Determining effective ways to control soft, laminate robotics has been an important issue in soft robotics since its nascent stages. The project focuses on the development and control of a walking gait for a laminate biped by using dynamics and control methodologies to keep track of its zero-moment point. The integration of knowledge gained from
Faculty Mentor: Daniel Aukes
Vertical Control for Underwater Robotics
Underwater lateral robotic manipulation is used for multidimensional maneuverability for underwater vehicles. Bio-inspired mechanisms were built and tested for buoyancy and lateral position control for an underwater robot. To create a natural buoyancy within the robot, we built fish-like bladders, using air pockets to lower the density. Ballasts displace water between the surrounding water and
Passively Actuated Jump Gliding Wings
This project is investigating the impact curvature, buckling, and anisotropy play when used passively to enhance jumping capability. In this paper we employ a curved laminate structure to allow a rigid link to collapse preferentially in one direction when it encounters aerodynamic drag forces. A joint of this nature could be used for passively actuated
Automated Process Planning for Multi-material Manufacturing
This project is studying methods of automating the planning of multi-material manufacturing processes through the development of a new framework for representing and computing functionally-graded materials for use in rapid prototyping applications. This framework includes low-level operations for combining geometries together and algorithms which assist the designer in computing manufacturing-compatible sequences. These algorithms can then
Lateral Control of Underwater Robot
Enabling an underwater robot to move like a fish will help it manage canals and waterways.
Letting Robots Glide Instead of Falling
Developing cheap, foldable gliding robots can aid search and rescue operations, increase access to hands-on robotics education.
Cutting Tool for Bio-Inspired Robotic Fish
Designing an autonomous robotic fish to cut vegetation in Phoenix waterways will result in cleaner water and less flooding.
Automated Process Planning for Multi-material Manufacturing
Developing a tool for simple, low-cost robot creation can make STEM education materials more accessible.
Low Cost Sensing
Sensing forces in robotic grippers can be costly and complicated. This project investigates modifying flex sensors at a lower cost. The deflection of links in a robotic gripper can be used to sense the location, magnitude and number of contact forces by matching the link curvature of existing beam models. This concept is embodied using
Developing an Educational Robotic Platform
The goal of the proposed research project is to demonstrate that a robot can be designed, built by and used for undergraduate and high school students as an educational tool. Dr. Aukes’ IDEALab utilizes laminate construction to build foldable robots from cheap materials, allowing robots to be constructed from scratch in a matter of hours
