Dianne Magalhães Viana

Mechanical engineering, computer science and art in interdisciplinary project-based learning projects:

This article describes the approach to promote project-based learning and interdisciplinarity within established engineering undergraduate programs at the University of Brasilia. The implementation process and some representative projects developed are presented, as well, as a discussion about the role of interdisciplinarity in transferable skills acquisition and their many benefits for all students from undergraduate courses involved.

A Bio-inspired Apodal and Modular Robot

Reconfigurable modular robotics is based on the use of autonomous units that can be attached in many ways to exert different kinds of functions. The main idea consists on the robots capacity to adapt to unexpected environmental circumstances and execute its mission. The current works goal is the adaptation of the mechanical system for the apodal movement, based on bio-inspired configuration of a snake for search and rescue situations on debris. Some aspects of the movement are described, followed by the definition and development of the robots structure, aiming for low cost production and easy replacement of the modules. Simulations and experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the robots performance.

Deformable Virtual Zone and Particle Filters Applied to Obstacle Avoidance in Mobile Robotics

Obstacle avoidance in a control system of an autonomous mobile robot is essential for assuring safety. Complete models, or maps, can be used to provide position of fixed obstacles, but in an unstructured environment, sensors are imperative to perceive mobile or unexpected obstacles and, consequently, be able to react to their presence. This article presents a novel technique for obstacle tracking inside a Deformable Virtual Zone (DVZ) using Particle Filtering to help keep the robot aware of an obstacle presence in its surroundings even after it is no more detected by its sensors.