DOCSLIB.ORG

Reconfigurable Continuous Track Robot (RCTR)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Reconfigurable Continuous Track Robot (RCTR) BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Reconfigurable Continuous Track Robot (RCTR) THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE M.Sc. DEGREE By: Tal Kislassi Supervised by: Dr. David Zarrouk September 2019 September 2019 BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Reconfigurable Continuous Track Robot (RCTR) THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE M.Sc. DEGREE By: Tal Kislassi Supervised by: Dr. David Zarrouk Author: Tal Kislassi Date: 26.9.2019 Supervisor: David Zarrouk Date: 26.9.2019 Chairman of graduate studies committee: ______________ Date: ____________23.12.19 September 2019 Abstract This research presents a minimally actuated Reconfigurable Continuous Track Robot (RCTR). The RCTR can change its geometry while advancing, thus enabling it to crawl and climb over different terrains and obstacles. The robot is fitted with a regular propulsion motor similar to a regular track and has a locking mechanism located at the front. The links have a unique design which allows them to be locked at a relative orientation of negative 20, 0, and positive 20 degrees to each other as they reach the front of the robot. A release mechanism, located at the back, passively unlocks the links. As a result, all the links in the lower part are locked whereas the top links are unlocked. First, a review of the crawling and reconfigurable robot will be presented, Followed by an explanation of the main concept and a description of design demands and requirements. It is important to note there have been several attempts to design this robot, but all failed. Next, we present the design of the robot and its mechanisms. The links of the closed loop continuous track, its’ main body with its mechanisms and the electronic parts are described. The robot was assembled by 3-D printed parts and additional elements that we ordered to complete the building process. Motors, batteries and a receiver were installed on the main body of the robot. The robot's performance was in line with expectations and all the mechanisms interacted properly with one another. Then, we created a kinematic and dynamic model of the robot’s movement and simulated the different obstacles that the robot can overcome. A quasistatic - ii - model of the robot was developed to examine its behavior while climbing over different obstacles and slopes. The model was integrated in a MATLAB simulation which displayed the robot's movement in real time and allowed the user to control the RTCR while examining its behavior. The simulation provided substantial data regarding the robot's ability to overcome various obstacles different in shape and difficulty. Lastly, we presented multiple experiments showing how this new robot can successfully navigate different obstacles. The experiments showed that the robot is capable of overcoming obstacles as the simulation predicted including climbing a high step, skipping an obstacle without touching it and passing a gap more than half of its length. Also, we have tested the robot in outdoor environments and proved that the robot can successfully crawl on challenging surfaces such as rocks, sand and grass. Key Words Robotics; Crawling Robot; Mechanical Design; Reconfigurable Robot; Rolling Motion; Motion modeling; - iii - Acknowledgments First, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. David Zarrouk, for the guidance and encouragement during my research and thesis writing. I would like to thank him for all the support, patient advice and the trust he placed in me. A special thanks goes to my dear friends and colleagues, Lior Navon and Bar Keshet, for their collaboration and brain-storming on a daily basis, which made my work much more productive and a lot more fun than I thought it could ever be. I would also like to thank my friends and fellow Master's students for their support, the shared meals and laughter during our time on and off campus grounds. Finally, I would like to thank my family for loving and supporting me and for providing me with continuous encouragement throughout my years of studying and throughout the research process and the thesis writing. - iv - Table of Contents Nomenclature ......................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ......................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ....................................................................................................... vii 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 2 Background ..................................................................................................... 5 3 Design and Manufacturing .............................................................................. 9 3.1 Product Design Specifications ............................................................... 10 3.2 Robot Design ......................................................................................... 10 3.2.1 The Track Links and Locking Mechanism........................................ 10 3.2.2 The Main Body .................................................................................. 14 3.2.3 Advancing Mechanism ...................................................................... 15 3.2.4 Lock and Releasing Mechanism ....................................................... 15 3.3 Actuating and Control ............................................................................ 