Today we were introduced to the people of the “contact dynamics simulation lab.” They have a huge stewart platform(picture) that they use to simulate the actual docking of systems in space. After some discussions with the engineer who was most familiar with the system, we have decided on a few topics to work on for the summer.
First, we plan on trying to find a closed-form solution to the forward kinematics of the stewart platform. This would mean you could plug in all the lengths the legs are extended and find a precise location of the platform.
Second, we plan to research a feed-forward system to make the platform’s PID Controller adapt to inconsistencies in the mechanics of each leg. Since each leg is slightly different from the other, small differences in each leg can have drastic affects on expected output motion. With an adaptive system each leg would not have to be characterized and calibrated before use.
My freshman year I helped start an engineering club at school to make a battlebot. To advise the 12 or so original members was Mechanical Engineering professor Dr. Kumagai. Over the next years Dr. Kumagai taught me how to use a lathe, I attended his graduate CNC workshop, and I asked him for advice on numerous personal robotics projects. So Dr. Kumagai applied to NASA for a summer research fellowship to research Robotics and Automation. He gets a letter from the ESSRO(Exploration Systems Summer Research Opportunities; not the program he applied for) program, and they offer him a research opportunity. Along with the job, he gets to take a student intern with him for the summer.