Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Deep Reinforcement Learning Of Variable Impedance Control For Object-Picking Tasks, Akshit Lunia

All Theses

The increasing deployment of robots in industries with varying tasks has accelerated the development of various control frameworks, enabling robots to replace humans in repetitive, exhaustive, and hazardous jobs. One critical aspect is the robots' interaction with their environment, particularly in unknown object-picking tasks, which involve intricate object weight estimations and calculations when lifting objects. In this study, a unique control framework is proposed to modulate the force exerted by a manipulator for lifting an unknown object, eliminating the need for feedback from a force/torque sensor. The framework utilizes a variable impedance controller to generate the required force, and an …

A Multi-Aerial Vehicle Platform For Testing Collaborative Mobility Formation Controllers, Matthew Snellgrove

LSU Master's Theses

Multi-agent systems have potential applications in a multitude of fields due to their ability to perform complex tasks with a high degree of robustness. Decentralized systems are multi-agent systems where sensing, control, and communication responsibilities are distributed amongst the agents giving this scheme a particularly high potential for robustness, adaptability, and complexity; however, this comes with its own list of challenges. Formation control is a topic in multi-agent systems that aims to have the agents moving as a virtual rigid body through space. In the literature, there have been successful implementation of formation control algorithms on robot agents in both …

Laser Stabilization Through Optical Turbulence, Liam Vanderschaaf

All Theses

Laser jitter presents a significant issue in the fields of laser communication and sensing. There are two main categories of positional noise in regards to the instantaneous centroid of a laser propagating over long distances: jitter resulting from optical turbulence and jitter resulting from mechanical vibrations. Optical turbulence was generated using Clemson University’s Variable Turbulence Generator (VTG). The VTG is capable of creating a desired level of optical turbulence that is comparable to atmospheric conditions with fried parameters greater than 0.3 cm. A gaussian laser was transmitted through the VTG and a system of Fast Steering Mirrors and Position Sensing …

Modelling, Sensing, And Control Of Weld Beads In Gravity Aligned And Non-Gravity Aligned Orientations For Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, Joshua J. Penney

Doctoral Dissertations

Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) has recently developed into a viable manufacturing process for large, complex metal parts. The WAAM process uses a Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) torch mounted to an automated motion platform to execute a predetermined path plan based on a desired CAD geometry. As the desired geometry becomes more complex, it is advantageous to utilize out-of-position welding techniques used by human welders to stabilize the weld pool during the deposition of large overhangs. To ensure part accuracy and quality, adding layers of real-time control to manage various aspects of the WAAM process is critical. First, a …

Inverted Fluorescence Microscope, Matthew B. Pfeiffer, Spencer George Hann, Thomas James Eggenberger, Trevor Lee Blythe

Mechanical Engineering

Team F13 is composed of Trevor Blythe, Spencer Hann, Matthew Pfeiffer, and Thomas Eggenberger. We are all majoring in mechanical engineering and in our final year of study here at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. This project is a continuation of a 2019-2020 senior project. The previous team designed and built a functioning inverted fluorescence microscope (IFM) from scratch. This device was created as a lab tool for undergraduate students to be able to perform experiments on microfluidic devices constructed in Cal Poly’s Microfabrication Laboratory. Although substantially functional, several design constraints had not yet been met. Our team has improved …

Cnc Feed Drive Control, Ryan J. Funchess, Caleb P. O'Gorman, Nick J. Desimone, Juan M. Majano, Samuel K. Wong

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves as the Final Design Report (FDR) for a senior project developed by our team: four senior Mechanical Engineering students and one computer engineering student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). While the project was completed for, and sponsored by, Professor Simon Xing of Cal Poly, the remainder of the university’s controls professors will be indirectly benefited from this project. Our goal was to design and implement a functional CNC Feed Drive to be used for educational demonstrations and data collection. This document discusses our early product research and benchmark goals, which established constraints …

2 Degree Of Freedom Robotic Leg, Oded Tzori, Henry Terrell, Adan Martinez

Mechanical Engineering

Professor Xing, an assistant professor at Cal Poly, proposed the 2 DOF Robotic Leg project for this quarter’s senior project class. The project is to build a robotic leg attached at the hip to a stand, which will be used as a teaching tool and eventually help develop Cal Poly’s very own robotic quadruped. Since this project has multiple uses after its completion, there are multiple customers that it must perform well for: the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department, the ME Lab instructors, and the students. The Scope of Work (Sections 2 & 3) is composed of 2 main …

Autonomous Vehicles Operating Collaboratively To Avoid Debris And Obstructions, Toan T. Le, Cole W. Oppenheim, James H. Gildart, Kyle M. Bybee

