Cassie the bipedal robot recently earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the fastest two-legged robot on Earth, running the 100-meter dash in just under 25 seconds. The feat is especially impressive, considering Cassie pulled it off blind, without an onboard camera. Instead, Cassie first learned how to run through a series of “sim-to-real” training sessions.
Paris Myers’ time at Oregon State University took the shape of a collage with a bit of everything in the mix.
The rescuers search for survivors in the darkness of a vast labyrinth, deep below the surface. They squeeze through tight spaces, navigate blind turns, scramble over obstacles, and struggle to avoid innumerable traps laid for them. One wrong turn could spell disaster. Communication is limited. And time is running out.
Soft robots are made of pliant, supple materials, such as silicone. Some can squeeze through tiny spaces or travel over broken ground — tasks that stymie rigid robots. The field of soft robotics is still in the early stages of development, but it offers remarkable potential. One day soon, soft robots may be used in applications as diverse as searching collapsed buildings or as exosuits that facilitate recovery from injuries or strokes.
By changing the consistency of silicone rubber, John Morrow, a graduate student in robotics, enabled a 3D printer to assemble silicone into complex shapes. The breakthrough could hold the key to 3D printing of silicone soft-bodied robots.
Morrow and his colleague, Osman Dogan Yirmibesoglu, a Ph.D. student in robotics, presented their findings at the 2017 Graduate Research Showcase.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office recently announced support of up to $22 million for 10 marine energy research projects, including three represented by researchers from Oregon State University’s College of Engineering. (The award amounts for each project are under negotiation.)
A Team Of Researchers With International Roots Is Collaborating To Tackle A Global Crisis
To say Bahman Abbasi is driven would be an understatement.
Naomi Fitter, assistant professor of robotics, won the Best Paper Award at the 2020 Association for Computing Machinery/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction.
The paper, co-written with John Vilk, “Comedians in Cafes Getting Data: Evaluating Timing and Adaptivity in Real-World Robot Comedy Performance,” reported findings that may provide key clues for how social robots can best engage people with humor.
CAREER SUCCESS IN ROBOTICS
Where can you go with a degree in robotics from Oregon State University?
This past fall, two recent graduates who launched successful careers at Amazon Robotics returned to Corvallis to inspire current students with stories about life after grad school and to encourage them to maximize their experiences at Oregon State to achieve success in industry.
