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Exoskeletal Hand Fixture for use with Tool Balancing arm for Packing/Warehouse Applications

Description

Many industries require workers in warehouse and stockroom environments to perform frequent lifting tasks. Over time these repeated tasks can lead to excess strain on the worker's body and reduced productivity. This project seeks to develop an exoskeletal wrist fixture to be used in conjunction with a powered exoskeleton arm…

Many industries require workers in warehouse and stockroom environments to perform frequent lifting tasks. Over time these repeated tasks can lead to excess strain on the worker's body and reduced productivity. This project seeks to develop an exoskeletal wrist fixture to be used in conjunction with a powered exoskeleton arm to aid workers performing box lifting types of tasks. Existing products aimed at improving worker comfort and productivity typically employ either fully powered exoskeleton suits or utilize minimally powered spring arms and/or fixtures. These designs either reduce stress to the user's body through powered arms and grippers operated via handheld controls which have limited functionality, or they use a more minimal setup that reduces some load, but exposes the user's hands and wrists to injury by directing support to the forearm. The design proposed here seeks to strike a balance between size, weight, and power requirements and also proposes a novel wrist exoskeleton design which minimizes stress on the user's wrists by directly interfacing with the object to be picked up. The design of the wrist exoskeleton was approached through initially selecting degrees of freedom and a ROM (range of motion) to accommodate. Feel and functionality were improved through an iterative prototyping process which yielded two primary designs. A novel "clip-in" method was proposed to allow the user to easily attach and detach from the exoskeleton. Designs utilized a contact surface intended to be used with dry fibrillary adhesives to maximize exoskeleton grip. Two final designs, which used two pivots in opposite kinematic order, were constructed and tested to determine the best kinematic layout. The best design had two prototypes created to be worn with passive test arms that attached to the user though a specially designed belt.

ContributorsGreason, Kenneth Berend (Author) / Sugar, Thomas (Thesis director) / Holgate, Matthew (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2016-12

Modeling 3D-Printed Composite Honeycomb Structures with the Representative Lattice Element Method

Description

The goal of our research was to develop and validate a method for predicting the mechanical behavior of Additively Manufactured multi-material honeycomb structures. Multiple approaches already exist in the field for modeling the behavior of cellular materials, including the bulk property assumption, homogenization and strut level characterization [1]. With the…

The goal of our research was to develop and validate a method for predicting the mechanical behavior of Additively Manufactured multi-material honeycomb structures. Multiple approaches already exist in the field for modeling the behavior of cellular materials, including the bulk property assumption, homogenization and strut level characterization [1]. With the bulk property approach, the structure is assumed to behave according to what is known about the material in its bulk formulation, without regard to its geometry or scale. With the homogenization technique, the specimen that is being tested is treated as a solid material within the simulation environment even if the physical specimen is not. Then, reduced mechanical properties are assigned to the specimen to account for any voids that exist within the physical specimen. This approach to mechanical behavior prediction in cellular materials is shape dependent. In other words, the same model cannot be used from one specimen to the next if the cell shapes of those lattices differ in any way. When using the strut level characterization approach, a single strut (the connecting member between nodes constituting a cellular material) is isolated and tested. With this approach, there tends to be a significant deviation in the experimental data due to the small size of the isolated struts. Yet it has the advantage of not being shape sensitive, at least in principle. The method that we developed, and chose to test lies within the latter category, and is what we have coined as the Representative Lattice Element (RLE) Method. This method is modeled after the well-established Representative Volume Element (RVE) method [2]. We define the RLE as the smallest unit over which mechanical tests can be conducted that will provide results which are representative of the larger lattice structure. In other words, the theory is that a single member (or beam in this case) of a honeycomb structure can be taken, tests can be conducted on this member to determine the mechanical properties of the representative lattice element and the results will be representative of the mechanical behavior whole structure. To investigate this theory, we designed specimens, conducted various tensile and compression tests, analyzed the recorded data, conducted a micromechanics study, and performed structural simulation work using commercial Finite Element Analysis software.

