Research Projects

C. Winston, H. J. Choi, R. Jitosho, Z. Zhakypov, J. E. Palmer, M. R. Cutkosky, A. M. Okamura, “Fourigami: A 4-Degree-of-Freedom, Force-Controlled, Origami, Finger Pad Haptic Device,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2024, submitted.

Description

I recently designed and built a 4 degree of freedom origami fingertip haptic device that will allow users to interact with virtual objects in VR environments. The device’s structure is made from sheets of fiberglass and kapton laminate. Gaps in the fiberglass expose portions of kapton on the sheet that act as hinges in the structure. The entire device can then be folded together and worn on the fingertip. It is actuated with pneumatic pouches and springs at the base of the structure that move the legs of the device and push the tactor against the users fingertip. This work was recently submitted to Transactions on Robotics and was presented at an ICRA workshop where it was given a best presentation award.

Contributions/ Skills Used

• Iterative mechanical design of the device’s laminate structure and actuators (in Solidworks)

• Device fabrication and mechatronics

• Programmed and validated a force-control-based system

• Device workspace, force, and bandwidth characterization

C. Winston, L. Casey, “OriTrack: A Small, 3 Degree-of-Freedom, Origami Solar Tracker”, 2024 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2024, accepted.

Description

In response to the need for sustainable energy solutions, solar panels have gained significant traction. One way to increase the energy capture of solar systems is through solar tracking, a means of reorienting solar panels throughout the day in order to face the sun. The energy consumption increase that comes with solar tracking often far outweighs the amount of energy required to move the panel, which makes it a compelling strategy for improving solar systems. Unfortunately, while solar trackers are commonly used in large solar farms, they are rarely used on rooftops, an area where solar panels are commonly installed. This is for two primary reasons: (1) most commercially available solar trackers are too large to be installed on roofs and (2) even if traditional solar trackers were made in a more compact form-factor it would be difficult to densely lay them out on a roof without the trackers substantially shading each other. In order to address these issues, we introduce OriTrack, a small three-degree-of-freedom (3 DOF) solar tracker which reduces the area of its shadow by reducing its height as it tracks the sun. My paper discusses the design, manufacturing, and control of OriTrack. We also compared OriTrack to a flat reference panel, the solar energy solution commonly used on roofs today, and found that OriTrack demonstrated 23% increased energy production. This result suggests OriTrack could be used as a future solution for solar tracking on rooftops.

Contributions/ Skills Used

• This was a project I completed as a research intern at X, The Moonshot Factory (Google X) as part of the Tapestry project. During that summer I did the following...

• Presented paper at International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2024

• Submitted patent application with X employees

• Iterative mechanical design and fabrication of device's structure

• Device orientation control and mechatronics

• Outdoor testing and validation

C. Winston, “Design of Compliant Structures for Aerial-Aquatic Robots,” thesis, 2021 

Description

In order for fixed wing aerial robots to manover during flight, the wings must change their camber, the convexity of the curve of a wing from the leading edge to the trailing edge. This is typically done with flaps at the wing’s trailing edge, which changes the wings camber, but also generates lots of drag. A more aerodynamically efficient way to do this would be to bend the wing’s structure while maintaining a smooth aerodynamic surface. During my master’s at Imperial College London, I designed a camber morphing wing that does this by utilizing a flexible honeycomb structure driven by a tendon mechanism that allows the wing to change shape. The wing also uses laminar jamming to lock the wing into specific configurations so that it can remain in a desired shape without continuously running the actuators to maintain that shape. Based on wind tunnel tests, this increase in aerodynamic efficiency and use of shape locking should decrease power expenditure during flight by ~33%. 

Contributions/ Skills Used

• This was the primary project for my Master’s in Aerospace Engineering advised by Prof. Mirko Kovac. Throughout the project I did the following...

• Iterative mechanical design (in Solidworks) and fabrication of the wing

• Analytical and FEA modeling of the wing’s honeycomb and layer jamming structure

• Model validation with Instron testing

• Wingtip deflection control and mechatronic design

• Windtunnel testing and data analysis

F. Wiesemüller, C. Winston, A. Poulin, X. Aeby, A. Miriyev, T. Geiger, G. Nyström, and M. Kovač, “Self-sensing cellulose structures with design-controlled stiffness,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 4017–4024, 2021, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2021.3067243

Description

Robots are often used for sensing and sampling in natural environments. Within this area, soft robots have become increasingly popular for these tasks because their mechanical compliance makes them safer to interact with. Unfortunately, if these robots break while working in vulnerable environments, they create potentially hazardous waste. Consequently, the development of compliant, biodegradable structures for soft, eco-robots is a relevant research area that I explored in this project. Cellulose is one of the most abundant biodegradable materials on earth, but it is naturally very stiff, which makes it difficult to use in soft robots. In this project, I looked at both biologically and kirigami inspired structures that can be used to reduce the stiffness of cellulose based parts for soft robots up to a factor of 19000. To demonstrate this, a labmate and I built a compliant force and displacement sensing structure from microfibrillated cellulose. This work was published in the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

Contributions/ Skills Used

This was a smaller project I worked on during my Master’s in Aerospace Engineering advised by Prof. Mirko Kovac. I worked primarily with another one of Prof. Kovac’s Ph.D. students who was based in Switzerland. Due to the COVID 19 Pandemic, our lab in London was entirely shut down, while his lab in Switzerland was still partially operational. As such, the Ph.D. student I worked with fabricated the sensors and collected data while I did the modeling and analyzed the results remotely.

• Analytical and FEA modeling (in Abacus) of honeycomb and kirigami structures

• Model validation with Instron testing

Description

This was a personal project that I worked on with two other MIT students throughout my time at MIT. I was ultimately able to use this project for my Senior Thesis. We won an on campus MIT design competition during my Sophomore year and were given the Mechanical Engineering Peter Griffith Prize during my senior year for this project

Avicar is a remote controlled robot that can transition between being a four-wheeled driving robot into a flying quadcopter. In drone form, it resembles a standard H-frame quadcopter, but the four propellers have wheels around them. The wheel-propellers can then be flipped down to be perpendicular to the frame, turning it into an R/C car. The final prototype completed successful indoor driving and flight tests. It is ultimately intended for ground and air exploration of disaster cites in search and rescue scenarios.

Contributions/ Skills Used

• Mechanical design of the wheels, landing gear, and flipping mechanisms (in Fusion 360)

• Fabrication of the wheels, landing gear, wheel flipping mechanism,and electronics mounts

• Electrical design and programming of the entire system

• Indoor driving and flight tests

Y. Wu, E. Mittmann, C. Winston, and K. Youcef-Toumi, “A practical minimalism approach to in-pipe robot localization,” 2019 American Control Conference, 2019., pp. 3180–3187, doi: 10.23919/ACC.2019.8814648.

Description

As an undergraduate researcher under Prof. Kamal Youcef-Toumi at MIT, I worked on simultaneous Localization and Mapping Research for a pipe leak detection robot. For the first year, I worked on setting up the IMU inside this robot and programming the SLAM algorithm using a combination of dead-reckoning and loop closure. I worked with a Master’s and former PhD student to achieve a localization accuracy of 0.5%. Following that work, I also designed an encoder system that could be used in combination with the IMU and tactile sensors on this robot for further improvement to the robot’s localization accuracy.

Contributions/ Skills Used

• Programmed dead reckoning and loop-closure-based localization algorithms in MATLAB based on IMU data

• designed and programmed encoder-based localization wheels intended to further improve localization accuracy