We are looking for students for these following projects

1.    Construction of a Mechatronic Device for Variable Stiffness in a Segmented Leg

Motivation:

Biological systems display amazing locomotion capabilities. The combination of their morphology (musculoskeletal structure, body shape, etc.) and their sensory-motor control allow them to traverse many different terrains and to switch easily among gaits to maintain varying levels of speed. At the same time animals are able to optimizing their movements with regard to their energy efficiency by adapting a number of parameters, e.g., leg stiffness, ground attack angle, swing amplitude, etc. With the goal to match these impressive capabilities, we want to investigate the contribution of these key parameters to the locomotion performance. In this project we will concentrate on one main factor, namely the leg stiffness.

Description:

Inspired by biomechanical studies a simplified model of the interaction of the robot with the ground has been proposed. The so-called SLIP (Spring Loaded Inverted Pendulum) model [1], despite its simplicity, is able to capture the main dynamic characteristics of locomotion of a number of different animals, even humans  [2]. The goal of the project is to design and construct, based on the SLIP model, a segmented leg with the capability to change its stiffness online. The design should be evaluated on a boom in combination with an optical tracking system. The influence of the stiffness to increase speed and energy efficiency under different conditions should be investigated.

2. Exploiting Friction for Robot Maneuverability

Motivation:

Biological systems display amazing locomotion capabilities. The combination of their morphology (musculoskeletal structure, body shape, etc.) and their sensory-motor control allows them to traverse many different terrains in a remarkable elegant and stable fashion. A key aspect of their success is the interaction of the animalʼs feet with the ground. In this context, an especially important parameter, as simulations and experiments with robots suggest, is the friction coefficient between the foot and the ground.

Description:

The goal of the project is to design and construct a mechatronic device to investigate how the change of the friction could be employed to increased the maneuverability of robots. Therefore, a new type of robot foot with a variable friction surface should be designed and constructed. It should have the capability to change the friction coefficient online in order to adapt to different surfaces. The performance of this foot should be evaluated in a number of experiments by using a boom and an optimal tracking system available at the Lab.

Candidate:

The candidate should have a strong background in mechanical design and general mechanics. The communication language is English. Programming skill are of advantage, but not mandatory.

What we offer:

The AI Lab is one of the most renowned robotics research places in the world. We offer an excellent and stimulating research environment with diverse people from all over the world. Locomorph is EU project, which goes beyond the state of the art of locomoting robots. The consortium consists of partners from all over Europe.

More information:

Project Locomorph: http://ailab.ifi.uzh.ch/research/locomorph

The AI Lab:! !         http://ailab.ifi.uzh.ch/

For further information please contact: Helmut Hauser!                     hhauser@ifi.uzh.ch Hung Vu Quy !                            vqhung@ifi.uzh.ch

Hung Vu Quy, Gilles Ramstein, Flurin Casanova, Lijin Aryananda, Matej Hoffmann, Farrukh Iqbal Sheikhand Helmut Hauser; Gait Versatility through Morphological Changes in A New Quadruped Robot accepted for The 5th International Symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines (AMAM2011) on October, 2011in  Osaka, Japan

Hung Vu Quy, Lijin Aryananda, Farrukh Iqbal Sheikh, Flurin Casanova, Rolf Pfeifer, A Novel Mechanism for Varying Stiffness Via Changing Transmission Angle, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2011) on May in Shanghai, China

Quy-Hung Vu, Byeong-Sang Kim and Jae-Bok Song. Autonomous Stair Climbing Algorithm for a Small Four-Tracked Robot, Proc. of International Conference on Control, Automation, and Systems (ICCAS2008). October 2008.

Byeong-Sang Kim, Quy-Hung Vu, and Jae-Bok Song. Novel design of a small field robot with multi-active crawlers capable of autonomous stair climbing, Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, Volume 24, Number 1, pages 343-350. January 2010.

Teaching Assistant for Formal Method II at Informatics Department

Fall semmester 2009

Fall semmester 2010

Fall semmester 2011

http://ailab.ifi.uzh.ch/teaching/fm11

University of Zurich