{"id":99,"date":"2012-11-14T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T21:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/robotics-engineering-advances-at-wpi"},"modified":"2012-11-14T16:05:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-14T21:05:00","slug":"robotics-engineering-advances-at-wpi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/2012\/11\/robotics-engineering-advances-at-wpi.html","title":{"rendered":"Robotics Engineering Advances at WPI"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rethink<\/a><\/p>\n

Robots are everywhere at WPI<\/a>.  Last week I visited WPI and met the VP of Manufacturing from Rethink Robotics<\/a>, who introduced me to Baxter.  Baxter is an adaptive manufacturing robot. It contains cameras, sensors and sophisticated software that enable it to \u201csee\u201d objects, \u201cfeel\u201d forces and \u201cunderstand\u201d tasks. The result is a robot that automatically adapts to changing environments\u2014it knows what you mean and does what you expect.  <\/p>\n

So what is WPI doing to prepare its students for SolidWorks customers like Rethink Robotics<\/a> and Aldebaran Robotics<\/a>?  WPI has developed a robotics program that puts first year engineering students together into teams to solve complex problems. For 4 years, students explore projects that combine mechanical, electrical and computer science theory and practice.  <\/p>\n

WPI<\/a> was the first US engineering school to offer an undergraduate Bachelor of Science in robotics.  Now WPI has masters and PhD programs in robotics with focus areas that include human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence, medical robotics, kinematics and control systems, sensors, manipulation and navigation.<\/p>\n

 \"WPI<\/a><\/p>\n

The NASA Robo-Ops competition<\/a> challenges WPI students to design and build a planetary rover and demonstrate its capability to perform a series of competitive tasks.  WPI has won two years in a row!  <\/p>\n

\"WPI<\/a>
Computer Science Professor, Eduardo Rafael Torres-Jara<\/a>, research focuses on sensitive robotics, an approach in which great importance is given to tactile feedback.  <\/p>\n

\"WPI<\/a><\/p>\n

Students, Vadim Chern York, Ennie Claretti, and Nigel Cochran, showed me how they work directly with a variety of robots in Professor Torres-Jara's lab.<\/p>\n

\"WPI<\/a><\/p>\n

Sensitivity started with robotic manipulation with great success and is being tested in different areas of robotics. <\/p>\n

 \"WPI<\/a><\/p>\n

Other areas of research conducted include novel mechanism and actuators that use soft materials, tactile sensors with adequate properties for robotics, active computer vision, machine learning, artificial intelligence, control, and novel computer architectures. <\/p>\n

WPI students developed the multi-legged Sabertooth<\/a> robot that will participate in AUVSI<\/a> competitions.  <\/p>\n

 \"Sabertooth<\/a><\/p>\n

Mechanical Engineering professor, Stephen Nestinger<\/a>,  whose research<\/a> focuses on the stability and workspace analysis of multi-legged robots, modular robots, soft- body systems, and bio- inspired locomotion, showed me Sabertooth\u2019s self-portrait.  <\/p>\n

\"Sabertooth<\/a><\/p>\n

So can robots become artists?  When students spray-painterd Sabertooth\u2019s components, the result was a beautiful abstract of a multi-legged robot.  Perhaps this painting, hung in the bricked walls of WPI's Atwater- Kent Hall, will inspire the next generation of young engineers. Marie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robots are everywhere at WPI.  Last week I visited WPI and met the VP of Manufacturing from Rethink Robotics, who introduced me to Baxter.  Baxter is an adaptive manufacturing robot. It contains cameras, sensors and sophisticated software that enable it<\/p>\n... Continued<\/a>","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5207,4015,5219,5211],"tags":[4016,4449,4453,3952,4048,4450,4452,4451,4017,4448,4446,4447,3931,4219],"class_list":["post-99","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis-2","category-mechanical-engineering","category-robotics-2","category-technology-2","tag-3d-cad","tag-aldebaran-robotics","tag-auvsi","tag-education","tag-engineering","tag-nao","tag-nasa","tag-pr2","tag-research","tag-rethink-robotics","tag-robot","tag-robotics","tag-solidworks","tag-wpi"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}