Data, AI, Robotics, Muay Thai
Flexible physical connection and disconnection based on thermoplastic adhesives (TPA)
The work addresses the problem of inflexibility in physical connection and disconnection. Existing mechanisms such as vacuum suction, vortex suction, female-male connectors, hooks and spines, electromagnetic connectors, active grippers, electrostatic adhesion, and dry pressure-sensitive adhesion all require special design features or material properties on the connecting surfaces. By controlling the adhesion strength of TPA across four orders of magnitude (100 Pa - 1 MPa), I show flexible connection with and disconnection from raw-material blocks such as wood and metal with a thermal feedback controller.
Related publication:
Wang, L. and Iida, F. (2012). Physical connection and disconnection control based on hot melt adhesives, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 18(4): 1397-1409. abstract
Wang, L. and Iida, F. (2012) Towards soft self-reconfigurable robots. In Proceedings of the 4th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), 24-28 June 2012, Rome, Italy, 593-598. abstract
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ThermsBond: Large-payload climbing in complex vertical environments based on TPA
There has been many robotic climbing technologies for smooth or rough, flat or curved vertical surfaces, but none for complex vertical environments unless they are ferromagnetic. The work develops a robotic climbing technology based on the control of thermo-adhesion of TPA bonds. Results with two climbing robots show a high ratio of 500% between dynamic payloads and body mass can be achieved for stable and repeatable vertical climbing on flat surfaces at a low speed. Assessments on four types of complex vertical
terrains with a terrain shape index ranging from −0.114 to 0.167, return a universal success rate of 80%–100%.
Related publication:
Wang, L., Graber, L., and Iida, F. (2013). Large-payload climbing in complex vertical environments using thermoplastic adhesive bonds, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 29(4):863-874. abstract
Wang, L., Graber, L., and Iida, F. (2012) Climbing vertical terrains with a self-contained robot. In Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 7-12 October, Vilamoura, Portugal, 305-310. abstract
Wang, L., Neuschaefer, F., Bernet, R., and Iida, F. (2012) Design considerations for attachment and detachment in robot climbing with hot melt adhesives. In Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 14-18 May, St Paul, USA, 1181-1186. abstract
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Robozome: Sequential single-ended ribbon folding into 3D and planar structures
The work addresses the problem of real-world execution of folding from 1D or 1.5D to 3D. Prior work exists in algorithms and computer simulation, but real-world execution has only been shown in wire-bending machines. I propose a method for robotic folding of ribbons prepared as smart composite microstructures (SCM) with TPA addition, as well as a motion planning algorithm for sequential single-ended ribbon folding. Results demonstrate robotic ribbon folding into 2D static structures such as triangles and squares, 3D static structures, and planar kinematic linkages such as a simple non-crossing four-bar mechanism. Burn-in result shows a four-bar mechanism with all bars' length of 5 cm could move for over 660 cycles.
Related publication:
Wang, L., Plecnik, M., and Fearing, R. S. (2016) Robotic folding of 2D and 3D structures from a linear ribbon. In Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 16-21 May 2016, Stockholm, Sweden, 3655-3660. abstract
Nagabandi, A., Wang, L., and Fearing, R. S. (2016) A path planning algorithm for single-ended continuous planar robotic ribbon folding. In Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 9-14 October 2016, Daejeon, South Korea, 3239-3246. abstract
Fused deposition modelling (FDM) of TPA
The work addresses the problem of inflexibility in physical connection and disconnection. Existing mechanisms such as vacuum suction, vortex suction, female-male connectors, hooks and spines, electromagnetic connectors, active grippers, electrostatic adhesion, and dry pressure-sensitive adhesion all require special design features or material properties on the connecting surfaces. By controlling the adhesion strength of TPA across four orders of magnitude (100 Pa - 1 MPa), I show flexible connection with and disconnection from raw-material blocks such as wood and metal with a thermal feedback controller.
Related publication:
Wang, L., Brodbeck, L., and Iida, F. (2014). Mechanics and energetics in tool manufacture and use: A synthetic approach, Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11:20140827. abstract
Leach, D., Wang, L. (co-first author), Reusser, D., and Iida, F. (2014). Automatic building of a web-like structure based on thermoplastic adhesive, Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 9(3): 036014. abstract
Nurzaman, S.G., Culha, U., Brodbeck, L., Wang, L., and Iida, F. (2013). Active sensing system with in situ adjustable sensor morphology, PLOS ONE, 8(12): e84090. full text
Leach, D., Wang, L., Reusser, D. and Iida, F. (2013) In situ thermoplastic thread
formation for robot built structures. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Advanced Robotics (ICAR), 25-29 November 2013, Montevideo, Uruguay, 1-6. abstract
Brodbeck, L., Wang, L., and Iida, F. (2012) Robotic body extension based on hot melt adhesives. In Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 14-18 May, St Paul, USA, 4322-4327. abstract