18 3.4 Manufacturing ........................................................................................ 18 4 Kinematics and Dynamic Analysis ............................................................... 20 4.1 Kinematic Analysis ................................................................................ 20 4.2 Position and Mobility of the Center of Mass ......................................... 21 4.3 The Maximum Height that the Robot Can Overcome ........................... 22 4.4 Torque Analysis ..................................................................................... 23 5 Simulations ................................................................................................... 26 6 Experiments .................................................................................................. 34 6.1 Horizontal Crawling in Rigid and Flexible Configurations on Curved Surface 34 6.2 Climbing and Descending a step obstacle ............................................. 35 6.3 Skipping over Obstacles and gaps ......................................................... 37 6.4 Running Over a Variety of Surfaces ...................................................... 38 7 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 40 8 References ..................................................................................................... 41 9 Appendices .................................................................................................... 45 - v - Nomenclature Symbol Units Meaning FF N Weight of the front component mass FMB N Weight of the main body FR N Weight of the rear component mass FTTL N Weight of the top track links H Cm Hight of the robot hmax Cm Maximum theoretical height that the robot can climb L Cm Length of the robot Length of the front side of the robot which is not in Lpitch Cm contact with the ground Length from the rear side of the robot to the last joint in Lrear Cm contact with the ground LSL Cm Length of the track link LTL Cm Length of the track link m Kg Total mass of the robot MF Kg Mass of the components at the front of the robot MR Kg Mass of the components at the rear of the robot mSL Kg Mass of a support link mTL Kg Mass of a track link nTL - Number of track links nTTL - Number of top track links A matrix containing the vectors of the joint's location at S(k) Cm step k si Cm Location of the bottom track link joint i so Cm Location of the last front joint in contact with the ground Tmotors Ncm Required torque of the robot W Cm Width of the robot αmax degrees Maximum pitch angle of the robot θj degrees Angle of joint j θmax degrees Maximum angle of climbing ρ Kg/cm Mass per length of the links and the support body - vi - List of Tables Table 3.1: Specifications. ...................................................................................... 19 List of Figures Figure 1.1: Snake-like robot [23] with one motor on each link. ............................. 1 Figure 1.2: Pine caterpillar at the top left, the model of the robot at the top right and the inchworm robot [27] at the bottom. ................................................................... 2 Figure 1.3: OUROBOT [32] uses a rolling motion. (a) Shows a close loop of 12 individual links (b). A presentation of one link with a single motor out of the 12 links in the OUROBOT. .......................................................................................... 3 Figure 1.4: The RCTR is a newly developed robot that can change its external geometry as it advances. The RCTR is actuated by three motors; two motors provide the thrust and the third controls the shape. ................................................. 4 Figure 2.1: The vision of the project. .....................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Piezoelectric Tracked Vehicle with Potential Application to Planetary Exploration
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Springer - Publisher Connector Article Mechanical Engineering April 2012 Vol.57 No.11: 13391342 doi: 10.1007/s11434-012-5004-7 A piezoelectric tracked vehicle with potential application to planetary exploration JIN JiaMei*, QIAN Fu, YANG Ying, ZHANG JianHui & ZHU KongJun State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China Received October 9, 2011; accepted November 17, 2011 A piezoelectric driving method for rover vehicles is proposed in this paper. Employing this method, a tracked vehicle driven by friction forces from a frame mounted with piezoelectric elements was developed. The vehicle is designed with no driver sprocket, no idler-wheel and no supporting bogie wheels, and the vehicle thus requires no lubrication and has potential application in plan- etary exploration. The frame consists of a pair of piezoelectric transducers. Each transducer comprises four annular parts jointed by beams adhered with piezoelectric ceramics. The tracks are set to the outer surface of the annular parts by means of track ten- sion. Traveling rotating waves are generated by piezoelectric transducers in the annular parts, which generate microscopic ellipti- cal motions at the interface of the tracks. The microscopic elliptical motions from the piezoelectric transducers drive the track vehicle to move. Finite elements analysis was carried out to verify the operation principle using commercial software ANSYS. Piezoelectric transducers were fabricated, assembled and tested to validate the concepts of the proposed rover vehicle and confirm the simulation results.
