Dazhai Li

Ultrasonic based autonomous docking on plane for mobile robot

Autonomous docking between independent robotic modules is critical for self-reconfigurable robots. This ability allows independent reconfigurable robots in the same environment to join together to complete a task that would otherwise not be possible with the individual robots prior to merging. This paper presents an easy and inexpensive implementation of such a system using only one ultrasonic transmitter and one receiver on each of two docking modules of JL-1. The characteristic of ultrasonic signal, being sensitive to distance and angle between transmitter and receiver, is applied to align two robots in this paper. Experiments have indicated that alternating active rotation and ultrasonic based guidance method can align two robots in one line, and ready for docking. The theory proposed in paper is general and can be applied to other inter-docking process on plane.

Analysis of two vibrating suction methods

In this paper, a novel vibrating method based on the principle of vibrating suction method is presented, which is called pulse vibrating method. To discuss this method in depth and evaluate its performance, simplified mathematical model based on some assumptions for both the previous sin vibrating method and the pulse vibrating method are built, and a new experimental platform is developed as well to verify the validity of the mathematical models. The experiments indicate that the experiments meet the mathematical model with only small deviation caused by some unknown factors. The experimental results also show that the pulse vibrating method is much better than the sin vibrating method for higher negative air pressure and less power consumption. At the end of this paper, conclusion is given and future work is proposed to further analyze the principle of the vibrating suction method.

Analysis of gait control of wall-climbing caterpillar robot

In order to verify the benefit of four links kinematical method, the mathematical model of four links kinematics is established. The kinematical parameters of passive joints can be calculated according to the rotation of active joint. Then the wall-climbing robot can climb the vertical wall through the coordinated rotation of active joint and passive joints. To testify the feasibility of the four links kinematical method, a wall-climbing caterpillar robot based on vibrating suction method is developed. An experiment of wall-climbing confirms the kinematical method mentioned above. The result shows that the four links kinematical method is simple and reliable although some errors exist. At last, the conclusions and future works are present.

Building and Understanding Robotics---a Practical Course for Different Levels Education

Robotics is one of the best ways to connect students with technology. This practical course deals with a kind of education robotics system whose object is to offer a chance to different levels of students to acquire knowledge about robotics. This learning process will involve the students, as they can design and build their own mobile robot according to their ideas, program and test it personally. In our implementation, the mechanical parts are based on LEGO bricks and our new designed output and input bricks as a physical platform. The new hardware including four driving DC motors and 9 sensor channels connects the mechanical parts and the software. Students can program the robot using iconic interface environment and simple C language according to their knowledge background. This new system is more flexible and suitable for students to understand all aspects of robotics technology.