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the safety and increased fuel efficiency of an automated collision avoidance system in collaborative vehicle platooning. This project was cosponsored by Daimler Trucks North America headquartered in Portland, Oregon, as well as Dr. Birdsong, and Dr. DeBruhl of Cal Poly. The mechanical engineering team consists of Cole Oppenheim, James Gildart, Toan Le, and Kyle Bybee who worked in coordination with a team of computer engineers. Vehicle platooning is a driving technique to increase the fuel efficiency of a group of vehicles by following a lead vehicle closely to reduce the drag experienced …

Remotely Controlled Industrial Robotic Arm And Simulation Of Automated Thermal Furnace, Prince Mehandi Ratta

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The right execution of controllers ensures the correct analysis of information, generating efficient results and better optimizing the system. In this report, two controllers were designed. Firstly, a remotely controlled robotic arm, since there are no such type commercially available controllers. Moreover, robotic platforms are costly, so students and researchers are often unable to learn the concepts of programming industrial robots. This project makes a non-destructive, remotely-controlled robotic arm to better teach students and researchers about programming and control of robotic arms. Secondly, simulation of an automated thermal furnace for ArcelorMittal on SIMULINK, which is used for the annealing process …

Wheelie King Trainer And Controller, Michael C. Uytingco, Paul E. Hubner, Dmitriy Petrovykh

Mechanical Engineering

The ``wheelie'' is a popular, classic bicycle trick which novice bicyclists often attempt as an introduction to advanced bike tricks. However, many are hesitant to try due to the risks and safety hazards associated with performing one. The purpose of this project is to create an on-board system which will assist a user in maintaining a wheelie after achieving the required position while incorporating safety mechanisms to prevent the user from injuring themselves or others. Additional requirements of the system are non-obstructive features and seamless transitioning between wheelie conditions.

Upon researching the state of wheelie technology, existing products, such as …

Dyno-Mite Redesign, Brandon Joseph Miller, Daniel Robert Hoffman, Richard Demedici Young

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly Mechanical Control Systems Laboratory currently employs an outdated device, known as the Motomatic, to teach students about various motor characteristics and control methods. These include open-loop vs. closed-loop control, speed vs. position control, and DC motor response curves. The current device does not function properly and produces unreliable data due to overwhelming non-linear effects such as stiction and shaft misalignment. Our team was tasked with designing a replacement device that retains many of the same educational goals as the original lab procedure, while also adding new educational goals pertaining to the device system dynamics. The new apparatus, …

Small-Scale Intelligent Vehicle Design Platform, Christopher Grant, Jay Miley, Evan Phillips

Mechanical Engineering

Intelligent Vehicle Design is a growing field with the potential to save many lives by actively minimizing the impacts of human error. Though there are many ways to research intelligent vehicle control, full-scale implementations are expensive and dangerous and computer simulations have extremely steep learning curves. Researchers and students need an accessible, adaptable, and robust development platform to rapidly create and test autonomous control algorithms. While small-scale platforms are often designed from the ground up for specific projects, this requires analysis, design, and manufacture. The goal of this project is to develop a small-scale intelligent vehicle that can be configured …

Blend It Wine Blending Distribution System, Connor Clarry, Russell Temple, Matt Moren

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Biomimetic Seal Flipper Test Rig, Gordon D. Belyea, Laura Kawashiri, Dylan Rinker, Kurt Beske

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Magnetic Bearing For Bently Nevada Rk4 Rotor Kits, Sean Fowler, Garrett Olson

Mechanical Engineering

Active Magnetic Bearings (AMB) are contact free bearings that support loads by magnetic levitation. This is accomplished by generating magnetic forces with electric current through a series of electromagnets surrounding a suspended rotor mass. Along with a set of electromagnets, an AMB assembly also consists of power amplifiers for each electromagnet, a controller, and proximity sensors. The proximity sensors provide rotor position feedback to the control system, which modulates power to the amplifiers [4]. Magnetic bearings are used in several industrial applications today, including but not limited to compressors, turbines, pumps, motors, and generators. Advantages of their utility include very …

Telepresence: Design, Implementation And Study Of An Hmd-Controlled Avatar With A Mechatronic Approach, Darren Michael Chan

Master's Theses

Telepresence describes technologies that allow users to remotely experience the sensation of being present at an event without being physically present. An avatar exists to represent the user whilst in a remote location and is tasked to collect stimuli from its immediate surroundings to be delivered to the user for consumption. With the advent of recent developments in Virtual Reality technology, viz., head-mounted displays (HMDs), new possibilities have been enabled in the field of Telepresence. The main focus of this thesis is to develop a solution for visual Telepresence, where an HMD is used to control the direction of a …