News – Page 8 – Robotics Center

Accepted 2017 ICRA papers by Utah Robotics Faculty and Students

The following papers by Utah Robotics faculty and students were recently accepted to the 2017 ICRA: P. Sabetian and J. Hollerbach, “A 3 Wire Body Weight Support System for a Large Treadmill”, IEEE Int. Conf. Robotics and Automation, 2017, to appear. J. J. Abbott, J. B. Brink, and B. Osting, “Computing Minimum-power Dipole Solutions for Interdipole Forces using Nonlinear Constrained Optimization with Application to Electromagnetic Formation Flight, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, accepted. K. M. Popek, T. Hermans, and J. J. Abbott, “First Demonstration of Simultaneous Localization and Propulsion of a Magnetic Capsule in a Lumen using a Single Rotating...

Prof. Mark Minor receives new $1.75M NSF grant for smart helmets

Project title: Reducing Traumatic Brain Injury Risk with Smart Collision Detection and Mitigation The goal of the project is to reduce the risk of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) through smart technology that collects sensory data to predict and characterize impacts in real-time, optimizes protective mechanisms based on impact characteristics (e.g., direction, velocity), and transmits final impact attributes to a database for further analysis and injury risk prediction. This technology will substantially improve TBI prevention and diagnosis in motor vehicle crashes, sports, and industrial accidents. The unique technology will leverage musculoskeletal and biomechanical computational models linking head linear and angular...

Open position in Design and Manufacturing (including robotics and automation systems)

Mechanical Engineering – Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Design and Manufacturing (including robotic and automation systems) Candidates with research interests and expertise in design and/or manufacturing are encouraged to apply. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: additive/advanced/novel/sustainable manufacturing methods and processes, engineered materials, compliant/soft systems, micro/nanosystems, robotic and automation systems, and medical devices. Candidates must have an established record of published research, must exhibit strong potential for extramural funding within their area of expertise, and are expected to develop a vigorous research program. Candidates must also be qualified to teach courses in the core (under)graduate curriculum of a mechanical engineering...

Jake Abbott’s group publishes in IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters

Jake Abbott’s group publishes two new research papers, one on how humans interact with robots designed for precision tasks such as microsurgery and another on localizing magnetic capsule endoscopes inside the human body. In their new paper “Human Velocity Control of Admittance-Type Robotic Devices With Scaled Visual Feedback of Device Motion,” published in the IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, Dr. Abbott’s group describes the control of a class of robots uses for very precise tasks. These robots are heavily geared, so that they only move in a very controlled way, and the human operator interacts directly with a force sensor...

Postdoctoral Position Available in Aerial Robotics Based Chemical Source Detection and Localization

A postdoctoral position is available in aerial robotics based chemical source detection and localization at the DARC Lab, University of Utah Robotics Center. Applicants should have a PhD in engineering (e.g., mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, etc.) or computer science, with a strong background in robotics and autonomous systems, specifically motion planning (including experience with collision avoidance), artificial intelligence (e.g., MDPs, POMDPs, etc.), and control systems. The candidate should have a desire to take on leadership responsibilities and work with graduate students, and he/she is expected to interface with an industry partner. Preference will be given to applicants with following additional skills: extensive programming skills (C/C++/Python/Matlab); experience with ROS and...

Prof. Tucker Herman’s and colleagues’ IROS 2016 paper accepted

Prof. Tucker Hermans paper entitled, “Active Tactile Object Exploration with Gaussian Processes”, was recently accepted to the 2016 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). His co-authors are Zhengkun Yi, Roberto Calandra, Filipe Veiga, Herke van Hoof, Yilei Zhang, and Jan Peters. ABSTRACTAccurate object shape knowledge provides important information for performing stable grasping and dexterous manipulation. When modeling an object using tactile sensors, touching the object surface at a fixed grid of points can be prohibitively time consuming. In this paper, we present an active touch strategy to efficiently reduce the surface geometry uncertainty by leveraging a probabilistic representation of object surface. In particular,...

Leang, Pardyjak, & Nevada NanoTech Receive US Army DOD Grant to Develop Chemical Sensing Aerial Robot

Kam Leang and Eric Pardyjak partnering with company Nevada NanoTech Systems, Inc., receive US Army DOD grant to develop a chemical sensing aerial robot. The two-year $1,000,000 (Utah’s share of $330,000) project, entitled, “STTR Phase II: Autonomous Broad Spectrum Environmental Sentinels“, will focus on developing an autonomous, hover-capable, flying robot with integrated real-time chemical sensing, inter-unit communication and basics swarming capabilities, and the potential for self-powering. The final platform will detect and identify airborne chemicals using an onboard Molecular Property Spectrometer (MPS)—a low-cost, MEMS-based, lab-on-a-chip platform developed with support from DARPA and the DOD. This chip provides multi-mode chemical analysis with...

Kingstedt Joins University of Utah Faculty

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Undergrad Wins SURF Speaking Competition

Pasadena Calif. – Caltech Material science undergraduate student Moriah Bischann, mentored by aerospace postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Owen Kingstedt, is the winner of the Doris S. Perpall Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) Speaking Competition. She was recognized as the best speakers-out of the 200 students who presented their SURF research. Read the full story . . ....

Kingstedt Presents at SEM International Congress Conference

Dr. Kingstedt presents his work on the thermal signatures of deformation mechanisms and the localization evolution prior to failure in Mg Alloy AZ31B at the Society of Experimental Mechanics International Congress in Orlando, FL, June 2016. The Society for Experimental Mechanics is composed of international members from academia, government, and industry who are committed to interdisciplinary application, research and development, education, and active promotion of experimental methods to: (a) increase the knowledge of physical phenomena; (b) further the understanding of the behavior of materials, structures and systems; and (c) provide the necessary physical basis and verification for analytical and...