    [Show full text]
  • An Evaluation of Wheel-Track Systems: Abridged Version for Introduction to Robotics Course Hannah Lyness MSR Thesis Presentation
    An Evaluation of Wheel-Track Systems: Abridged Version for Introduction to Robotics Course Hannah Lyness MSR Thesis Presentation Committee: Dimitrios Apostolopoulos (Head), David Wettergreen, Venkat Rajagopalan 1 Presentation Outline . Introduction . Motivation . Research Question . Technology History . A Novel Wheel-Track Design . Prototype Testing . Terramechanics Background . Comparative Evaluation . Conclusion 2 Wheels and Tracks Each Offer Different Advantages Wheels Tracks “HMMWV (Humvee) High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, United States of America.” The Global Armoured and Counter-IED Vehicles Market 2011-2021. http://www.army-technology.com/projects/hmmvv/, Jason Fudge. M1A1 Abrams Tank 4th Tank Battalion. Nov. 22, 2008. URL: http://military-photo.blogspot.com/2008/11/m1a1-abrams-tank-4th-tank-battalion.html (visited on 08/13/2016). Introduction 3 Wheels and Tracks Each Offer Different Advantages Wheels Tracks Lower system losses “HMMWV (Humvee) High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, United States of America.” The Global Armoured and Counter-IED Vehicles Market 2011-2021. http://www.army-technology.com/projects/hmmvv/, Jason Fudge. M1A1 Abrams Tank 4th Tank Battalion. Nov. 22, 2008. URL: http://military-photo.blogspot.com/2008/11/m1a1-abrams-tank-4th-tank-battalion.html (visited on 08/13/2016). Introduction 3 Wheels and Tracks Each Offer Different Advantages Wheels Tracks Lower system losses Lower acoustic signature Reduced fuel consumption “HMMWV (Humvee) High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, United States of America.” The Global Armoured and Counter-IED Vehicles Market 2011-2021. http://www.army-technology.com/projects/hmmvv/, Jason Fudge. M1A1 Abrams Tank 4th Tank Battalion. Nov. 22, 2008. URL: http://military-photo.blogspot.com/2008/11/m1a1-abrams-tank-4th-tank-battalion.html (visited on 08/13/2016).
    [Show full text]
  • Design of a Fully Autonomous Mobile Pipeline Exploration Robot
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2008 Design of a Fully Autonomous Mobile Pipeline Exploration Robot (FAMPER) Jong-Hoon Kim Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Computer Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Kim, Jong-Hoon, "Design of a Fully Autonomous Mobile Pipeline Exploration Robot (FAMPER)" (2008). LSU Master's Theses. 1284. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/1284 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DESIGN OF A FULLY AUTONOMOUS MOBILE PIPELINE EXPLORATION ROBOT (FAMPER) A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Basic Science College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in System Science in The Department of Computer Science by Jong-Hoon Kim B.E., Seoul National University of Technology in Seoul, South Korea, 2005 December 2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am pleased to thank the many people who made this thesis possible. I cannot imagine this thesis without their generous help. I will remember, and appreciate their contributions forever. I would like to deeply thank Dr.Iyengar. He has enhanced my confidence, motivation, and always inspired me. With his support I could complete this thesis. I wish to express sincere thanks to Dr.Ullmer, both for his advice, and also for letting me use the equipments in the Tangviz Lab generously.
    [Show full text]
  • Design and Modelling of a Minimally Actuated Serial Robot Yotam Ayalon, Lior Damti and David Zarrouk
    IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RAL) paper presented at the 2020 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) October 25-29, 2020, Las Vegas, NV, USA (Virtual) Design and Modelling of a Minimally Actuated Serial Robot Yotam Ayalon, Lior Damti and David Zarrouk Abstract—In this paper we present a minimally actuated addressed the planning problem using different optimization overly redundant serial robot (MASR). The robot is composed strategies that have led to substantial advances [24]-[28]. of a planar arm comprised of ten passive rotational joints and a single mobile actuator that travels over the links to reach To simplify the kinematics and actuation, and minimize designated joints and rotate them. The joints remain locked, the dynamic modeling, we suggested in previous works a using a worm gear setup, after the mobile actuator moves to minimally actuated reconfigurable track robot [29], and a another link. A gripper is attached to the mobile actuator thus preliminary design concept serial robot with a mobile allowing it to transport objects along the links to decrease the actuator MASR which travels along the links to rotate the actuation of the joints and the working time. A linear stepper joints [30]. The MASR incorporates multiple characteristics motor is used to control the vertical motion of the robot in 3D and advantages from both minimally actuated robots and space. Along the paper, we present the mechanical design of the hyper redundant robots. The smaller number of motors and robot with 10 passive joints and the automatic actuation of the the simplicity of the design allow for increased reliability, mobile actuator.
