589 research outputs found

    Origami-Inspired Printed Robots

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    Robot manufacturing is currently highly specialized, time consuming, and expensive, limiting accessibility and customization. Existing rapid prototyping techniques (e.g., 3-D printing) can achieve complex geometries and are becoming increasingly accessible; however, they are limited to one or two materials and cannot seamlessly integrate active components. We propose an alternative approach called printable robots that takes advantage of available planar fabrication methods to create integrated electromechanical laminates that are subsequently folded into functional 3-D machines employing origami-inspired techniques. We designed, fabricated, and tested prototype origami robots to address the canonical robotics challenges of mobility and manipulation, and subsequently combined these designs to generate a new, multifunctional machine. The speed of the design and manufacturing process as well as the ease of composing designs create a new paradigm in robotic development, which has the promise to democratize access to customized robots for industrial, home, and educational use.National Science Foundation (U.S.). Expeditions Program (Grant CCF-1138967

    Installation of Mechatronics Education Using the MindStorms for Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, O.N.C.T

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    The author constructed an installation course of mechatronics and conducted on the students of department of mechanical engineering, Oita national college of technology. The course is composed of six sessions and is aiming to grow up the mechanical engineers who can adapt quickly to changes in industrial society. Then, the education programs of computer technology and information processing are more emphasized in this course. Certainly the specific subjects involved with mechatronics are constructed as a part of curriculum in the older grades, however there is some difficulties to make students of department of mechanical engineering to have interests in electronics and/or information science. Viewed in this light, it is better to begin mechatronics education with undergoing experiments like this course since they were in early grade

    Design and operation of MinIAQ: An untethered foldable miniature quadruped with individually actuated legs

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    This paper presents the design, development, and basic operation of MinIAQ, an origami-inspired, foldable, untethered, miniature quadruped robot. Instead of employing multilayer composite structures similar to most microrobotic fabrication techniques, MinIAQ is fabricated from a single sheet of thin A4-sized PET film. Its legs are designed based on a simple four-bar locomotion mechanism that is embedded within its planar design. Each leg is actuated and controlled individually by separate DC motors enabling gait modification and higher degree of freedom on controlling the motion. The origami-inspired fabrication technique is a fast and inexpensive method to make complex 3D robotic structures through successive-folding of laser-machined sheets. However, there is still a need for improvement in modulating and extending the design standards of origami robots. In an effort to addressing this need, the primitive foldable design patterns of MinIAQ for higher structural integrity and rigidity are presented in detail. The current robot takes less than two hours to be cut and assembled and weighs about 23 grams where 3.5 grams is the weight of its body, 7.5 grams is its motors and encoders, 5 grams is its battery, and about 7 grams is its current on-board electronics and sensors. The robot is capable of running about 30 minutes on a single fully charged 150mAh single cell LiPo battery. Using the feedback signals from the custom encoders, MinIAQ can perform a trot gait with a speed of approximately 0.65 Bodylengths/sec, or equivalently 7.5 cm/s. © 2017 IEEE

    The Effect of Tail Stiffness on a Sprawling Quadruped Locomotion

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    A distinctive feature of quadrupeds that is integral to their locomotion is the tail. Tails serve many purposes in biological systems including propulsion, counterbalance, and stabilization while walking, running, climbing, or jumping. Similarly, tails in legged robots may augment the stability and maneuverability of legged robots by providing an additional point of contact with the ground. However, in the field of terrestrial bio-inspired legged robotics, the tail is often ignored because of the difficulties in design and control. This study will test the hypothesis that a variable stiffness robotic tail can improve the performance of a sprawling quadruped robot by enhancing its stability and maneuverability in various environments. To test our hypothesis, we add a multi-segment, cable-driven, flexible tail, whose stiffness is controlled by a single servo motor in conjunction with a reel and cable system, to the underactuated sprawling quadruped robot. By controlling the stiffness of the tail, we have shown that the stability of locomotion on rough terrain and the climbing ability of the robot are improved compared to the movement with a rigid tail and no tail. The flexible tail design also provides passively controlled tail undulation capabilities through the robot's lateral movement, which contributes to stability

    Tandem actuation of legged locomotion and grasping manipulation in soft robots using magnetic fields

