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| Design of Mechatronic Systems: Robotic hockey teams face off |
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For students in MEAM's Design of Mechatronic Systems class,"the finals" are more than an exam; they are a tournament in which the winners hoist a trophy high above their heads in victory. Throughout the school year, members of the class, led by Jonathan Fiene, director of laboratory programs, design pint-sized robotic hockey teams that faceoff in an annual competition known as The Robockey Cup. |
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| great research | click stories 1 2 3 4 |  |
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| Pursuing the Infinite Promise of the Infinitesimally Small | |||
Imagine the benefits of new nanomaterials that could generate energy from waste heat typically lost by cars, electronics, power plants and factories. And consider how the economy could be transformed via yet-to-be-invented nanoscale materials with optimized electrical, magnetic, optical or thermal properties. Goals like these remain elusive, and that’s where Jennifer Lukes is making her mark as a leader in atomistic computer modeling. |
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| great robotics | click stories 1 2 3 4 |  |
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| GRASP Quadrotors come to TED | |||
On Wednesday, February 29, Deputy Dean for Education and GRASP lab member Vijay Kumar presented GRASP's quadrotors - miniature, autonomous helicopters that fly in formation, at the TED2012 conference, an international gathering of people and ideas from technology, entertainment, and design. The quadrotors perform impressive feats, including flying in a figure-eight pattern, deftly crossing each other's paths. |
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Watch: Dr. Kumar's TED talk | The Quadrotor Video |
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| great innovation | click stories 1 2 3 4 |  |
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| Robert Carpick leads collaboration to "Demonstrate Earthquake Friction Effect at the Nanoscale" | |||
Earthquakes are some of the most daunting natural disasters that scientists try to analyze. Though the earth's major fault lines are well known, there is little scientists can do to predict when an earthquake will occur or how strong it will be. A team of researchers led by Robert Carpick, professor and chair of MEAM, has helped discover an aspect of friction on the nanoscale that may lead to a better understanding of the disasters. |
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Our Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics students can print their designs using a Dimension Elite 3D printer. Check it out!
Stir Liquids Using Magnetic Fields!
Magneto-hydrodynamics provides us with a convenient means for stirring liquids. By appropriate patterning of the electrodes, one can induce forces in different directions and generate complex flow patterns. Read the paper or watch the video!
That's right - even when kicked apart, the robot seen here, CkBot, has clusters of modules that will then find each other and reconfigure. Check it out!
