Ongoing Research
Human Vibrations and Assistive Robotics
The objective of this thrust is threefold: (1) we seek to understand the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of human tremor such as Parkinson’s disease and develop robotic devices for mitigating tremor; (2) we examine how human exposure to high level of vibrations causes injury and then design low cost and energy-efficient devices for protecting humans from vibration hazards; (3) we seek to understand the fundamentals of human motion to quantify intention for use in assistive exoskeletons.
Self-Powered Autonomous Robot (SPAR) for Transmission Power Line Maintainence
The aim of this thrust is to investigate how we can use mobile robots for flow-induced vibration control and damage inspection of crucial structures such as overhead power lines, suspension bridges, or gas pipes. Our focus here is to understand the nonlinear dynamic interactions between the flow, structure, and robotic device and construct integrated mathematical and design frameworks for achieving multi-functional tasks such as vibration control, energy harvesting, and structural health monitoring.
Intelligent Metamaterials
The goal of this thrust is to design, model, and test intelligent sandwich and/or nonlinear metamaterial systems and structures for vibration control and/ or energy harvesting. Our focus is to exploit the benefits of nonlinear dynamic characteristics such as internal/parametric resonances, hardening, softening, and chaos to provide broadband energy harvesting and vibration control.
Advanced Manufacturing
This work is a collaborative effort with the Smart and Sustainable Automation Research Lab at UofM. The aim here is to design for or with nonlinearities for improving precision and speed in advanced manufacturing. Current projects include (1) friction isolator for mitigating friction-induced vibration in nanopositioning stages; and (2) nonlinear vibration isolation in ultra-precision manufacturing machines.
Funding and Sponsorhip
ECCS #1944032: (CAREER) Towards a Self-Powered Autonomous Robot for Intelligent Power Lines Vibration Control and Monitoring
CMMI #2000984: Nonlinear Dynamics of Pneumatic Isolators in Ultra-Precision Manufacturing Machines
CMMI #1855390: Towards a Fundamental Understanding of a Simple, Effective and Robust Approach for Mitigating Friction in Nanopositioning Stages
CMMI #2038187: Self-Adaptive Electromechanical Metamaterials
CBET #2306984: A Neuromechanical Robot Approach to Control Pathological Tremor in Upper Limbs
Honors and Awards
(2022) EnergyTech University Prize: "Self-powered autonomous robot for power lines" -- National Winner (2nd Place); Carolinas Region Winner (1st Place)