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Design And Testing Of A Novel Adhesion And Locomotion Method For Wall Climbing Vehicles, Jim R. Stefani
Design And Testing Of A Novel Adhesion And Locomotion Method For Wall Climbing Vehicles, Jim R. Stefani
Master's Theses
The objective of this project was to design, construct and test a wall climbing vehicle which uses a novel vacuum tread system for both adhesion and locomotion. The design and manufacturing of this proof of concept vehicle is detailed with particular emphasis on the design decisions that proved most impactful to the performance of both the vehicle and the tread system. Adhesion performance was characterized by a series of tests that validate the concept, but also identify improvements and design recommendations for future embodiments of the adhesion/locomotion system.
Artificial Skin Tactile Sensor For Prosthetic And Robotic Applications, Ross James Miller
Artificial Skin Tactile Sensor For Prosthetic And Robotic Applications, Ross James Miller
Master's Theses
To solve the problem of limited tactile sensing in humanoid robotics as well as provide for future planned mechanical prostheses, an innovative tactile sensor system was created and embedded into two realistic-looking artificial skin gloves. These artificial skin tactile sensors used small piezoelectric ceramic disks to measure applied force at multiple points on each glove. The gloves were created using silicone rubber to simulate both the texture and look of human skin, while maintaining both flexibility and durability. The sensor outputs were buffered by high-impedance voltage-following operational amplifiers, and then read sequentially using a multiplexing scheme by a microcontroller. Sensor …