Engineering Commons^™

A Visual Velocity Impedance Controller, Victor Nevarez

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Successful object insertion systems allow the object to translate and rotate to accommodate contact forces. Compliant controllers are used in robotics to provide this accommodation. The impedance compliant controller is one of the more researched and well known compliant controllers used for assembly. The velocity filtered visual impedance controller is introduced as a compliant controller to improve upon the impedance controller. The velocity filtered impedance controller introduces a filter of the velocity impedance and a gain from the stiffness. The velocity impedance controller was found to be more stable over larger ranges of stiffness values than the position based impedance …

Robostock: Autonomous Inventory Tracking, Drew Christian Balthazor

Computer Engineering

No abstract provided.

Mesh Addition Based On The Depth Image (Mabdi), Lucas E. Chavez

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Many robotic applications utilize a detailed map of the world and the algorithm used to produce such a map must take into consideration real-world constraints such as computational and memory costs. Traditional mesh-based environmental mapping algorithms receive data from the sensor, create a mesh surface from the data, and then append the surface to a growing global mesh. These algorithms do not provide a computationally efficient mechanism for reducing redundancies in the global mesh. MABDI is able to leverage the knowledge contained in the global mesh to find the difference between what we expect our sensor to see and what …

Comparing Efficacy Of Different Dynamic Models For Control Of Underdamped, Antagonistic, Pneumatically Actuated Soft Robots, Morgan Thomas Gillespie

Theses and Dissertations

Research in soft robot hardware has led to the development of platforms that allow for safer performance when working in uncertain or dynamic environments. The potential of these platforms is limited by the lack of proper dynamic models to describe or controllers to operate them. A common difficulty associated with these soft robots is a representation for torque, the common electromechanical relation seen in motors does not apply. In this thesis, several different torque models are presented and used to construct linear state-space models. The control limitations on soft robots are induced by natural compliance inherent to the hardware. This …

Autonomous Android: Autonomous 3d Environment Mapping With Android Controlled Multicopters, Tate Glick Hawkersmith

Masters Theses

Autonomous robots are robotic platforms with a high degree of autonomy, programmed to perform various behaviors or tasks. They can either be semi-autonomous, only operable within the strict confines of their direct environment, or fully autonomous, capable of sensing and navigating their environments without any human interaction.

In this thesis, I focus on fully autonomous robotic platforms, specifically multicopters, controlled by an onboard Android-driven device, a widely available operating system for smartphones and tablets with over 1.4 billion active monthly users worldwide [Callaham 2015]. The main objective of this research is to create a plug and play solution for autonomous …

Design And Testing Of An Autonomous Ground Robot For Agricultural Applications, Lukas L. Hannemann

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project discusses the design and testing of an autonomous ground robot for agricultural applications such as strawberries. The vehicle will feature a robotic arm that will be programmed to perform various tasks, such as collecting soil and leaf samples of the crop or measuring soil moisture and salinity. Various components were chosen to be implemented on the vehicle due its power requirements and operating environment. Finite Element Analysis testing was done on the frame of the vehicle to ensure the adequacy of the design.

An Investigation Of The Impact A Rov Competition Curriculum Has On Student Interest In Stem, Specifically Technology And Engineering, Daniel Gordon Bates

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the impact a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) program has on student interest in, and perception of, technology and engineering (sTEm). ROV programs embed areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) into their curriculum; however, emphasis for this study is placed on interest and perception of the "T" and "E" of STEM. Although there are many articles detailing the benefits of ROV programs, there is little empirical data documenting the impact on student interest and perception of sTEm. This study outlines the background of a few major ROV programs in the U.S.; specifically Utah Underwater Robotics (UUR), …

A Novel Approach To User Controlled Ambulation Of Lower Extremity Exoskeletons Using Admittance Control Paradigm, Kiran Kartika Karunakaran

Dissertations

The robotic lower extremity exoskeletons address the ambulatory problems confronting individuals with paraplegia. Paraplegia due to spinal cord injury (SCI) can cause motor deficit to the lower extremities leading to inability to walk. Though wheelchairs provide mobility to the user, they do not provide support to all activities of everyday living to individuals with paraplegia.

