and improvements to these prostheses are discussed. Suggestions for future work are made to incorporate and develop haptic feedback and more advanced control algorithms to further improve the current prosthetics. Myoelectric control is identified as the most limiting factor to the progress of upper limb prosthetics.

This paper illustrates the mechanical structure's spherical motion, kinematic matrices and achievable workspace of an exoskeleton upper limb device. The purpose of this paper is to assist individuals that have lost their upper limb motor functions by creating an exoskeleton device that does not require an external support; but still provides a large workspace. This allows for movement according to the Activities of Daily Living (ADL).