The MEMS MS Capstone at Duke University

Introduction

Hello! I am a graduate student in the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science department at Duke University. I worked with my lab partnerAlexandra Rivera, during this ME 555 Capstone under guidance from George Delagrammatikas. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

 

Check out My Project PageA quick summary of my work:

My capstone classwork culminates in the completed BCN 3D Moveo robot body, as well as CAD and ROS modelling of the multi-DOF arm. The goal for this project was to study stability of connected closed loop systems with high frequency, irregular disturbances/interference. This work may be continued for my Master’s poster defense project. My next steps are to improve my modeling skills and understanding of ROS (including Rviz and the associated Gazebo GUIs).

System Decomposition

The system decomposition is designed to separate sub-projects into overarching engineering disciplines: computer/software, electrical/hardware, and mechanical. The original inspiration for this project involved two robots working in tandem, the BCN3d Moveo and the pre-existing WE-R2.4, a. k. a. “ArmBot.” 

Only one system decomposition, in Figure 1 with color-coding (red for BCN3D Moveo, blue for WE-R2.4, purple if processes were applicable to both) is sufficient.

Figure 1: System decomposition for the two robotic arms.

For all the elements of the system decomposition that are red, referring to the BCN3D Moveo, please refer to that project specific page.

Featured Subprojects

The featured subprojects for this page are listed below, with related project links.

Almost all the BCN 3D Moveo parts were 3D printed, except for metal and electrical hardware. Figure 2 shows a sample piece that later will hold a belt, so that the robot may turn. The site below provides videos of the printer running for various pieces.

3D Printing Videos of BCN 3D Moveo Components

Figure 2: Sample CAD file of a Moveo component.

Figure 3: Arduino company logo.

Figure 3 shows the Arduino company logo, which provides an IDE for script development and also hardware such as the Mega microcontroller. See the article below [1] for information on how to use the Arduino IDE to control and test the Moveo’s joint articulation.

Getting Started with Dabble

Figure 4 shows the Jetson Nano, a powerful miniature computer developed by Nvidia Corporation and used in the BCN 3D Moveo project. See the article from Nvidia below for information on flashing this device and installing the operating system with command line.

Flashing and Booting the Target Device

Figure 4: A Jetson Nano from Nvidia Corporation.

Figure 5: A pinout diagram for the ESP 32 microcontroller.

Figure 5 show the pinout diagram for an ESP 32 device, which features integrated WIFI and Bluetooth. The below article describes getting started with one [2]. 

DroneBot Workshop: Getting started with ESP32

References

[1] Getting Started with Dabble. The STEMPedia. https://thestempedia.com/docs/dabble/getting-started-with-dabble/

[2] Getting Started with ESP32. The Drone Bot Workshop. https://dronebotworkshop.com/esp32-intro/