Shake tables provide a critical tool for simulating earthquake events and testing the response of structures to seismic forces. However, existing shake tables are either expensive or proprietary. This paper presents the design and implementation of a low-cost, open-source shake table named Shakebot for earthquake engineering research and education, built using Robot Operating System (ROS) and robotic concepts. The Shakebot adapts affordable and high-accuracy components from 3D printers, particularly a closed-loop stepper motor for actuation and a toothed belt for transmission. The stepper motor enables the bed to reach a maximum horizontal acceleration of 11.8 m/s^2 (1.2 g), and velocity of 0.5 m/s, with a 2 kg specimen. The Shakebot is equipped with an accelerometer and a high frame-rate camera for bed motion estimation. The low cost and easy use make the Shakebot accessible to a wide range of users, including students, educators, and researchers in low-resource settings. An important application of the Shakebot is to examine the dynamics of precariously balanced rocks (PBRs), which are negative indicators of earthquakes in nature. Our earlier research built a virtual shake robot in simulation for the PBR study. The Shakebot provides an approach to validate the simulation through physical experiments. The ROS-based perception and motion software facilitates the code transition from our virtual shake robot to the physical Shakebot. The reuse of the control programs ensures that the implemented ground motions are consistent for both the simulation and physical experiments, which is critical to validate our simulation experiments.

翻译：振动台是模拟地震事件和测试结构对地震力响应的关键工具。然而，现有振动台要么价格昂贵，要么为专有设备。本文介绍了一种名为Shakebot的低成本开源振动台的设计与实现，该平台基于机器人操作系统（ROS）和机器人概念构建，用于地震工程研究与教育。Shakebot采用了3D打印机的低成本高精度组件，特别是闭环步进电机驱动和齿形带传动。步进电机可使台面在搭载2千克试件时达到最大水平加速度11.8 m/s²（1.2 g）和最大速度0.5 m/s。Shakebot配备加速度计和高帧率相机用于台面运动估计。其低成本与易用性使其可被广泛用户群体（包括资源有限环境下的学生、教育工作者和研究人员）使用。Shakebot的一个重要应用是研究自然界的负地震指示物——危岩（PBRs）的动力学特性。我们先前的研究在仿真环境中构建了用于PBR研究的虚拟振动机器人。Shakebot提供了一种通过物理实验验证仿真的方法。基于ROS的感知与运动软件促进了代码从虚拟振动机器人到物理Shakebot的迁移。控制程序的重用确保了仿真实验与物理实验中施加的地面运动具有一致性，这对验证我们的仿真实验至关重要。