ContributorsSalti, Ziyad Zuheir (Co-author) / Eppley, Trevor (Co-author) / Bhate, Dhruv (Thesis director) / Song, Kenan (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2018-05

Lower Limb Gait Simulator Based on a Pure External Force

Description

For the past two decades, advanced Limb Gait Simulators and Exoskeletons have been developed to improve walking rehabilitation. A Limb Gait Simulator is used to analyze the human step cycle and/or assist a user walking on a treadmill. Most modern limb gait simulators, such as ALEX, have proven themselves effective…

For the past two decades, advanced Limb Gait Simulators and Exoskeletons have been developed to improve walking rehabilitation. A Limb Gait Simulator is used to analyze the human step cycle and/or assist a user walking on a treadmill. Most modern limb gait simulators, such as ALEX, have proven themselves effective and reliable through their usage of motors, springs, cables, elastics, pneumatics and reaction loads. These mechanisms apply internal forces and reaction loads to the body. On the other hand, external forces are those caused by an external agent outside the system such as air, water, or magnets. A design for an exoskeleton using external forces has seldom been attempted by researchers. This thesis project focuses on the development of a Limb Gait Simulator based on a Pure External Force and has proven its effectiveness in generating torque on the human leg. The external force is generated through air propulsion using an Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) motor. Such a motor is typically used for remote control airplanes, but their applications can go beyond this. The objective of this research is to generate torque on the human leg through the control of the EDF engines thrust and the opening/closing of the reverse thruster flaps. This device qualifies as "assist as needed"; the user is entirely in control of how much assistance he or she may want. Static thrust values for the EDF engine are recorded using a thrust test stand. The product of the thrust (N) and the distance on the thigh (m) is the resulting torque. With the motor running at maximum RPM, the highest torque value reached was that of 3.93 (Nm). The motor EDF motor is powered by a 6S 5000 mAh LiPo battery. This torque value could be increased with the usage of a second battery connected in series, but this comes at a price. The designed limb gait simulator demonstrates that external forces, such as air, could have potential in the development of future rehabilitation devices.

ContributorsToulouse, Tanguy Nathan (Author) / Sugar, Thomas (Thesis director) / Artemiadis, Panagiotis (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2016-12

Design of a Cable Driven Drone for Perching

Description

The researchers build a drone with a grasping mechanism to wrap around branches to perch. The design process and methodology are discussed along with the software and hardware configuration. The researchers explain the influences on the design and the possibilities for what it could inspire.

ContributorsDowney, Matthew Evan (Co-author) / Macias, Jose (Co-author) / Goldenberg, Edward (Co-author) / Zhang, Wenlong (Thesis director) / Aukes, Daniel (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05

Design of a Cable Driven Drone for Perching

Description

The researchers build a drone with a grasping mechanism to wrap around branches to perch. The design process and methodology are discussed along with the software and hardware configuration. The researchers explain the influences on the design and the possibilities for what it could inspire.

ContributorsGoldenberg, Edward Bradley (Co-author) / Macias, Jose Carlos (Co-author) / Downey, Matthew (Co-author) / Zhang, Wenlong (Thesis director) / Aukes, Daniel M. (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05

Design of a Cable Driven Drone for Perching

Description

The majority of drones are extremely simple, their functions include flight and sometimes recording video and audio. While drone technology has continued to improve these functions, particularly flight, additional functions have not been added to mainstream drones. Although these basic functions serve as a good framework for drone designs, it…

The majority of drones are extremely simple, their functions include flight and sometimes recording video and audio. While drone technology has continued to improve these functions, particularly flight, additional functions have not been added to mainstream drones. Although these basic functions serve as a good framework for drone designs, it is now time to extend off from this framework. With this Honors Thesis project, we introduce a new function intended to eventually become common to drones. This feature is a grasping mechanism that is capable of perching on branches and carrying loads within the weight limit. This concept stems from the natural behavior of many kinds of insects. It paves the way for drones to further imitate the natural design of flying creatures. Additionally, it serves to advocate for dynamic drone frames, or morphing drone frames, to become more common practice in drone designs.

