Rodrigo Gaytan
Research Mentor: Kenn Oldham
Mentor Department: Mechanical Engineering, Engineering
Author(s): Not Available
Session: Session 2 (10:00 AM – 10:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 77
Abstract
Why don’t we have medical nanotechnology readily available for minimally invasive life saving surgeries on cancer treatments or infant surgeries? As electromechanical devices become smaller, they become heavily affected by phenomena processing imperfections and surface tensions that can greatly degrade performance. In the Oldham Laboratory, the dynamics of micro-scale systems are being studied to produce miniature robot designs that are robust against process variation and changing environments. My work involves manufacturing meso-scale models for micro-scale robots and measuring the high-frequency dynamics of piezoelectric actuators to maximize torque and agility while maintaining low-power consumption. Using laser-based measurement systems and high-speed imaging, I am characterizing the transient and vibratory responses of these structures during terrestrial locomotion. By optimizing nominal dimensions for high robustness against device variation, we home to create a new generation of robotic joints that can achieve efficient, high-speed locomotion despite inconsistencies and uncertainty present in micro-scale fabrication.
