Engineering Commons^™

Dynamic In Vivo Skeletal Feature Tracking Via Fluoroscopy Using A Human Gait Model, William Patrick Anderson

Doctoral Dissertations

The Tracking Fluoroscope System II, a mobile robotic fluoroscopy platform, developed and built at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, presently employs a pattern matching algorithm in order to identify and track a marker placed upon a subject’s knee joint of interest. The purpose of this research is to generate a new tracking algorithm based around the human gait cycle for prediction and improving the overall accuracy of joint tracking.

This research centers around processing the acquired x-ray images of the desired knee joint obtained during standard clinical operation in order to identify and track directly through the acquired image. Due …

Poly Spotlight Control, Ryan P. O'Neill, C. Oleg Frandle, Anthony T. Lombardi

Mechanical Engineering

When this project began, The Cambria Center for the Arts Theater used a manually-operated spotlight. The sound created by the fans, along with the sheer size of the spotlight, required that it be housed in an attic room above the theater and shined through a closed window. This trapped a lot of heat in the room and involved some risk with climbing into and out of the attic room. This project sought to remedy those issues by mounting a pair of newer LED spotlights inside the theater. Doing this required a method for remotely controlling and actuating the angular position …

Finite Element Analysis And Biological Growth Realization Using Robot Swarms, Cody W. Dorbin, Adrian Buganza-Tepole

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Our understanding of growth and remodeling of biological systems has increased in the past two decades; however, this knowledge has not yet been used in human-designed systems or engineering applications. This project studies designing and building a network of robots that mimics the biological behavior of growth driven by cell-cell communication and control networks. The objective of this research is to harness the principles that govern tissue adaptation and morphogenesis, where peer-to-peer local communication determines global properties, to create human-made engineering systems with life-like capabilities. We used Arduino microcontrollers to control an individual robot in an expandable 3d-printed cuboid shell. …

Belief-Space Planning For Resourceful Manipulation And Mobility, Dirk Ruiken

Doctoral Dissertations

Robots are increasingly expected to work in partially observable and unstructured environments. They need to select actions that exploit perceptual and motor resourcefulness to manage uncertainty based on the demands of the task and environment. The research in this dissertation makes two primary contributions. First, it develops a new concept in resourceful robot platforms called the UMass uBot and introduces the sixth and seventh in the uBot series. uBot-6 introduces multiple postural configurations that enable different modes of mobility and manipulation to meet the needs of a wide variety of tasks and environmental constraints. uBot-7 extends this with the use …

Design And Manufacture Of A Tick Collecting Robot, Jeremy Manus

Honors Theses

The overall goal of this research project is to fully design, manufacture, and test a robot for tick collection. The robot will be designed to collect ticks in regions with thickly branched vegetation, specifically including shrubs, trees, and leaf liter. The robot will be useful to biologists who collect ticks for research or disease control purposes, because it will reach areas that are inaccessible to human-powered collection methods and thus provide them with a more accurate estimate of the tick density in a given region. Obtaining a more precise tick density is crucial, because it provides more detailed information about …

Wheelieking Trainer Project Report, Harold Hall Iii, Nathaniel Fox, Thomas Niemisto

Biomedical Engineering

In this report we will detail the design and implementation process of the WheelieKing Trainer project, a device that helps people learn how to do wheelies on a bicycle by preventing backward falls. Formal project requirements are specified, followed by the ideation and iteration process to meet those requirements. The components and methods used to create the device are described in detail. The results of the development process and usage test results of the device are included. Appendices at the end of this report include references, supporting analyses, and project management and timeline details.

A Handy Underwater Solution, Benjamin Murdoch, Matt Ricks, Ales Ball, Jacob Olson, Ethan Durrant, Connor Monson, Lars Watts, Mark Killpack

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Hod Lipson once asked an audience at TED, “Where are the robots?” We’ve been waiting for them a long time now and modern robotics still hasn’t caught up with our hopes and dreams. Through our research we hope to address one of the major topics in robotics: movement (or kinematics), and use this moment of exploration to build a new low cost robotic hand capable of use within the exciting realm of aquatics.

Modeling, Analysis, Force Sensing And Control Of Continuum Robots For Minimally Invasive Surgery, Caroline Bryson Black

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes design, modeling and application of continuum robotics for surgical applications, specifically parallel continuum robots (PCRs) and concentric tube manipulators (CTMs). The introduction of robotics into surgical applications has allowed for a greater degree of precision, less invasive access to more remote surgical sites, and user-intuitive interfaces with enhanced vision systems. The most recent developments have been in the space of continuum robots, whose exible structure create an inherent safety factor when in contact with fragile tissues. The design challenges that exist involve balancing size and strength of the manipulators, controlling the manipulators over long transmission pathways, and …

Safer Sweep Auger Operation Using Robotics, Nathan A. Wulf

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis presents a remotely controlled robotic solution for those who must sometimes enter agriculturally confined spaces in attempts to assist with grain bin cleanout, particularly by manipulating the sweep auger. In 2015 alone, there were at least 47 documented incidents that occurred in agriculturally confined spaces, of which more than half were fatal. While there have been several advancements in the quality and effectiveness of sweep augers, there have been very few that offer the safety and adaptability of the robotic solution proposed. This robotic solution is a four-wheeled, skid-steering style robot with camera and lighting attachments that allow …

Min Kao Autonomous Robot Tour Guide, Albert J. Toth, Sunay G. Bhat, Christopher A. Treadway, Ammar S. Abdelwahed, Samuel C. Leach

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Robot Control For Remote Ophthalmology And Pediatric Physical Rehabilitation, Melissa Morris

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of a robotic slit-lamp for remote ophthalmology is the primary purpose of this work. In addition to novel mechanical designs and implementation, it was also a goal to develop a control system that was flexible enough to be adapted with minimal user adjustment to various styles and configurations of slit-lamps. The system was developed with intentions of commercialization, so common hardware was used for all components to minimize the costs. In order to improve performance using this low-cost hardware, investigations were made to attempt to achieve better performance by applying control theory algorithms in the system software. Ultimately, …

Design And Control Of A Dynamic And Autonomous Trackless Vehicle Using Onboard And Environmental Sensors, Scott R. Jagolinzer

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the current state of automated guided vehicles (AGVs), sensors available for the vehicles to be equipped with, control systems for the vehicles to run on, and wireless technology to connect the whole system together. With a technological push towards increasing automation and maximizing the possible throughput of systems, automated technology needs to improve for trackless and wireless systems such as vehicles that can be used to move loads in a vast array of applications.

The goal of this research is to develop and propose improvements in both vehicle and control system design …

Design And Control Of A Powered Rowing Machine With Programmable Impedance, Jose Humberto De La Casas Zolezzi

ETD Archive

Due to the rise of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, research in human performance and physical activity has received increased attention. Rowing machines are used for performance improvements through concentric exercises, however a combination of concentric and eccentric actions is known to improve the effectiveness of training. In this work, a conventional rowing machine was modified to include an electric motor and a robust impedance control system, enabling programmable impedance with concentric and eccentric capabilities. Eccentric exercises are known to contribute significantly to the efficacy of training and to diminish the detrimental effects of humans operating in microgravity for long …