Research Papers - Department of Mechanical Engineering

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Author: search.filters.author.Liyanage, M

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    PublicationOpen Access
    Design and Fabrication of a Novel Hybrid Solar Dryer
    (SLIIT, 2022-02-11) Perera, C; Fernando, G; Liyanage, M
    A hybrid solar dryer was designed and tested for commercial dissemination of active and passive drying methods over traditional sun drying methods. The proposed dryer employs novel features such as user controllability of the drying parameters and includes sensors and controllers for active monitoring of drying parameters. The functionality of the dryer is broadened by using logic control whereby intermittent drying patterns are introduced to the system for more efficient operation. This paper documents the design calculations and fabrication process of the dryer as well as the results of drying obtained under a controlled environment. 10 experiments have been carried out to assess the limits and potential improvements to the system which yielded satisfactory conditions with a temperature fluctuation of ±1℃ and change in %RH of ±2% at any given temperature within the specified limits. The developed system has been used for drying apples which yielded dried products from an initial weight of 346 grams to a final weight of 55 grams in 5 hours in pure convection and the same initial weight was reduced to 52 grams in 3 hours when operating in solar hybrid mode. The average energy consumption of the dryer was obtained at 300 Watts at uninterrupted solar insolation operation and 224 Watts during pure convective operation, portraying the efficient operation of the system to be eligible to be powered by a solar-powered energy storage
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    PublicationEmbargo
    Development of an Eccentric Legged Quadruped Robot for a Predefined Uneven Terrain
    (IEEE, 2022-06-01) Dayawansa, B; Vasudevan, P; Irfan, I; Liyanage, M
    Bio-inspired robotics is a relatively new branch in the field of robotics. It involves the study of the anatomical, morphological and physical behavior of natural living animals and implementing such morphologies and mechanisms in an electro-mechanical system. The field of bio-inspired robotics has given birth to many complex mobile robot topologies which also include legged locomotion. Legged robots help the designers gain an insight into how the biomechanics of animals operate which also can help inspire new technologies in the field of prosthetics and artificial limbs. Legged robots have a higher terrain adaptability and mobility compared to wheeled robots which makes them a good choice for uneven terrain navigation. Legged locomotion itself has a wide scope with various topologies and morphologies involved. In this paper we have evaluated all existing quadruped robot models currently, and have proposed a distinctive quadruped model structure and morphology for uneven terrain locomotion. The robot model has been analyzed through computational modelling and simulation techniques for optimum leg morphologies and gait patterns. The results demonstrated that certain leg morphologies were more efficient compared to other considered leg morphologies. The robot was fabricated physically and tested for the same morphologies in an uneven terrain as well.