This is my project for the CIT Honors Research Program.  From my work on this project, I was awarded the "Excellence in Undergraduate Research" Award at Commencement.

I was part of the CMU Robomechanics Lab ( https://www.cmu.edu/me/robomechanicslab/ ) during the 2017-2018 Academic Year.  I worked with my professor, Aaron Johnson, and lab-mate, Praxis Bayes.

We were inspired by mountain goats and their great maneuverability on mountainous terrain.  We focused on studying the mechanics of their lower limb, specifically of their hooves.  We worked on designing mechanical hooves that conform to steep and uneven surfaces, and experimented with material, geometry, and fabrication methods

The Big Question:
How can we improve the mobility of legged robots on steep and rocky surfaces?

Research Goal:
To understand the principles underlying improved mobility on steep and rocky terrain.
Focus: Mechanics of the Feet.

The "Minitaur," a 4-legged robot developed by Ghost Robotics was used as a testing platform.

Hoof Design
The Hoof body was printed using the Form 2 3D Printer, and the sole was cast.

Ankle Design
Fabricated from bending spring steel rods.

This project was for 24-671: Electromechanical Systems Design with Professor Mark Bedillion

For our Senior Design Capstone Project, we set out to design a device that will enhance the quality of life of Parkinson's Disease (PD) Patients, specifically by addressing micrographia (difficulty of writing due to hand tremors).  In the ideation stage, we converged on the idea of a pen grip that will be able to sense and counteract tremors.  Within our team of 5, we split into subgroups to work on enclosure design and controls.

We designed and fabricated a series of prototypes:

• Tremor Generator: Because we did not have the opportunity to work directly with PD patients, we created our own generator that simulates tremors of different characteristic frequencies between 4-6.4 Hz.
• Tremor Sensor: We built a sensing system to test that we can pick up tremors accurately and at a sufficient sampling rate.  Later, it was integrated into the Anti-Tremor Generator.
• Anti-Tremor Generator: A device that can sense tremors and produce torques to stabilize the hand.

Unfortunately, the device did not work as we had planned. The issue was our incorrect assumption of the system dynamics. We presumed that the rotation in the wrist and hand can be mostly dampened by a single rotating motor. This idea was proven to be achievable in a computer simulation, as presented by the results of the Simulink Model. However, we ran into problems during system integration, where we were getting unwanted vibrations in other degrees of freedom. Although the motor behaved as wanted (as commanded by the IMP Controller), and moved in the general direction in an attempt to counteract the tremors, it unfortunately introduced torques in other axes.

Lastly, we would like to thank the course staff for their tremendous help and support!