Projects 2024

Re-engineering the Musculoskeletal System Using Novel Robotics-inspired Passive Orthopedic Implants

Mentor: Dr. Ravi Balasubramanian
Website: https://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~balasubr/

Current reconstructive orthopedic surgeries use sutures to attach muscles and tendons. However, this leads to poor surgical outcomes because of the suture’s limited ability to transmit the muscle’s forces and movement to the tendons. It is expected that using passive implants, such as pulleys and rods, to surgically construct mechanisms in situ using the existing biological tendons will significantly improve post-surgery function (when compared to using sutures) and lead to the development of new surgical procedures. 

Example projects:

 

Robotic Crop Manipulation
Mentor: Dr. Joe Davidson
Website: https://research.engr.oregonstate.edu/davidsonjr/

Robots are needed to help with the production of specialty crops such as fresh market fruits and vegetables. However, specialty crop cultivation systems are challenging, unstructured environments. Some of the challenges include uneven terrain, variable lighting conditions, occlusions, clutter, and delicate products that can be easily damaged. Another constraint is the seasonal nature of agriculture that limits data collection in the field (the fruit may only be ripe for a few days each year!). Our work aims to advance manipulation in unstructured environments like specialty crop systems through a combination of tactile sensing, soft robotics, and learning from physical twins. This project will involve field testing at commercial farms around the Willamette Valley.

Example projects include:

  • Building grippers for picking fruit
  • Developing physical testbeds
  • Creating simulation environments to study crop manipulation

 

Robots for Health Promotion
Mentor: Dr. Naomi Fitter
Website: https://osusharelab.com/research/

Compared to other types of interactive technologies, robots possess a unique ability to motivate people because people tend to perceive them as a "social other," rather than a tool or device. The OSU SHARE Lab studies applications of robots in health-promoting scenarios, including mobility interventions and physical activity encouragement. For example, children are becoming more sedentary over time; we are curious about the role robots can play in encouraging physical exploration and play for children with typical development and children with motor disabilities. Older adult wellness is a huge topic of interest and study as the need for elder care exceeds the current capacity of the healthcare system; we are researching ways that robots could help to support physical, cognitive, and social wellness in this population.

Example projects:

  • Supporting the design and deployment of robotic systems for interventions with people
  • Designing and evaluating robot behaviors
  • Gathering and analyzing human user data

 

Autonomy for Underwater and Surface Vehicles Exploring Ocean Environments
Mentor: Dr. Geoff Hollinger
Website: http://research.engr.oregonstate.edu/rdml/

There are many ocean environments which are unsuitable for manned research vessels, either because they are too dangerous (e.g., near a calving glacier or in the deep ocean), or require too many resources to be effective. We seek to design a new generation of Autonomous Research Vehicles (ARVs) that can be programmed to measure ocean dynamics in extreme environments. This research project involves the hardware design, construction, and programing of robust surface and underwater systems that will be used to explore ocean dynamics in Greenland, Alaska, and in remote ocean basins. The REU student will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers from mechanical engineering, computer science, and oceanography to assist in building and programming ARVs currently being designed at Oregon State University.

Example projects:

  • Programming autonomous vehicles to operate with minimal operator control
  • Learning from human operators to coordinate autonomous marine vehicles
  • Designing algorithms for robust underwater manipulation and grasping
  • Optimization and testing of a multi-vehicle underwater docking infrastructure that stays in place for substantial periods of time

 

Multi-Robot Coordination
Mentor: Dr. Kagan Tumer
Website: https://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~ktumer/research.html

Many interesting real world problems require multiple robots to work together. For example, search and rescue missions require coordinating dozens of autonomous robots, as well as ensuring that the robots and humans work together. But providing hard-coded coordination instructions is too limiting. This project explores the science of coordination, and focuses on how to provide incentives to individual robots so that they work collectively.

Example projects:

  • Programming intelligent decision making for robots
  • Implementing incentives for robots
  • Testing coordination algorithms in hardware (wheeled and flying robots)

 

Human-Robot Teaming for Field Science Data Collection
Mentor: Dr. Cristina Wilson
Website: https://www.radlab.us/

Robots are used in Earth and planetary science missions as mobile sensor suites, taking low-level commands from humans to execute the navigation, sensing and sampling, while human experts bear the full burden of integrating and interpreting data for future data collection decision making. The goal of this NASA-funded project is to develop new human-robot teaming workflows that allow robots to take on increased responsibility in collaborative exploration decision making, thereby freeing up the expert to engage in the type of abstract hypothetical thinking that the human mind excels at.

The REU student(s) will help with user studies evaluating how scientists respond to suggestions from a robot about where to collect data next. There will be opportunity to conduct studies in simulation and during a planetary analogue science mission on Mt. Hood during the summer.

 

Human-Robot Social Interaction
Mentor: Dr. Bill Smart
Website: https://engineering.oregonstate.edu/people/bill-smart

As robots enter our daily lives, they will have to learn the social rules that humans follow.  How close can you stand to someone?  When can you interrupt to ask a question without being annoying?  Who gets priority when two people are trying to go different ways through the same doorway?  Although we do these things every day without thinking about them, they can be challenging for robots to get right.  This project will involve designing, implementing, and evaluating social interactions between a Quori robot and people.  We’ll be building on prior work in both social psychology and social robotics, and evaluating our work in real-world settings on the OSU campus.