Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Modeling Tools For Conformal Orthotic Devices, Steven David Riddle

Open Access Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to advance the design of conformal orthotic devices through the development of two modeling tools to address knowledge gaps in the field.

The field of human orthotics has been continually troubled by identifying successful methods of harnessing devices to the body. Past orthotics have utilized a rigid framework with minimal degrees of freedom (DOFs) driven by hard actuators attached to the body at select anchor points. Many devices design the structure and anchor points such that they reduce the degrees of freedom of a targeted joint, limiting the user's mobility and often causing the …

A Study Of Inkjet Printed Line Morphology Using Volatile Ink With Non-Zero Receding Contact Angle For Conductive Trace Fabrication, Chenchao Shou

Open Access Theses

Inkjet printed lines on a homogeneous solid substrate are studied under the condition that ink evaporation is not negligible and the contact angle exhibits hysteresis with non-zero receding contact angle (NRCA). A new family of line instability is discovered, featured by formation of agglomerations within a line. The agglomeration is explained by a hydrodynamic flow that consistently drives a bead on the substrate towards fresh deposited droplets due to concentration-induced surface tension gradient. Morphologies of lines printed with multiple layers are also explored for the purpose of conductive trace fabrication. A non-uniform morphology is observed across a multi-layer line when …

Analysis Of An Actuated Two Segment Leg Model Of Locomotion, Nikhil Vinayak Rao

Open Access Theses

Research studies on dynamic models of legged locomotion have generally focused on telescoping-type leg models. Such telescoping spring loaded inverted pendulum (SLIP) models have been able to accurately predict observed center of mass (CoM) trajectories. There have been comparatively fewer studies on dynamics of locomotion

with segmented legs. Some earlier studies on the dynamics due to leg segmentation appear straightforward. For example, a simple model with the only joint moment being due to a passive springy knee has been shown to behave similarly to a telescoping spring-mass model. However, in real-life animal locomotion, there are multiple joint-moments acting at the …