News – Page 10 – Robotics Center

Prof. Leang and collaborators receive new $3.8M NSF funding to work on electroactive polymer materials for soft robotics

Kam Leang in collaboration with UNLV-led team (Kwang J. Kim and Paul Oh) and other researchers receive new $3.8M NSF funding to work on electroactive polymer materials for soft robotics. Goal and Objectives: This international project addresses a technologically important issues in soft robotics. Soft robotics is an important emerging field in robotics, mechatronics, and automation. Soft robotic components and systems offer new features and advances over conventional robotic devices. This project focuses on the creation of advanced multifunctional artificial muscles (AM) based on new polymer-metal composites which can be used in soft robotic applications. Artificial muscles can be transformative for...

Prof. Meek receives new NIH grant to work on Quadrupedal Human-Assistive Robotic Platform (Q-HARP)

NRI: Collaborative Research: Quadrupedal Human-Assistive Robotic Platform (Q-HARP) Prof. Meek receives new 3-year $119,523 NIH grant to work on Quadrupedal Human-Assistive Robotic Platform (Q-HARP). Aging of the population has become a long-term trend in the United States. According to The State of Aging and Health in America, the U.S. population aged 65 and older is expected to double during the 25 years following 2007, and there will be 71 million American older adults, accounting for approximately 20% of the U.S. population by 2030. For the health and wellbeing of older adults, a key factor is being physically active. However,...

Prof. Leang receives NSF grant to work on temporal-spatial control of dual-stage nanopositioning systems

Prof. Leang and collaborators from industry (Molecular Vista, Inc. (MVI)) and Villanova University (Prof. Garrett Clayton) received a new NSF grant ($305,912) from Sensors, Dynamics, & Control program to study new design and control system approaches for the development of advanced nanopositioning systems for nanoscale science and engineering applications. More specifically, the new 3-year NSF collaborative Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) research project focuses on new design and control paradigms for dual-stage nanopositioners that consider both spatial and temporal constraints. Emerging dual-stage nanopositioners have the unique ability to achieve both long-range and high-speed operation. However, typical control strategies rely on frequency-based...

Robotics Student Receives DOD SMART Scholarship for graduate studies

Mechanical engineering major at the University of Utah, Joseph Melville receives DOD SMART Scholarship for graduate studies. A transfer student from Utah Valley University, Melville has been at the U for two years. The scholarship is for Science, Mathematics & Research for Transformation (SMART) and is funded by the Department of Defense (DOD), which offers full tuition, a yearly stipend, plus funding for supplies and health insurance. The award includes summer internships and a one-to-one service commitment to work as a civilian for the DOD at a sponsoring facility. From American Fork, Melville attributes his success to, “a good start at Utah County...

Prof. Meek’s NSF NRI project results in quadruped robot trotting

The video shows the quadruped robot trotting on a treadmill test fixture. The legs have fixed springs. There are no sensors or control except for the motion of the hips and shoulders. This is a demonstration of the passive stability with directionally compliant legs. This research project is led by robotics faculty Prof. Sanford Meek. The project “NSF NRI grant: Biologically-inspired, hybrid quadruped robot control” is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. ...

Dr. Tucker Hermans joins Utah Robotics as Assistant Professor in the School of Computing

Utah Robotics welcomes Dr. Tucker Hermans as Assistant Professor in the School of Computing. Dr. Hermans received his Ph.D. degree in Robotics from Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing in 2014. He worked under the supervision of Aaron Bobick and Jim Rehg in the Computational Perception Laboratory. Shortly before joining the University of Utah, Dr. Hermans was a postdoctoral researcher in the Intelligent Autonomous Systems lab at Technische Universitӓt Darmstadt in Darmstadt, Germany. There, he worked with Jan Peters on tactile manipulation and robot learning, while serving as the team leader at TUDa for the European Commission project TACMAN....

Photos of robotics students featured in Deseret News article

Photos of robotics students working the DARC Lab featured in a Deseret News article on Sunday, April 4, 2015. Link to the full article:http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865625733/Patching-the-pipeline-Educators-businesses-call-for-Utah-tech-talent.html ...

Prof. Abbott receives NSF Collaborative Research: Shepherding Biomedical Microswimmers Using Magnetic Fields

Jake Abbott (PI) receives NSF grant entitled, “Collaborative Research: Shepherding Biomedical Microswimmers Using Magnetic Fields”. Total budget: $230,427, duration: 8/15/2014-8/14/2017. This project is in collaboration with Henry Fu at the University of Nevada, Reno....

Prof. Leang receives DOE STTR Phase I grant for high-speed AFM

Prof. Leang and industry partner Molecular Vista, Inc., San Jose, CA, recently received Dept. of Energy STTR Phase 1 grant, “Video-rate atomic force microscope for functional gas and liquid environments”. In this 9-month project, the team plans to develop a prototype video-rate AFM system for investigating materials in gas and liquid environments. The $150,000 project will allow the team to show proof of concept with the hope of pursuing a Phase II grant to continue the work....

Prof. Meek receives NSF NRI grant: Biologically-inspired, hybrid quadruped robot control

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...