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    Untethered soft robots have the potential to impact a variety of applications, particularly if they are capable of controllable locomotion and dexterous manipulation. Magnetic fields can provide humansafe, contactless actuation, opening the gates to applications in confined spaces - for example, in minimally invasive surgery. To translate these concepts into reality, soft robots are being developed with different capabilities, such as functional components to achieve motion and object manipulation. This paper investigates the tandem actuation of two separate functions (locomotion and grasping) through multi-legged soft robots with grippers, actuated by magnetic fields. The locomotion and grasping functions are activated separately by exploiting the difference in the response of the soft robots to the magnitude, frequency and direction of the actuating magnetic field. Two robots capable of performing controllable straight and turning motions are demonstrated: a millipede-inspired robot with legs moving in a rhythmic pattern, and a hexapod robot with six magnetic legs following an alternating tripod gait. Two types of grippers are developed: one inspired by prehensile tails and another similar to flowers or jellyfish. The various components are fabricated using a composite of silicone rubber with magnetic powder, and analyzed using quasi-static models and experimental results. Fully untethered locomotion of the robots and independent gripper actuation are illustrated through experiments. The maneuverability of the robots is proven through teleoperated steering experiments where the robots navigate through the workspace while avoiding obstacles. The ability of the robots to manipulate objects by operating in tandem with the grippers is demonstrated through multiple experiments, including pick-and-place tasks where the robots grasp and release cargo at specific locations when triggered using magnetic fields. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd

    Characterization of the 2-Phase Turning Response of Madagascar Hissing Cockroach Biobots to Antennal Stimulation

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    Biobots are living insects that are controlled via neurostimulation applied through implanted electrodes and have a variety of potential applications such as search and rescue operations. Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches (MHCs) are commonly used as biobots; however, their use remains under investigation due to lack of a comprehensive motion profile in response to neurostimulation, which makes consistent control a challenge. MHC biobots often exhibit a 2-phase turning response to antennal stimulation, with an initial turn (primary) in the desired direction followed by a “corrective” turn (secondary) in the undesired direction. The purpose of this research is to characterize the 2-phase turning response of MHC biobots to antennal stimulation. Electrodes were implanted into the antennae of MHC biobots (n=20), and antennae of each subject were stimulated 40 times using a duty cycle of 50%, frequency of 125 Hz, and four sets of stimulus voltages and durations: 1 V and 0.5 s, 3 V and 0.5 s, 1 V and 1.5 s, and 3 V and 1.5 s. Modulation of stimulation voltage and duration did not significantly affect the responsiveness, direction of, or magnitude of turn angles. The direction of primary turns were found to be controlled in 88% of subjects, while the direction of secondary turns were able to be controlled in only 53% of subjects, which demonstrates that MHC biobots are able to be consistently controlled during the primary turn but not during the secondary turn. A histogram of the magnitude of secondary turns is centered approximately at 0°, which demonstrates that the secondary turn is likely when the cockroach regains control of its motion rather than a “corrective” turn as noted in previous studies. To improve MHC biobot technology, researchers could limit the amount of time between stimuli or introduce a feedback system where actual turn angle is measured, and stimuli are applied when the MHC biobot begins turning in the undesired direction

    Controlling a mobile robot with a biological brain

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    The intelligent controlling mechanism of a typical mobile robot is usually a computer system. Some recent research is ongoing in which biological neurons are being cultured and trained to act as the brain of an interactive real world robot�thereby either completely replacing, or operating in a cooperative fashion with, a computer system. Studying such hybrid systems can provide distinct insights into the operation of biological neural structures, and therefore, such research has immediate medical implications as well as enormous potential in robotics. The main aim of the research is to assess the computational and learning capacity of dissociated cultured neuronal networks. A hybrid system incorporating closed-loop control of a mobile robot by a dissociated culture of neurons has been created. The system is flexible and allows for closed-loop operation, either with hardware robot or its software simulation. The paper provides an overview of the problem area, gives an idea of the breadth of present ongoing research, establises a new system architecture and, as an example, reports on the results of conducted experiments with real-life robots

    Learning Navigation for Recharging a Self-Sufficient Colony Robot

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    It is advantageous for colony robots to be autonomous and self-sufficient. This requires them to perform their duties while maintaining enough energy to operate. Previously, we reported the equipping of power storage for legged robots with high capacitance capacitors, the configuration of one of these robots to effectively use its power storage in a colony recharging system, and the learning of a control program that enabled the robot to navigate to a charging station in simulation. In this work, we report the learning of a control program that allowed the simulated robot to perform area coverage in a self-sufficient framework that made available the best pre-learned navigation behavior module
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