Center for Robotics Research

The UC Center for Robotics Research is an interdisciplinary center in the department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. The scientific research and engineering practice in the Center include the design and analysis of both stationary and mobile robotic systems, robot vision and sensory based controls, robot programming, work cell interfacing, human/machine interfacing, and robotic applications to industry, environmental problems, medical devices, defense systems, and our everyday lives. 

Mission

The mission of the Center is to innovate, develop and apply advanced robotics technologies to industry automation and to our everyday lives, and to educate and train students with cutting edge technologies for the future.

Research Areas

  • Novel applications of industrial robots
  • Novel designs of service robots
  • Industrial robotic cell design and integration
  • Mobile robot design and intelligence
  • Soft robots
  • End effector design, analysis, and simulations
  • Autonomous vehicles and obstacle avoidance
  • Robot vision and control
  • GPS Navigation
  • Robot Simulation

The research goal of the Center is to develop robotic prototype systems/machines/devices which may be licensed to industry or which can be patented, and to develop software and integration solutions to solve practical problems.

The UC Center for Robotics Research was established in the department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering by the Board of Trustees in 1983 to provide a focal point for the community in the growing field of robotics. Dr. Ernest L. Hall, Paul E. Geier Professor of Robotics, was the first director of the Center. Currently the Center is in the department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering with Dr. Janet Jiaxiang Dong as the director. 

Research

The research objectives of the Center include new robot designs, robot kinematics and dynamics, robot vision and navigation, designing control structures for robot systems and manufacturing systems, artificial intelligence systems such as expert systems, neural networks and fuzzy logic for robotics applications, computer architectures, and applications for automated and man/machine cells/systems. Robotic applications include a variety of automated assembly systems, material handling systems, manufacturing processing systems, rehabilitation robotic devices, autonomous vehicles, intelligent systems, and space systems. The goal of the Center is to develop robotic prototype systems/machines/devices which may be licensed to industry or which can be patented, and to develop software and integration solutions to solve practical problems. 

Teaching

The teaching function accomplished by the Center include offering senior and graduate courses in Robot fundamentals, Robot design and control, Intelligent systems theory, Robot vision, and Artificial intelligence. The Center also provide advanced training for seniors to pursue Robotics and Automation minor and for graduate students to pursue Master of Engineering Degree in Robotics and Intelligent Autonomous Systems (RIAS track).

Service

The service function of the Center includes providing demonstrations to Cincinnati public school students with robotics technologies and robotic projects, expert witness testimony, consultation for industry and government facilities, and publications.

T-shirt Cannon

By Daryn Meadows, Daniel Arguelles, Steven Randall on phase I - Firing mechanism and cannon design

By Joseph Domhoff, Graham Donhowe, David Kuebel on phase II - Drive system and autonomous system design

The purpose of this project is to design and automate a robot with shooting cannon to launch memorabilia at UC fans during athletic events. More specifically, the T-shirt cannon will be used by the University of Cincinnati cheerleading team at Nippert Stadium and 5/3 Arena for football and basketball games, respectively. 

The Development of Trench Drain Cleaning Robot

Prototype of drain cleaner

By Adithya Kaushik

The purpose of this project is to develop a novel method for the cleaning of trench drains. It deals with the design, conceptualization, analysis and testing of a robotic device which fits into the drain and cleans it without needing to interfere with the surrounding traffic or the drain itself. The project was an effort to shift the cleaning process for the trench drains from manual to either semi-automated or automated methods. 

Drain cleaner

Due to the previous methods like manual cleaning and waterjet cleaning being slow and highly inefficient processes respectively, there was a need for an automated mechanism which was fast, reliable and did not waste resources. The transition was intended to ensure a safer process with lesser manpower required in addition to being easier to implement.  Over the course of developing this robotic cleaning mechanism, two complete prototypes were designed and implemented in the drains. The performance of both the models has been discussed in detail.  

Tick Collection Robot for Rough Outdoor Terrain

Prototype drawing of tick collection robot

By Chen Chen, Jorge Benito Montejo, Niki Harrison, Qiu Yesiliang

The objective of this project is to develop a rugged and lightweight robotic platform that acts autonomously, following a course outlined in a convenient graphical interface via wireless user device, to collect ticks in a variety of outdoor terrains, ranging from relatively flat areas of leaf litter to tall grass to heavily forested areas containing numerous obstacles and rough, uneven terrain. The robot will perform active tick sampling (via flagging or dragging procedures) or passive tick trapping. 

Prototype drawing of tick collection robot

It will make use of CO2 or other chemical attractants by way of a centralized dispersal system, allowing it to attract ticks to its traps as well as to its flag/drag cloth. The robot will have four distinct types of environmental sensors to facilitate navigation and decision making: one GPS localization unit, one 360-degree laser point scanner or LIDAR system, a set of passive tactile collision sensors, and a set of active tactile sensors. 

Development of Robotic Cell for Removing Tabs from Engine Blade

Diagram of robotic cell for removing tabs from engine blade

By Prateek Sahay,

The purpose of this project is to design and prototype an automated robotic part process system for completing a few final process steps of machining engine blades. The targeted final steps include reading and checking part identification, marking new information, cutting the tabs, and polishing the cutting areas. 

Diagram of robotic cell for removing tabs from engine blade

The focus of this project is on cutting off two tabs from the engine blade and make sure that the cutting surfaces are blended well with part edge. The ultimate goals of this automation research are to eliminate human errors and reduce cycle time in the process. 

