Developing a Collegiate Robotics Competition Hosted by WPI

Although Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is considered a leader in robotics research and education, it has never specifically hosted a collegiate robotics competition. Through background research on other collegiate robotics competitions, discussions with both representatives from universities and robotics companies, and stakeholders at WPI we have developed a proposal for a collegiate robotics competition. This event would be hosted at WPI in collaboration with TouchTomorrow, a campus-wide event showcasing science and technology in early June. This event would consist of three separate challenges based on real-world problems. These challenges combined with a robotics career fair and networking opportunities would provide many long-term benefits to the school

Kinematic modeling of a bio-inspired robotic fish

This paper proposes a kinematic modeling method for a bio-inspired robotic fish based on single joint. Lagrangian function of freely swimming robotic fish is built based on a simplified geometric model. In order to build the kinematic model, the fluid force acting on the robotic fish is divided into three parts: the pressure on links, the approach stream pressure and the frictional force. By solving Lagrange\u27s equation of the second kind and the fluid force, the movement of robotic fish is obtained. The robotic fish\u27s motion, such as propelling and turning are simulated, and experiments are taken to verify the model.<br /

Gait identification and optimisation for amphi-underwater robot by using ant colony algorithm

Manoeuvrable robot commonly has become the focus of the latest heated issues especially in applications that involved disaster rescue, military missions and underwater or extra-terrestrial explorations. Currently, the manoeuvrable robot is controlled manually by the operator and it’s a wheeled type. It is used for rescue missions to transport people from disaster area to the safe zone. However, the robot is incapable of moving automatically, and it goes through terrain or landscape like swarm. Therefore, a suitable platform is required to transport or for other uses especially in dangerous mission. It is very difficult to estimate the movement of the robot to avoid obstacles and choose the alternative path. Hence, this research presents the point-to-point gait identification or path planning of the behavious of the robot to manuever autonomously on both on-land and underwater environment. For the optimization, the robot will travel from one specific point to another with the predefined position within optimized gait and fastest time by using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) technique. The algorithm being compared, between Ant Colony Algorithm (ACO) and the Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) in terms of time and distance. The ACO been chosen because of the positive feedback for rapid discovery and able to use in dynamic applications for example adapts to changes like new distances. The performance of the algorithm showed that the execution time of ACO is more realistic. Hence, Matlab is used to determine the best cost extracted from the ACO with the pre-define of number of iteration and the number of ants. The laboratory-scaled prototype for amphibious vehicle was developed to test the design controlled with ACO technique where Global Positioning System (GPS) is used for the coordination of the robot and Magnetometer for the position of the robot. The robot prototype is able to move autonomously and optimized by the ant colony optimization with predefined position and terrain condition © BEIESP

Fish-Like Robot Encapsulated by a Plastic Film

Underwater robots are currently utilized to evaluate water quality and the undersea landscape. Small-sized underwater robots are especially useful in improving the spatial resolution of the measurements, yielding high-quality data. This chapter describes a small-sized fish-like robot, with its surface composed of a flexible thin plastic film. Its internal components, including an actuator, could be encapsulated in the plastic film using a vacuum packaging machine. To simplify the waterproofing and pressure resistance properties of the fish-like robot, its internal components can be filled with insulating fluid. The plastic film on the surface has electromagnetic-wave-transmitting properties, allowing sensors to be arranged within the device, enabling assessment of its autonomous locomotion using infrared sensors. Robot attitude can be altered, based on geography of its internal components, floating blocks, and insulating fluid. This attitude could be especially determined by the differences in densities between the floating block and insulating fluid. Evaluation of attitude control showed that an insulating fluid heavier than water allows a large variation

Autonomous vehicles in the response to maritime incidents

The future role of autonomous vehicles in the emergency response to maritime incidents isdiscussed and a framework for their integration into existing response plans is proposed. This is done inthe context of the developments on autonomous vehicle systems from the Underwater Systems andTechnologies Laboratory from Porto University

Experiment, simulation and analysis on coupling hydrodynamic forces under key parameters for a spherical underwater exploration robot

As a novel underwater exploration robot, BYSQ-2 spherical robot uses the heavy pendulum to change the attitudes with the characteristics of small steering resistance and high compressive strength. However, the greater water resistance in the process of moving forward obstructs the rapid movement, because the robot has a spherical shell and only one propeller. The maximum speed was obtained only 0.6 m/s according to experimental tests and theoretical calculations. In order to improve the movement speed, the robot’s virtual assembly model was built to study the coupling hydrodynamic forces between the spherical shell and the propeller by CFD method. The coupling hydrodynamic forces were analyzed and summarized under different key structural parameters that include the pipe diameter and the shell diameter. Furthermore, in the conditions of different rotational speed, propeller thrust and water resistance of robot were simulated and calculated. According to the simulation results of the model with the appropriate structural parameters, it was demonstrated that the speed of the robot was improved obviously in the process of moving forward