    [Show full text]
  • Research in the Intelligence Community in the Age of Artificial
    Research Forum Using artificial intelligence in the IDF Computer Service Directorate. Photo: Bamahane website Research in the Intelligence Community in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Shmuel Even and David Siman-Tov By their very nature, intelligence communities are ideal customers for new information technologies. This article addresses two questions: How do new information technologies, primarily artificial intelligence, contribute to the intelligence community’s research activities? What challenges are posed by the assimilation of artificial intelligence in this field? The integration of artificial intelligence in strategic research may provide intelligence agencies with enhanced capabilities in helping leaders understand an emerging reality, detect changes of course early, and manage risks and opportunities. However, the path to achievement of these capabilities is replete with challenges. Keywords: intelligence research, intelligence assessment, war alert, situation assessment, decision making, strategy, artificial intelligence, machine learning Shmuel Even and David Siman-Tov | Research in the Intelligence Community in the Age of Artificial Intellligenc 37 Introduction 2. An artificial system developed in computer Artificial intelligence (AI) is a major evolutionary software, physical hardware, or other context step in the broad field of information that solves tasks requiring human-like technologies. The elements enabling AI perception, cognition, planning, learning, technology applications are the augmentation communication, or physical action. of computerization capabilities, growth in the 3. An artificial system designed to think or volume of information, better algorithms, and act like a human, including cognitive growth in investments (Grimland, 2018). AI-based architectures and neural networks. applications are increasingly integrated in daily 4. A set of techniques, including “machine life, and their impact can be expected to expand learning,” that is designed to approximate and intensify in many spheres (“How to Ensure a cognitive task.
    [Show full text]
  • Continuous Track Design
    Proceedings of the 2nd European Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) Paris, France, July 26-27, 2018 Video Game: Continuous Track Design Jason Li San Mateo High School, San Mateo, CA, USA [email protected] Mason Chen Stanford OHS, Palo Alto, CA, USA [email protected] Abstract Have you ever wondered why tanks use the continuous track design instead of just regular wheels? What are the advantages and disadvantages behind this design? This STEM project is to study continuous track design by playing the hill climb racing video game, and applying Minitab statistics to determine the positive and negative aspects of it. The benefit of this project is to research and explore an interesting topic and have fun playing video games at the same time. While doing the project, we will use the Mountain stage in the game, the stage with the most extreme terrain and assess five various cars; Hotrod, Moon lander, Super off-road, tank and hovercraft. Each vehicle has a different wheel design or continuous track design. We will compare their performances based on the distance they can climb on the mountains. Our hypotheses is we want to determine whether there is any measurement repeatability, so that players could duplicate the similar result to prove the playing patterns are less-human dependent. The other objective is to determine whether continuous track design actually is the better wheel design with several merits to overcome the several challenges of the Mountain stage. This paper will combine STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in demonstrating the advantages of using the Continuous Track Design.
