Enabling multimodal robots via controllable adhesives
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This thesis is about the design and analysis of robots that use adhesives to combine multiple modes of operation. Examples of multimodal operation include ballistic or powered flight combined with perching and crawling. In each case, the robots are made possible by a proliferation of components -- from microprocessors to sensors and motors -- that have accompanied the growth of drones or quadrotors in consumer markets. The components are compact and light enough that it is possible to support multiple modes of operation on a small platform. The thesis takes a cue from small creatures such as insects, most of which have multiple modes of operation (e.g. flying and crawling) and which can often move objects many times their weight through the use of attachment mechanisms at the tarsus of each limb. Examining the strategies of insects such as wasps leads to insights for designing and modeling the multimodal robots outfitted with gecko-inspired adhesives. The resulting platforms are capable of tasks that no single mode of operation can support. For example, one of these platforms, named FlyCroTugs, can fly rapidly to remote sites, attach a tether to a heavy object, land and then pull that object with a force many times the robot's weight. The FlyCroTugs use gecko-inspired adhesives to anchor themselves when applying large forces. Another example involves a small robot, named KlingOn, that can transition from ballistic flight to crawling on a vertical surface, using the same gecko-inspired adhesives. A third example involves a gripper that can capture free-floating objects with a flexible-backed adhesives. Further insights arise when considering scaling laws applicable to small multimodal robots that use adhesion. At the scale of these robots, contact forces typically dominate the dynamics when the robots are interacting with objects. Therefore, modeling the force constraints associated with the adhesives leads to corresponding dynamic constraints on the robots, in terms of their trajectories and velocities. The adhesive force constraints also have implications for the dimensions, geometry, stiffness and damping of the robot attachment pads and grippers. Ultimately this thesis posits that increased attention to robotic end-effectors and attachment mechanisms can promote the efficacy of small, multimodal robotic systems interacting with their environment.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2018; ©2018 |
| Publication date | 2018; 2018 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Estrada, Matthew Alfonso |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Cutkosky, Mark R |
| Thesis advisor | Cutkosky, Mark R |
| Thesis advisor | Mitiguy, Paul |
| Thesis advisor | Pavone, Marco, 1980- |
| Degree committee member | Mitiguy, Paul |
| Degree committee member | Pavone, Marco, 1980- |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Matthew Alfonso Estrada. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2018. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2018 by Matthew Alfonso Estrada
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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