ContributorsMacias, Jose Carlos (Co-author) / Goldenberg, Edward Bradley (Co-author) / Downey, Matthew (Co-author) / Zhang, Wenlong (Thesis director) / Aukes, Daniel (Committee member) / Human Systems Engineering (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05

Investigating the Effects of Geometry Shapes on FDM Printing Overhangs Without Support

Description

With FDM printing becoming ubiquitous within the commercial and private sectors, there are many who would want to print a part without supports for a variety of reasons. Usually, they want to prints a part with difficult to reach places that would make it impossible to remove any support material…

With FDM printing becoming ubiquitous within the commercial and private sectors, there are many who would want to print a part without supports for a variety of reasons. Usually, they want to prints a part with difficult to reach places that would make it impossible to remove any support material without damaging the part. I will be going over options to consider when designing parts to ensure a given model will be able to be printed without support material.

ContributorsYoshitake, Jacob (Author) / Sugar, Thomas (Thesis director) / Redkar, Sangram (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor)

Created2021-12

Manna: An Autonomously Guided Parachute Delivery System

Description

Mission aviation groups operate aircraft in areas with limited infrastructure. Existing airdrop methods pose significant risk due to their lack of steerability. This thesis details the development of Manna, a system built to address these concerns. Manna provides an automated, low cost, safe steerable delivery platform, through a custom designed…

Mission aviation groups operate aircraft in areas with limited infrastructure. Existing airdrop methods pose significant risk due to their lack of steerability. This thesis details the development of Manna, a system built to address these concerns. Manna provides an automated, low cost, safe steerable delivery platform, through a custom designed parafoil and guidance unit. Flight tests and simulations show that Manna can provide a safer alternative for critical air deliveries.

ContributorsSchlichting, Audrey (Author) / Severinghaus, Lukas (Co-author) / Wende, Anthony (Thesis director) / Delp, Deana (Committee member) / Takahashi, Timothy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Aviation Programs (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor)

Created2023-05

Manna: An Autonomously Guided Parachute Delivery System

Description

Mission aviation groups operate aircraft in areas with limited infrastructure. Existing airdrop methods pose significant risk due to their lack of steerability. This thesis details the development of Manna, a system built to address these concerns. Manna provides an automated, low cost, safe steerable delivery platform, through a custom designed…

Mission aviation groups operate aircraft in areas with limited infrastructure. Existing airdrop methods pose significant risk due to their lack of steerability. This thesis details the development of Manna, a system built to address these concerns. Manna provides an automated, low cost, safe steerable delivery platform, through a custom designed parafoil and guidance unit. Flight tests and simulations show that Manna can provide a safer alternative for critical air deliveries.

ContributorsSeveringhaus, Lukas (Author) / Schlichting, Audrey (Co-author) / Wende, Anthony (Thesis director) / Delp, Deana (Committee member) / Takahashi, Timothy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor)

Created2023-05

Social Insect-Inspired Behaviors for Collective Search Operations by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Swarms

Description

A swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has many potential applications including disaster relief, search and rescue, and area surveillance. A critical factor to a UAV swarm’s success is its ability to collectively locate and pursue targets determined to be of high quality with minimal and decentralized communication. Prior work…

A swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has many potential applications including disaster relief, search and rescue, and area surveillance. A critical factor to a UAV swarm’s success is its ability to collectively locate and pursue targets determined to be of high quality with minimal and decentralized communication. Prior work has investigated nature-based solutions to this problem, in particular the behavior of honeybees when making decisions on future nest sites. A UAV swarm may mimic this behavior for similar ends, taking advantage of widespread sensor coverage induced by a large population. To determine whether the proven success of honeybee strategies may still be found in UAV swarms in more complex and difficult conditions, a series of simulations were created in Python using a behavior modeled after the work of Cooke et al. UAV and environmental properties were varied to determine the importance of each to the success of the swarm and to find emergent behaviors caused by combinations of variables. From the simulation work done, it was found that agent population and lifespan were the two most important factors to swarm success, with preference towards small teams with long-lasting UAVs.

ContributorsGao, Max (Author) / Berman, Spring (Thesis director) / Pavlic, Theodore (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor)

Created2023-05

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