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Description
The field of robotics is rapidly expanding, and with it, the methods of teaching and introducing students must also advance alongside new technologies. There is a challenge in robotics education, especially at high school levels, to expose them to more modern and practical robots. One way to bridge this gap is human-robot interaction for a more hands-on and impactful experience that will leave students more interested in pursuing the field. Our project is a Robotic Head Kit that can be used in an educational setting to teach about its electrical, mechanical, programming, and psychological concepts. We took an existing robot head prototype and further advanced it so it can be easily assembled while still maintaining human complexity. Our research for this project dove into the electronics, mechanics, software, and even psychological barriers present in order to advance the already existing head design. The kit we have developed combines the field of robotics with psychology to create and add more life-like features and functionality to the robot, nicknamed "James Junior." The goal of our Honors Thesis was to initially fix electrical, mechanical, and software problems present. We were then tasked to run tests with high school students to validate our assembly instructions while gathering their observations and feedback about the robot's programmed reactions and emotions. The electrical problems were solved with custom PCBs designed to power and program the existing servo motors on the head. A new set of assembly instructions were written and modifications to the 3D printed parts were made for the kit. In software, existing code was improved to implement a user interface via keypad and joystick to give students control of the robot head they construct themselves. The results of our tests showed that we were not only successful in creating an intuitive robot head kit that could be easily assembled by high school students, but we were also successful in programming human-like expressions that could be emotionally perceived by the students.
ContributorsRathke, Benjamin (Co-author) / Rivera, Gerardo (Co-author) / Sodemann, Angela (Thesis director) / Itagi, Manjunath (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Motion simulators are a common feature in everything from high end science museums to amusement parks, allowing a full ride experience on a small footprint and at a comparatively low cost relative to full size rides. The rapidly advancing field of virtual reality provides a potential increase in this desire for motion simulators, by combing virtual reality with motion simulation, total immersions can be created that is competitive with theme parks. While there exists a small number of commercially available consumer motion simulators, these tend to not have a wide enough range of motion to provide flexibility for use cases. This report is the documentation of an attempt to create a low cost consumer grade motion simulator prototype to determine to what extent an adequate motion simulation experience can be created in the home environment. This design made use of a two degree of freedom platform mounted on a universal joint as a trade off between flexibility of use and affordability of the end product. Ultimately, although the design and motor selection was sound, structural issues prevented the design from being capable of withstanding the necessary forces. However, as a prototype, important lessons were learned that could apply to a better-constructed second generation design. The results definitely show that motion simulators will, in the near future, become feasible for in-home amusement park recreation, at least for some amusement park rides.
ContributorsMiller, Alec Michael (Author) / Sodemann, Angela (Thesis director) / Gintz, Jerry (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
With the growing popularity of 3d printing in recreational, research, and commercial enterprises new techniques and processes are being developed to improve the quality of parts created. Even so, the anisotropic properties is still a major hindrance of parts manufactured in this method. The goal is to produce parts that mimic the strength characteristics of a comparable part of the same design and materials created using injection molding. In achieving this goal the production cost can be reduced by eliminating the initial investment needed for the creation of expensive tooling. This initial investment reduction will allow for a wider variant of products in smaller batch runs to be made available. This thesis implements the use of ultraviolet (UV) illumination for an in-process laser local pre-deposition heating (LLPH). By comparing samples with and without the LLPH process it is determined that applied energy that is absorbed by the polymer is converted to an increase in the interlayer temperature, and resulting in an observed increase in tensile strength over the baseline test samples. The increase in interlayer bonding thus can be considered the dominating factor over polymer degradation.
ContributorsKusel, Scott Daniel (Author) / Hsu, Keng (Thesis advisor) / Sodemann, Angela (Committee member) / Kannan, Arunachala M (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This is a report on an experiment that examines if the principles of multimedia learning outlined in Richard E. Mayer’s journal article, “Using multimedia for e-learning”, located in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning would apply to haptic feedback used for haptic robotic operation. This was tested by developing and using a haptic robotic manipulator known as the Haptic Testbed (HTB). The HTB is a manipulator designed to emulate human hand movement for haptic testing purposes and features an index finger and thumb for the right hand. Control is conducted through a Leap Motion Controller, a visual sensor that uses infrared lights and cameras to gather various data about hands it can see. The goal of the experiment was to have test subjects complete a task where they shifted objects along a circuit of positions where they were measured on time to complete the circuit as well as accuracy in reaching the individual points. Analysis of subject responses to surveys as well as performance during the experiment showed haptic feedback during training improving initial performance of individuals as well as lowering mental effort and mental demand during said training. The findings of this experiment showed support for the hypothesis that Mayer’s principles do apply to haptic feedback in training for haptic robotic manipulation. One of the implications of this experiment would be the possibility for haptics and tactile senses to be an applicable sense for Mayer’s principles of multimedia learning as most of the current work in the field is mostly focused on visual or auditory senses. If the results of the experiment were replicated in a future experiment it would provide support to the hypothesis that the principles of multimedia learning can be utilized to improve the training of haptic robotic operation.
ContributorsGiam, Connor Dallas (Author) / Craig, Scotty (Thesis director) / Sodemann, Angela (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05