This research project is about designing better legs for legged robots. When a robot needs to move across rough terrain, as would be the case when searching for victims in a disaster area, legged robots have advantages over wheeled or tracked robots. They can traverse such terrain more easily, for example, stepping over fallen beams and bricks. However, legged robots are inherently more complex. They have many more joints and are more difficult to control. The goal of the project is to use ideas from nature to overcome some of these difficulties. The shape and compliance of four-legged animals...
Read MoreProf. Abbott receives NIH grant entitled, “Magnetic Guidance for Improved Cochlear-Implant Insertion”
Jake Abbott (PI), in collaboration with researchers at the University of Utah and Vanderbilt University, was awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIDCD) grant “Magnetic Guidance for Improved Cochlear-Implant Insertion.” $1,842,850. 8/1/2014-7/31/2019....
Read MoreNSF — CHS: Small: Toward a New Generation of Untethered Magnetic Haptic Interfaces
Dr. Jake Abbott (PI) and David Johnson (co-PI) receive National Science Foundation grant, project entitled, “CHS: Small: Toward a New Generation of Untethered Magnetic Haptic Interfaces “. The three-year project has a budget of $500,000, duration 8/1/2014-7/31/2017....
Read MoreProf. Leang receives NSF grant to work with UAVs
Project title: PFI:BIC — Enhanced Situational Awareness Using Unmanned Autonomous Systems for Disaster Remediation, $800,000 (9/15/2014 – 9/14/2017) Team: PI: Kam K. Leang; Co-PIs: W. Yim (UNLV), G. Bebis, C. Murray, and G. Kent (UNR). Industry partners: Drone America and SpecTIR The goal of this project is to enhance the situational awareness capabilities of law enforcement agencies and first responders by employing unmanned autonomous systems (UAS) with high-resolution sensing and imaging capabilities for disaster remediation. Law enforcement agencies and first responders face significant challenges during an emergency event, such as a natural or anthropogenic disaster (earthquake, tsunami, fire, hurricane,...
Read MoreProf. Leang receives NSF grant: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HIGH-SPEED AFM IMAGING OF DYNAMICS ON BIOPOLYMERS THROUGH NON-RASTER SCANNING
Prof. Leang and collaborators at the Boston University receive $697,835 NSF grant: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: HIGH-SPEED AFM IMAGING OF DYNAMICS ON BIOPOLYMERS THROUGH NON-RASTER SCANNING. The primary aim of this project is to create a novel high-speed atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging system with frame rates of on the order of 100 frames/second. While the creation of this instrument may have a significant impact on a broad range of application areas, the primary target is the study of biomolecular processes. The extremely fast frame rate and long range will allow for the direct visualization of dynamic process that previously could...
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