    [Show full text]
  • Designing a Robotic Platform for Investigating Swarm Robotics
    Running head: INVESTIGATING SWARM ROBOTICS 1 Designing a Robotic Platform for Investigating Swarm Robotics Jonathan Gray A Senior Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation in the Honors Program Liberty University Spring 2019 INVESTIGATING SWARM ROBOTICS 2 Acceptance of Senior Honors Thesis This Senior Honors Thesis is accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation from the Honors Program of Liberty University. ______________________________ Kyung Bae, Ph.D. Thesis Chair ______________________________ Feng Wang, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________ Daniel Majcherek, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________ David Schweitzer, Ph.D. Assistant Honors Director ______________________________ Date INVESTIGATING SWARM ROBOTICS 3 Abstract This paper documents the design and subsequent construction of a low-cost, flexible robotic platform for swarm robotics research, and the selection of appropriate swarm algorithms for the implementation of a swarm focused predominantly on target location. The design described herein is intended to allow for the construction of robots large enough to meaningfully interact with their environment while maintaining a low per- robot cost of materials and a low assembly time. The design process is separated into three stages: mechanical design, electrical design, and software design. All major design components are described in detail under the appropriate design section. The BOM for a single robot is also included, along with relevant testing information. INVESTIGATING SWARM ROBOTICS 4 Designing a Robotic Platform for Investigating Swarm Robotics Introduction Introduction to Swarm Intelligence Swarm intelligence is decentralized intelligence – a collective intelligence that arises in a group of similar organisms. Unlike a standard hierarchical control structure, a swarm has no ranks or concepts of authority.
    [Show full text]
  • A Framework for Modeling and Simulation of Tracked Vehicles of High Mobility
    2010 NDIA GROUND VEHICLE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY SYMPOSIUM MODELING & SIMULATION , TESTING AND VALIDATION (MSTV) MINI -SYMPOSIUM AUGUST 17-19 DEARBORN , MICHIGAN A Framework for Modeling and Simulation of Tracked Vehicles of High Mobility Peilin Song, PhD Pete Melick James Horchner Mobility, Power and Energy Branch AMSAA, APG, MD ABSTRACT This paper presents a modeling and simulation framework for tracked vehicles for ride comfort and load prediction analysis. The development began with the identification of the key issues such as formulations, integration schemes and contact (with friction) modeling on which the comparative studies are conducted. Based on the results of the investigations, the framework and process for the modeling and simulation of tracked vehicles are established and appropriate algorithms for contact and friction are developed. To facilitate the modeling and simulation process, a Python-based modeling environment was developed for process automation, design optimization and design of experiment. The developed framework has been successfully applied to the dynamic load predication of a M1A1 based Joint Assault Bridge (JAB). The parameter optimization enabled with the Python-based process automation tool helps improve the design and modification of vehicles for significantly improved fatigue life of suspension component. INTRODUCTION a virtual test tool for performance prediction and evaluation. A tracked-vehicle is a vehicle that runs on the continuous track instead of wheels. The track Multi-body simulation programs have been used mechanisms in the vehicle rotate the looped tracks in the simulation of tracked vehicles and a certain to provide an endless patch of contact surfaces level of success has been achieved.
    [Show full text]
  • Tracing the Agricultural to the Industrial Revolution
    TRACING THE AGRICULTURAL TO THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. THE URBAN GAME UPON CONCLUSION, YOU WILL HAVE THE FOLLOWING on your town map: 125 houses 20 Tenements 50 factories 10 wealthy homes 5 schools (2 private) 5 jails 9 cemeteries 10 pubs 10 stores 4 hospitals 1 city hall 2 Theaters 1 museum 2 Railroad stations 1 Canal 5 bridges 2 railroads Roads as appropriate 1 3x3 Green Area (common) LET’S GET STARTED! 5 MINUTES With your Black Pencil…. Do the following things on your paper now! 1.Draw a river across your paper connecting east to west; the river should be about 1/2 inch wide. 2.Draw a simple wooden bridge crossing the river. 3.Draw 2 roads one running north to south and crossing the river at the bridge and one running from east to west. Neither road need be a straight line. 4.Draw 10 houses; 1 church; 1 cemetery; 1 store; 1 pub; 1 coalmine; and at least 50 trees!!) ROUND ONE! (blue) It is now 1745. England’s geography is unique in that no section of the country is more than 90 miles from the sea and there are many navigable rivers that crisscross the countryside. An enterprising young Build a canal parallel to the capitalist (you) decides to invest money river. in the construction of a canal. This is not a public venture but rather a private one. With your profits, build a The profits from your canal are nice home anywhere on astonishing! For example, one canal built the map. in 1745; the Oxford Canal yielded a 300% annual return for its investors for a period of more than 30 years.
