Register now After registration you will be able to apply for this opportunity online.
This opportunity is not published. No applications will be accepted.
Electro-Adhesive, Active Stiffening of Soft and Squeezable Aerial Robots for Dual-Stiffness In-Flight Behavior and Shape-Morphing
We are exploring the use of aerial robots with inherently soft and elastically deforming elements, possibly with multiple stable points or multiple stiffnesses, to explore inaccessible and often dangerous places.
Electro-static clutches (or electro-adhesive clutches - EACs) are variable capacitors whose electrodes can slide with respect to each other while maintaining a roughly constant out-of-plane spacing. The transition between the jammed and the free state of the EAC is controlled with a high-voltage, low-power signal.
Electrostatic clutches can be compact, light, low profile, and flexible, making them well suited to soft robotics applications. EACs have been used for soft or passive, wearable robotics and kinesthetic haptic feedback to block motion in virtual reality gloves.
Drones are an object of intense research for access to remote or hazardous sites. However, these aerial robots are still restrained from exploring confined spaces like crevices or narrow gaps in natural and artificial environments as they are conceived to fly in open areas minimizing physical interactions with their surroundings. At the Environmental Robotics Laboratory, we are challenging this paradigm with the development of drones that are aimed to physically interact with the environment and that squeeze and crawl to traverse crevices.
We are exploring the use of aerial robots with inherently soft and elastically deforming elements, possibly with multiple stable points or multiple stiffnesses, to explore inaccessible and often dangerous places.
Electro-static clutches (or electro-adhesive clutches - EACs) are variable capacitors whose electrodes can slide with respect to each other while maintaining a roughly constant out-of-plane spacing. The transition between the jammed and the free state of the EAC is controlled with a high-voltage, low-power signal.
Electrostatic clutches can be compact, light, low profile, and flexible, making them well suited to soft robotics applications. EACs have been used for soft or passive, wearable robotics and kinesthetic haptic feedback to block motion in virtual reality gloves.
To achieve a multiple-stiffness behavior of a soft drone, we are looking for a motivated candidate to explore the integration of electro-adhesive clutch-based (EAC) systems. We expect that the multiple flexible layers of its frame rapidly transition into a much stiffer, jammed configuration when a high voltage is applied.
The goal will be achieved by the candidate via the following work packages:
- Scientific background. Brief familiarization with the scientific literature on current electro-adhesive clutch devices;
- Problem setting and addressing the scientific gap. Identification of a/multiple scientific hypothesis/es that an actively stiffening quadcopter should satisfy;
- Prototyping. Manufacturing of some proof-of-concept (POC) designs out of different materials;
- Preliminary testing of the POC under different conditions and quantification of the performance;
- Integration of the technology on-board a soft-frame quadcopter;
- Hypotheses testing. Design of one or more testing setup(s) of the stiffening quadcopter for the hypotheses testing;
- Reporting and discussion. Detailed reporting of methods and results and discussion of the implications.
Note: Workpackage deliverables and workload may be rediscussed depending on the kind of student project (Semester Project, Master's Thesis, Internship, etc.)
Drones are an object of intense research for access to remote or hazardous sites. However, these aerial robots are still restrained from exploring confined spaces like crevices or narrow gaps in natural and artificial environments as they are conceived to fly in open areas minimizing physical interactions with their surroundings. At the Environmental Robotics Laboratory, we are challenging this paradigm with the development of drones that are aimed to physically interact with the environment and that squeeze and crawl to traverse crevices. We are exploring the use of aerial robots with inherently soft and elastically deforming elements, possibly with multiple stable points or multiple stiffnesses, to explore inaccessible and often dangerous places.
Electro-static clutches (or electro-adhesive clutches - EACs) are variable capacitors whose electrodes can slide with respect to each other while maintaining a roughly constant out-of-plane spacing. The transition between the jammed and the free state of the EAC is controlled with a high-voltage, low-power signal. Electrostatic clutches can be compact, light, low profile, and flexible, making them well suited to soft robotics applications. EACs have been used for soft or passive, wearable robotics and kinesthetic haptic feedback to block motion in virtual reality gloves.
To achieve a multiple-stiffness behavior of a soft drone, we are looking for a motivated candidate to explore the integration of electro-adhesive clutch-based (EAC) systems. We expect that the multiple flexible layers of its frame rapidly transition into a much stiffer, jammed configuration when a high voltage is applied.
The goal will be achieved by the candidate via the following work packages:
- Scientific background. Brief familiarization with the scientific literature on current electro-adhesive clutch devices;
- Problem setting and addressing the scientific gap. Identification of a/multiple scientific hypothesis/es that an actively stiffening quadcopter should satisfy;
- Prototyping. Manufacturing of some proof-of-concept (POC) designs out of different materials;
- Preliminary testing of the POC under different conditions and quantification of the performance;
- Integration of the technology on-board a soft-frame quadcopter;
- Hypotheses testing. Design of one or more testing setup(s) of the stiffening quadcopter for the hypotheses testing;
- Reporting and discussion. Detailed reporting of methods and results and discussion of the implications.
Note: Workpackage deliverables and workload may be rediscussed depending on the kind of student project (Semester Project, Master's Thesis, Internship, etc.)
The final goal is to demonstrate the applicability of electro-adhesive technology as a semi-active system for multiple-stiffness behavior in soft drones.
The final goal is to demonstrate the applicability of electro-adhesive technology as a semi-active system for multiple-stiffness behavior in soft drones.
To apply for this project, submit a letter of motivation of a maximum of two pages, font size 11; your updated CV; and your updated transcript of records, addressed to:
Luca Girardi – luca.girardi@usys.ethz.ch.
To apply for this project, submit a letter of motivation of a maximum of two pages, font size 11; your updated CV; and your updated transcript of records, addressed to: Luca Girardi – luca.girardi@usys.ethz.ch.