Mechanical and controller design of a modular mechatronic device - mechacell
Author
Ristevski, Stefan
Advisor
Çakmakcı, Melih
Date
2015-08Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
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Abstract
Since ancient times people have been building tools to aid them in their life.
Robots evolved from being purely mechanical to mechatronic, from immobile to
mobile and became smaller in scale. As the technology in building robots matured
researchers, began working to build robotic systems that cooperate similar to the
ones in nature. Ability of ants to accomplish tasks beyond the capability of a
single ant intrigued scientists in robotics society to mimic that feature of ants and
develop simple modules that alone cannot accomplish much, but together can
complete complex assignments. Our motivation is to develop a miniaturizable
mechatronic module{MechaCell.
Mechanical design focuses on a novel locomotion system having a mechanism
that converts vibrations into translational motion. Two independent controllers,
one for steering and one for translational speed control are designed such that
MechaCell can follow a complex path and group of MechaCells can guide an
object to follow a complex path.
Simulation results from the model of the MechaCell developed in SimMechanics
are presented. Experimental setup comprising of a Bluetooth enabled PC, a
platform, an overhead camera and four MechaCells is set up and simulation results
are experimentally veri ed.
Possible application of coordinated object manipulation is in manufacturing systems
that have limited xture capabilities and desired precision in sub{centimeter
levels.