University Compliant Systems Design Lab

From 2018 to 2020 I was a research assistant in the University of Michigan Compliant Systems Design lab, where I have been involved in a variety of dynamic projects. I have improved a manufacturing process, fabricated grippers, and begun characterizing valves, while improving my self-reliance, communication skills, and reasoning skills. The research was funded by the Toyota Research Institute.

One of the labs focuses is on soft robotics, a sub field of robotics focused on compliant, lightweight materials. The soft robots I have primarily used in the lab are fiber reinforced elastomeric enclosures (FREEs), which consist of latex tubes wrapped with cotton fiber. The fiber can be wrapped in different angles and configurations to enable various motions (bending, twisting, extension) when the FREEs are inflated.

X-Winder

During the summer of 2018 I automated the lab's soft robotic manufacturing process. I began this abstract task by researching possible solutions before deciding to purchase an X-winder filament winder and adapting it for the labs use. I designed, prototyped, and fabricated parts to adapt the machine hardware and took the initiative to teach myself basic Python code to develop a GUI for the winder, giving it more functionality. The winder significantly reduced production time and waste material by 25% each compared to the previous manual method, while minimizing angle errors to less than 2%.

Soft Robotic Grippers

During my Junior year I worked in a team to analyze and develop different soft robotic grippers for lab applications. After prototyping simple silicone and FREE grippers I designed and manufactured more complex jointed soft grippers that have the potential to grasp a wider variety of objects than two-state soft grippers. We presented our findings at a research symposium on campus.

Solving the Piping Problem

During my Senior year I led a project focused on solving the piping problem; the problem soft roboticist didn’t realize they have. As the number of actuators in a given soft robotic system increases, so does the number of supply lines needed to provide fluid to the actuators; increasing the complexity while inhibiting the dexterity of the fluid actuated device. This is the piping problem. Potential solutions to this problem rely on embedded fluid-driven valves, which separate the information and supply lines to maintain speed and dexterity. I developed the control valve design (analogous to a mechanical pinch valve), as well as the experimental setup to characterize the control and continuous valves, which involved hardware and software. I also began to design and fabricate a soft robotic arm, controlled my embedded valves, to demonstrate an application of this research. The research will be submitted as a paper to ScientificRobotic.

Fiber reinforced elastomeric enclosure (FREE)