DIMLab Stander Symposium Projects

This research aims to advance mechanism designs for mechanical presses by targeting desirable ram motion while meeting industry standards for joint forces. Mechanical presses, pivotal in shaping metal parts from pop cans to car fenders, are integral to industry due to their advantages in speed, cost, accuracy, precision, and energy efficiency over alternative forming methods. The prevalent use of mechanical presses has spurred a considerable number of companies to design and manufacture these machines, catering to diverse end-user needs. Given their ubiquity, even minor enhancements can significantly reduce processing times and energy consumption. This study focuses on optimizing five designs to improve their dwells, the amount of time they spend in contact with the material to be formed. Two of the designs are established in industry, while the remaining three propose novel advancements. The two industry-established designs provide baselines for performance, identifying acceptable dwell times and joint loads. The remaining three designs will be optimized to surpass the dwell time while respecting the same joint loads.

Continuum robots are inspired by biological organisms such as snakes, octopus tentacles, and elephant trunks to replicate their flexibility. These robots can navigate complex and confined spaces, enabling them to adapt to changing shapes and interact delicately with environments without causing damage. Hence, their inherent flexibility and maneuverability make continuum robots ideal for surgical procedures in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). However, MIS requires exacting precision in both the position of the surgical robot's tool (the end-effector) and the shape of the continuum robot (the backbone). The high flexibility of continuum robots introduces complexity in motion planning and control. Most surgical continuum robots have limited capability in changing the length of the backbone. This study presents numerical solutions for the inverse kinematics (IK) problem in inextensible piecewise constant curvature (IPCC) continuum robots with three segments. The result shows that the IPCC continuum robot IK problem has at least eight unique solutions. Additionally, this work presents a novel design for a backbone and actuating system of an IPCC continuum robot to enhance stiffness without loss of flexibility. This research has successfully achieved the objective of revealing kinematic redundancy and locomotion in IPCC continuum robots, enabling their application in the medical field.

This poster presents the methodology and theoretical foundation of topology optimization (TO) Results Spaceframe Interpreter, an automatic TO results interpreter that generates a closely associated space frame consisting of welded structural tubing or rectangular bars. TO is a computational technique that uses a finite element (FE) formulation to identify the most weight-efficient structure within a design domain. Density-based TO results in structures that take organic forms and is usually a tedious and cumbersome process to generate a computer-aided-design (CAD) model to manufacture through conventional techniques. The optimal topology frequently resembles a space frame, which is well-known as being a rigid, lightweight structure. The methodology of the TO results interpreter leverages several techniques from volumetric image processing and has four primary processes. First, the results are obtained from commercial FE/TO software and mapped into a cubic grid of voxels. Second, junction locations are extracted and member connectivity that represents a frame is identified. Third, a sizing optimization is incorporated to determine appropriate sectional dimensions of the circular or rectangular space frame members. Fourth, the optimized space frame geometry is imported into a CAD design tool to automatically create a design model. The automated TO interpreter is designed to interact with commercial FE analysis and CAD systems. The interpreter is demonstrated on various spatial examples including aerospace and automotive applications. In each case, the welded space frame closely resembles the TO result, with nearly equivalent stiffness and mass.

This research presents investigations into the cost-effective design of a soft robotic end-effector, engineered to perform tasks with dexterity and precision. The end-effector is being considered for performing manipulations either at the end of a continuum robot or as a stand-alone mechanism. The combination of a continuum robot and end-effector is expected to provide a high degree of flexibility and safety. Such a soft robotic manipulator exhibits potential across applications in the realm of aerospace maintenance, particularly for jet engines during repairs. A similar concept could be considered for a soft robot designed to navigate a pipe. Additionally, the soft aspect of the end-effector makes it suitable for recreational purposes, including a backyard "splash zone" or a larger water park installation. Several end-effector prototypes have been printed and tested.

Researchers in Mechanical Engineering at SUNY Stony Brook have recently developed a free-access, online tool called MotionGen which enables users to virtually synthesize and assemble 2-dimensional mechanisms. Designers can then animate the mechanisms and observe the motion to assess performance. The course MEE 321 Theory of Machines, a requirement in the University of Dayton Mechanical Engineering curriculum, focuses on the analysis and use of these systems. MotionGen provides a new resource for bringing the static images from that course's content to life via animations. MotionGen assists students in gaining exposure to functioning mechanisms by helping them visualize how linkages move, thus building a stronger understanding of the fundamental concepts for the course. A student team has created a significant number of short videos which range from simple mechanisms in motion to example videos breaking down complicated concepts like the “seize and fix” methodology for assessing degrees of freedom.

MotionGen, a kinematic analysis and synthesis tool, helps to readily develop working kinematic models of mechanisms, planar robotic systems, and heavy machinery like backhoes and bulldozers. By using MotionGen, these systems can be readily synthesized and animated. A team of DIMLab (Design of Innovative Machines Lab) students has been busy this semester learning MotionGen and using it to create novel yet practical designs. We have utilized MotionGen to model recumbent tricycles for people with disabilities who pedal with FES, to investigate novel architectures for mechanical presses, to ideate on a novel swinging door, and to assess the motion of a foldable airplane wing.

An aircraft without a vertical stabilizer and using a novel rotating empennage is currently under study at the Air Force Research Lab.  The project aims to produce a highly maneuverable tailless fighter aircraft that is inspired by the flight of hunting birds. Flying creatures do not have a vertical stabilizer and exhibit remarkable maneuverability by rotating their tail feathers for lateral stability and pitch control. In the tailless bio-inspired aircraft, lateral control is gained by providing the empennage with an additional degree of freedom.  The bio-inspired rotating empennage (BIRE) concept aircraft has the capability to rotate the empennage about the roll axis, in addition to tilting each horizontal stabilizer about the pitch axis. The selected platform for the BIRE project is a single-engine, supersonic, tactical aircraft, based on the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The design of the outer mold line, the mechanical drive and structural components is ongoing. This poster will illustrate the concept and current state of development. 

This research explores a spherical mechanism designed as a component in a wrist orthotic. A spherical mechanism, a little-used class of mechanical device, allows the limitations commonly associated with conventional wrist orthoses to be effectively addressed. With a theoretical model of the wrist orthotic and its component spherical mechanism developed in previous work, several questions remain. These questions include addressing the mechanical design issues to realize a working orthotic prototype and exploring the spherical mechanism fundamental to the orthotic to explore its unique properties. The spherical mechanism is classified as a drag-link device, meaning it is capable of large motions of many of its component links. To take advantage of these large motions, several design considerations need to be addressed by this work.