Changes between Version 33 and Version 34 of WikiStart

Timestamp:

Dec 2, 2018, 8:32:12 AM (5 years ago)

Author:

shailes

Comment:

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WikiStart

@@ -27 +27 @@
  1. Create a cheap legged robot, (starting with one leg), in which at least some of the actuators are hydraulic and powered by a 3D printed microfluidic pump. Ideally, explore mechanisms for adapting leg compliance. This mimics the way that biology works in spiders, for example. The intention is to develop this idea for use in search and rescue missions. Yet again, this project will involve making, some simple hardware design and construction, and software development - including firmware, and control code.
  1. Create a robot (a UAV or ground-based robot) that can autonomously deploy sensors AND retrieve a previously deployed sensor in an area of rough terrain. The housing of the sensor can be designed to make this easier, but this will involve making an appropriate gripper and using a mixture of GPS and machine vision to locate and collect the sensor.
- 1. Build a ground skimming UAV - this is intended to fly, primarily indoors, no more than 15cm above ground, avoiding obstacles in the process. Assess how well it it possible to localise the robot using optical flow and SLAM.
+ 1. Build a ground skimming UAV - this is intended to fly autonomously, primarily indoors (or on water), no more than ~5-15cm above ground, avoiding obstacles in the process. Assess how well it it possible to localise the robot using optical flow and SLAM. There are two options for this type of vehicle - a hovercraft (air cushion vehicle) or a WIG (wing in ground effect) vehicle. The control is non-trivial but likely to be interesting.
  1. Build the electronics and control systems, from scratch, for a 3D printed UAV that was developed by a previous MSc student. The emphasis is on cost reduction and robustness since the envisaged deployment domain is on natural hazards in the developing world.
  1. Simulate and then build very simple swarm robots, to be deployed in significant numbers. The evaluation process will likely involve hardware-in-the-loop simulation to provide appropriate scale.