The purpose of this review document is to summarize the latest developments and research in the field of robotics related to the field of ankle joint rehabilitation, review new results, and determine the actual state of the art. The literature search was carried out using scientific and medical databases and other websites related to robots used in the field of ankle rehabilitation, analyzing research from the 1950s to the present.

This paper presents the implementation, trajectory planning, kinematics, and experimental validation of an open-source 3D-printed delta robot manipulator. The robot’s hardware consists of three servo motors, an Arduino Uno microcontroller, and a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) servo module. The software includes a trapezoidal velocity profile planner and an inverse and forward kinematics solver to calculate the motor angles required to achieve a desired end-effector position in task space. The 3D printed parts were obtained from an open-source Thingiverse project and assembled to form the robot’s kinematic structure. The robot’s performance was evaluated in terms of its accuracy, repeatability, and maximum speed for a pick-and-place task. Experimental results show that the robot can achieve a positioning accuracy of 2.2 mm, with a top speed of 0.4 m/s, 30 picks per minute, and load carrying capacity up to 200 g. These results are satisfactory, considering the ease of assembly and the cost-effectiveness of the robot. The comparison of the calculated motor angles with actual motor angles obtained through additional potentiometer wires soldering shows promising results. The proposed robot’s cost-effective characteristics, utilization of open-source additive manufacturing, and motion planning algorithms make it suitable for various applications, including education, research, and small-scale industrial applications.

In the interaction of the rolling stock and the upper structure of the railway track, intense dynamic loads occur. They have a destructive effect both on the parts of the rolling stock and on the elements of the superstructure of the track. In order to develop a durable, rational and reliably functioning design of cars and locomotives with good dynamic properties and good indicators of the impact of rolling stock on the railway track, along with theoretical computational studies, experimental studies are also required, which are usually the final stage in the design and implementation of rolling stock or the modernization of existing ones, such as locomotives and wagons, in order to improve their strength and dynamic performance. This article presents the results of field tests to determine the dynamic performance of the type CKD6e diesel locomotive. The description of the preparation of the CKD6e shunting locomotive for testing is given. An analysis of the dynamic performance of a diesel locomotive during the passage of turnouts, on a straight section of the track and in a curve with a radius of 400 m, was carried out. The studies performed showed that the minimum value of the stability factor against wheel derailment on a straight section of the track is significantly higher than the standard value. The experimentally obtained ratio of frame forces to the static load from the wheelset on the rails, the coefficients of vertical dynamics of the first and the second stages of suspension and the coefficient of stability against derailment of the wheel from the rail were registered on the track section in a curve with a radius of 400 m meet the current requirements. A calculation scheme and equations of vertical oscillations are proposed, an analysis is carried out according to the graphs of movements of bogies and a locomotive body when moving along irregularities of different lengths at different speeds.

Shock absorbers are intended for developing forces providing the elimination or reduction of the amplitude of cars or their parts fluctuations. On the CIS railroads, the wedge-type shock absorber became the most wide-spread in trucks of freight cars. In friction shock absorbers, the friction force arises in vertical and horizontal movements of the absorber wedges rubbing on friction plates fixed on the columns of the truck sidewalls. In the article, the modeling of dynamic characteristics of a freight car with the optimized parameters of the wedge-type shock absorber is performed. The modeling is performed by means of the software complex for studying the problems of dynamics of rail vehicles: “The universal mechanism”. A dynamic and block diagram of the dynamic model of the car platform, as well as of the mathematical model for studying the friction force and interaction of contact power elements, accounting the creep forces in contact by means of the FASTSIM algorithm based on the Kalker linear theory, is developed. The obtained results of modeling of an eight-wheel freight car with modernized frictional wedges show that in the truck modernization it is expedient to provide additional devices, for example a frictional shock absorber in the central step of suspension. The results of the carried out study prove the expediency of using for the upgraded truck of 18-100 model the design of M1816.06.000 SB, M1819.00.000 SB wedges, at this it is recommended to accept rigidity of elastic elements of these wedges equal to 1.1 kN/mm that is a compromise solution for the safe car movement in the empty and loaded modes.

The paper suggests application of an experimental method for the assessment of the dynamic effect of a locomotive underframe on the railway track. The assessment is to be based on spectral analysis of the response of structural elements of the railway track undergoing a shock pulse. Application of digital measuring systems for monitoring of motion of the train is also proposed.

In this paper, the mathematical interpretation of VOR is derived and a VOR adaptation method is newly proposed. This study of cerebellar inspired adaptive control, which is augmented by the reference model, provides a potential general solution for robotic control. If the reference model is not used, the plant with more poles than zeroes finds it difficult to give a response immediately. The reference model determines the behaviour of the robot. The response of it at high frequency with small-time constant shows the roll-off, low frequency signals not affected. To verify the proposed method of neural control for image stabilisation using a reference model, first, it is briefly introduced and then it is utilized for Matlab and Simulink simulation and experiments. The described cerebellar algorithm has the potential to provide a modular controller for soft robots. Also, it can be applied to generic control tasks, as the force control, or impedance response, or task calibration.