Current research is addressing the issue of ambulation through the use of wearable exoskeletons that are pre-programmed. There are currently four exoskeletons in the U.S. market: Ekso, Rewalk, REX and Indego. All of the currently available exoskeletons have 2 active Degrees of Freedom (DOF) except …

Scalable Three-Dimensional Grasping Mechanism, Ikya Mamidala

Master of Technology Management Plan II Graduate Projects

In this work, we develop a scalable end-effector mechanism for grasping three- dimensional objects with sizes ranging from micrometer to millimeter scale. The design architecture of the gripper comprises an array of identical fingers patented in a circular fashion. Each finger is designed from a novel linkage mechanism whose end effector is manipulated by two independent actuators. In this research, we study three finger gripper device, where each is obtained from a 3 - linkage mechanism. The device is controlled by three independent piezo actuators, and one electro-magnetic solenoid common to each mechanism. The gripping capability depends on how fingers …

Robot Detection Using Gradient And Color Signatures, Megan Marie Maher

Honors Projects

Tasks which are simple for a human can be some of the most challenging for a robot. Finding and classifying objects in an image is a complex computer vision problem that computer scientists are constantly working to solve. In the context of the RoboCup Standard Platform League (SPL) Competition, in which humanoid robots are programmed to autonomously play soccer, identifying other robots on the field is an example of this difficult computer vision problem. Without obstacle detection in RoboCup, the robotic soccer players are unable to smoothly move around the field and can be penalized for walking into another robot. …

Grounding Robot Motion In Natural Language And Visual Perception, Scott Alan Bronikowski

Open Access Dissertations

The current state of the art in military and first responder ground robots involves heavy physical and cognitive burdens on the human operator while taking little to no advantage of the potential autonomy of robotic technology. The robots currently in use are rugged remote-controlled vehicles. Their interaction modalities, usually utilizing a game controller connected to a computer, require a dedicated operator who has limited capacity for other tasks.

I present research which aims to ease these burdens by incorporating multiple modes of robotic sensing into a system which allows humans to interact with robots through a natural-language interface. I conduct …

The Role Of Uncertainty In Categorical Perception Utilizing Statistical Learning In Robots, Nathaniel V. Powell

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

At the heart of statistical learning lies the concept of uncertainty.

Similarly, embodied agents such as robots

and animals must likewise address uncertainty, as sensation

is always only a partial reflection of reality. This

thesis addresses the role that uncertainty can play in

a central building block of intelligence: categorization.

Cognitive agents are able to perform tasks like categorical perception

through physical interaction (active categorical perception; ACP),

or passively at a distance (distal categorical perception; DCP).

It is possible that the former scaffolds the learning of

the latter. However, it is unclear whether DCP indeed scaffolds

ACP in humans and …

Design And Development Of The Ebear: A Socially Assistive Robot For Elderly People With Depression, Amirhossein Kargarbideh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been tremendous progress in the field of robotics in the past decade and especially developing humanoid robots with social abilities that can assist human at a socio-emotional level. The objective of this thesis is to develop and study a perceptive and expressive animal-like robot equipped with artificial intelligence in assisting the elderly people with depression. We investigated how social robots can become companions of elderly individuals with depression and improve their mood and increase their happiness and well-being. The robotic platform built in this thesis is a bear-like robot called the eBear. The eBear can show facial expression …

Simulation Of Scalability For Autonomous Mobile Microgrids, Nathan Beyers

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Microgrids are small-scale, decentralized systems for generation, storage, and management of electricity to provide power within a local area. By establishing these microgrids using autonomous robots, they can be made safer and more easily reconfigurable. This thesis presents a plan and outlines the infrastructure needed for scaling up previous experimental work on such systems. This work brings together a variety of tools in the form of both software and hardware to set the stage for how further development can be completed. An architecture for physical testing has been built to validate the full potential of navigation and making electrical connections …

Machine Learning Through Mimicry And Association, Nickolas S. Holcomb

Honors College Theses

Adaptability is a key missing features that has impeded the growth of assistive robotics. In the traditional model, all actions must be explicitly coded by a skilled programmer familiar with the hardware. This project explores a method of teaching a webcam equipped arm type robot new primitive movement using visual demonstrations.

Follow Me Robot, Victoria M. Edwards

Honors Theses

The idea of a personal robotic assistant, while once made up the tales of science fiction, is now moving closer and closer to reality. It is easy for two humans to walk together where one person knows the directions and the other person follows along. However, it is not a trivial problem for a robot to recognize a human, and follow side by side along with them. There are three key parts to this problem: 1.) Detection of a human, 2.) Tracking the human, and 3.) the robot's Motion strategy. Using baseline assumptions, I can simplify the detection process allowing …