EMG Controlled Soft Robotic Bicep Augmentation

By Jiayue Zhang, Daniel Vanderbilt, Ethan Fitz

Industry workers’ jobs often require them to lift heavy objects. Repeated heavy loading of their arms throughout the workday can lead to muscle or tendon injuries. Hence, the objective of this study is to develop a wearable soft robotic arm enhancement device that will share lifting loads with the user’s muscles to increasing their lifting capacity and reducing fatigue. This project involves developing a soft actuator, a control system, and a method of attaching the actuator to the user’s arms. The McKibben inspired pneumatic muscle acts as the soft actuator of the prototype. EMG control is used for the controlling system. Setups and results of testing for the pneumatic muscle, the controlling algorithm, and the overall performance are discussed. Based on the experiment data, the wearable device prototype can help workers work for a longer time duration, but the improvement of strength varies from person to person.

Using Deep Learning Semantic Segmentation to Identify Lost Seniors

Diagram of people in drone surveillance

By Pradyumna Elavarthi

The purpose of this project is to design and develop an image segmentation method to identify the seniors lost in a senior community village. The live videos or images are fed from the drones hovering over the village once a lost senior is reported. 

Diagram of people in drone surveillance

A Fully Convolutional Neural Network will be built and trained with the data from Unity Simulator to perform semantic segmentation. 

Automated Resistor Element Assembly Cell

Prototype of automated resistor

By Mark A. Bohman 

The resistor element pin spacer assembly (“pinning”) that is currently performed at Post Glover Resistors, Inc. is a physically taxing and time-consuming process and it puts various unwanted physical stress on the assembler. 

Prototype of automated resistor

Two of the parts are sharp-edged stainless-steel plates that expose the worker to cut hazards, and these plates are held apart by a ceramic pin spacer that is held in place by push nuts on the outer faces of the plates. Due to the time-consuming nature of the current process, and with an emphasis on worker safety, Post Glover Resistors, Inc. needs an automated solution for the resister element assembly work.

Prototype of automated resistor

Two of the parts are sharp-edged stainless-steel plates that expose the worker to cut hazards, and these plates are held apart by a ceramic pin spacer that is held in place by push nuts on the outer faces of the plates. Due to the time-consuming nature of the current process, and with an emphasis on worker safety, Post Glover Resistors, Inc. needs an automated solution for the resister element assembly work. 

Automated resistor

The automated resistor element assembly cell was developed using a SCARA robot from ABB, three feeder systems with three tracks to deliver pin spacers and push nuts, a pneumatic system to actuate the end effector fixture, and a three gripping mechanism fixture to pick and place the elements, pins, and spacers. The robot programming was done via ABB’s RobotStudio and the FlexPendant. 

Plant Propagation Robotic System

By Noah Kohls, Nick Galbraith, Bryan Wilson

The goal of this project was to develop and integrate a new robotic system to automatically propagate various sub-species of boxwoods. The current process for propagation is completed manually and requires a worker to take several thousand cuttings, organize them, and individually stick them into soil. This is both time consuming and arduous. A SCARA robot was built with its quickness for pick and place applications. The robot was designed so that it could be 3D printed, which allowed for quick prototypes and design iterations. The robot is programmed through an open loop control system and requires occasional resetting to verify the correct location. In order to fully automate this process, a feeder system is built to supply a constant feed of plants to the robot, requiring no manual effort and little wait time. The feeder system works through a process of looping with a refeed on failure. This means that the cuttings will repeatedly go through the system until they arrive to the robot in the correct orientation. 

Intelligent Ground Robotics Competition

Robotics team competition entry robot

The students at the Center have been participating in the "Intelligent Ground Robotics Competition" conducted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems since 1991. The Robotics team designed and built different versions of BEARCAT robot, an autonomous vehicle each year. The team consists of students from different majors in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, and mechanical engineering. In 2018, the team was placed among the top 5 teams in all the contests held at Oakland, Michigan in June. 

BattleBot

The UC BattbleBot team is a multidisciplinary team with students majoring in Aerospace engineering, Electrical engineering, Mechanical engineering, Mechanical engineering technology, Business, and pre-pharmacy. The goal of the team is to design and build a BattleBot that able to compete in combat in an enclosed arena. The task of a BattleBot is to deal as much damage to its opponent while withstanding any damage dealt to. The design and battle of the BattleBot must conform to the competition rules while also being constrained by a weight limit. The BattleBot team at the University of Cincinnati have been competing since 2008, and with the BattleBot weights ranging from 15lb to 220 lb. They compete either locally at Wright State University or nationally at RoboGame in California in April each year. The students applied their knowledge and skills learned from their major to mechanical design, finite element analysis, electrical circuits, and design for assembly of robot. Students get the opportunity to work hands on to building robots. The skills students gain in the team environment help them grow professionally and personally while providing useful experiences for their future careers. 

Location

545 Baldwin Hall
2851 Woodside Drive
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221

Faculty

Headshot of Janet Jiaxiang Dong

Janet Jiaxiang Dong

Professor, CEAS - Mechanical Eng Tech

494 Rhodes Hall

513-556-5305

Dr. Janet Jiaxiang Dong is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and the director of UC Center for Robotics Research at the College of Engineering and Applied Science. 

Industrial support includes:

  • Cincinnati Milacron
  • General Electric
  • Kroger Company
  • James River Corporation
  • Procter & Gamble
  • Jergens
  • Northrop Grumman etc.

Government support includes:

  • Ohio Edison Program
  • National Science Foundation
  • Department of Defense
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
  • Ohio Department of Transportation