    [Show full text]
  • 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2016)
    2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2016) Stockholm, Sweden 16-21 May 2016 Pages 1-853 IEEE Catalog Number: CFP16RAA-POD ISBN: 978-1-4673-8027-0 1/6 Copyright © 2016 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc All Rights Reserved Copyright and Reprint Permissions: Abstracting is permitted with credit to the source. Libraries are permitted to photocopy beyond the limit of U.S. copyright law for private use of patrons those articles in this volume that carry a code at the bottom of the first page, provided the per-copy fee indicated in the code is paid through Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923. For other copying, reprint or republication permission, write to IEEE Copyrights Manager, IEEE Service Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854. All rights reserved. ***This publication is a representation of what appears in the IEEE Digital Libraries. Some format issues inherent in the e-media version may also appear in this print version. IEEE Catalog Number: CFP16RAA-POD ISBN (Print-On-Demand): 978-1-4673-8027-0 ISBN (Online): 978-1-4673-8026-3 ISSN: 1060-0272 Additional Copies of This Publication Are Available From: Curran Associates, Inc 57 Morehouse Lane Red Hook, NY 12571 USA Phone: (845) 758-0400 Fax: (845) 758-2633 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.proceedings.com TABLE OF CONTENTS EXACT ROBOT NAVIGATION USING POWER DIAGRAMS ...............................................................................................................1 Omur Arslan ; Daniel E. Koditschek GAUSSIAN PROCESS MOTION PLANNING .............................................................................................................................................9 Mustafa Mukadam ; Xinyan Yan ; Byron Boots TOPOLOGICAL TRAJECTORY CLUSTERING WITH RELATIVE PERSISTENT HOMOLOGY ..............................................16 Florian T.
    [Show full text]
  • Design and Manufacture of a Tick Collecting Robot Jeremy Manus Union College - Schenectady, NY
    Union College Union | Digital Works Honors Theses Student Work 6-2017 Design and Manufacture Of A Tick Collecting Robot Jeremy Manus Union College - Schenectady, NY Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses Part of the Mechanical Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Manus, Jeremy, "Design and Manufacture Of A Tick Collecting Robot" (2017). Honors Theses. 57. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/57 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Union | Digital Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Union | Digital Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 Design and Manufacture Of A Tick Collecting Robot Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Honors in the Department of Mechanical Engineering ****************************************************************************** Jeremy Manus MER 497 / 498 Union College Advisor: Professor William Keat, PhD 2 ABSTRACT MANUS, JEREMY Design and Manufacture of a Tick Collecting Robot. Department of Mechanical Engineering, June 2017 ADVISOR: Professor William Keat, PhD 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 certain regions and the likelihood of encountering a tick species that transmits a harmful disease.
    [Show full text]
  • Badger Robotic Mining.Indd
    Badger Robotic Mining Team 2015-2016 Technical Report¹ Tashi Atruktsang, David Zeugner, James Cho College of Engineering University of Wisconsin-Madison Abstract This report entails the frst-year Badger Robotic Mining Team’s involvement in NASA’s annual Robotic Mining Competition and design choices in constructing our Badger Lunar Excavating Robot (BLER). The team was split into three groups: mechanical, electrical, and software sub teams. The mechanical team explored several mining methods for BLER and settled on a scraper design. All three sub teams worked together to create a functioning robot that successfully met competition qualifcations. Members learned valuable engineering skills such as machining on heavy equipment, computer-aided design, electrical system design, and code. The team will return for NASA’s subsequent mining competition in May 2017 learning from their experiences from the 2016/2017 academic year. Background The Badger Robotic Mining Team competed for its frst year in NASA’s annual Robotic Mining Competition. The team is comprised of members from the student organizations, Badger Ballistics and Wisconsin Robotics. The team built a miner named the Badger Lunar Excavating Robot, or BLER. The primary objective of the competition is to construct a robot that can mine large amounts of lunar soil simulant and deposit it into a bin quickly. The majority of points are awarded for autonomy, optimizing load and capacity, lowering robot power consumption and bandwidth usage. The inspiration behind the competition stems from the abundance of Helium-3 found in the moon’s ground level, which is an effcient fuel for nuclear fusion experiments but is only found in trace quantities on Earth.
    [Show full text]