Engineering Robotics in Boise
U of I engineering graduates design interactive robotic arm prototype for Boise鈥檚 Discovery Center of Idaho
Imagine a robot that moves just like a human at the shoulder, elbow and wrist. It鈥檚 compact, transportable and can rotate, sort, stack and build 鈥� and it鈥檚 a very visual learner.
A team of 果冻传媒麻豆社 College of Engineering mechanical engineering and computer science graduates spent their senior year configuring a robotic arm that can perform these activities and more all by mimicking the user.
The 2019 Senior Design Capstone Project was sponsored by the Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise as a feasibility study to help the hands-on science center look into introducing its own robotics exhibit in the future.
鈥淲e were all new to robotics,鈥� said U of I computer science graduate Chaeun Kim 鈥�19. 鈥淲e utilized all the resources we could find online or offline. We also spent a lot of outside-of-school time with the robot. One of us would take the arm home and play with it 鈥� or break it.鈥�
Most of the team鈥檚 time was spent developing code to tell the arm how to mimic gestures tracked through a Leap Motion controller.
鈥淟eap Motion is an innovative addition,鈥� mechanical engineering graduate Austyn Sullivan-Watson 鈥�19 said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 inexpensive, yet quite an effective device for transferring hand gestures to a robot with minimal delay.鈥�
These controllers use LED light and monochromatic cameras to generate 3D versions of objects it observes. Users simply hold their hands over the small device, and without touching it, the controller can track an individual's palm, forearm, and each individual finger joint on each hand.
Kim said the Leap Motion controller鈥檚 capacity for high-speed communication posed a challenge in getting the arm鈥檚 computer component, or microcontroller, to communicate just as fast, telling the robot to move.
鈥淲e had to either slow down the Leap Motion, or find a way to talk to the microcontroller faster,鈥� Kim said. 鈥淲e had to find the balance between them.鈥�
The team also tested several different power sources and microcontrollers to control the arm鈥檚 movement. Through testing, they discovered the manufactured arm鈥檚 gripping mechanism was too small, so a bigger gripping 鈥渉and鈥� was 3D printed to allow the arm to pick up larger blocks.
The interdisciplinary team of engineering students put about 600 hours over the course of their nine-month project.
鈥淭his project took all they鈥檇 learned in their classes. They had to integrate the knowledge to reach their project goal,鈥� said Ralph Budwig, U of I Boise mechanical engineering professor and the team鈥檚 faculty advisor. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good preparation for when they take jobs, because it鈥檚 going to be more like that. You鈥檙e not going to have the luxury of focusing on one area.鈥�
