WPI launches Autonomous Vehicle Mobility Institute

-
WPI

From left to right, researchers Vladimir Vantsevich, Huashuai Fan and Lee Moradi. | Source: WPI

Vladimir Vantsevich and Lee Moradi, two professors at Worchester Polytechnic Institute’s (WPI’s) Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, have established an Autonomous Vehicle Mobility Institute (AVMI) at WPI.

The institute aims to expand the university’s interdisciplinary research into autonomous vehicle technologies as well as to boost educational opportunities for students. AVMI will focus on developing technology for off-road autonomous vehicles that travel across rough terrains. This could mean anything from farmland to battlefields to other planets. 

“Much of the current research into autonomous vehicles focuses on cars that travel on roads, but we focus on off-road vehicles, from small robotic vehicles to full-scale vehicles, both manned and unmanned, with as many as 8, 12, or 16 wheels that are driven by electric motors or mechanical drivetrain systems with controls,” Vantsevich said. “The technological challenge for these off-road vehicles is making them intelligent enough to sense and understand the terrain under the wheel to supply in real time the correct amount of power to each wheel and thus improve the vehicle’s terrain mobility, maneuverability, and energy efficiency. We believe that WPI is an excellent place to engage students, other faculty members, and industry partners in this work.”

Researchers at WPI already have a few ongoing projects having to do with autonomous vehicle technology. These projects include models to sift through large amounts of sensor data from autonomous systems and software that will enable groups of lunar robots to collaborate while exploring the moon. 

“A significant portion of vehicles on and off roads are expected to be autonomous in the coming decades,” Wole Soboyejo, interim president of WPI, said. “WPI researchers across departments are already doing groundbreaking work in this field, and Vladimir and Lee will allow WPI to transform the scale of our innovations with their expertise and their ability to bring together collaborators with complementary expertise. This will lead to several new opportunities for our students and prepare them for leadership positions in a field that will define the cutting edge of transportation and space exploration.”

AVMI is funded by the USA Army, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy and industry partners in both the U.S. and Western Europe. 

“I’m very excited to join the faculty of WPI to continue working on autonomous off-road vehicles that could be used in agriculture, construction, the military, and especially planetary exploration,” Moradi said. “As humans continue to explore space, developing autonomous vehicles that can function on other planets under harsh conditions will be of the utmost importance.”

Vantsevich has experience in research and engineering on mechanical and intelligent mechatronic multi-physics systems with application to vehicle system modeling and simulation. Morado has spent over 18 years working in the industry after receiving his BS in engineering and his MS and Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Alabama (UAB). Before joining WPI in early 2022, both Vantsevich and Moradi worked together as faculty members at UAB. 

The post WPI launches Autonomous Vehicle Mobility Institute appeared first on The Robot Report.



from The Robot Report - Robotics News, Analysis & Research https://ift.tt/OrJ9C2A
via artificialconference

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Noah Medical’s Galaxy System is used in the US for the first time

-
Image
Noah Medical announced that its Galaxy System, an integrated system for navigated robotic bronchoscopy, was used for the first time in the United States at the University of Chicago Medicine by Dr. Kyle Hogarth.  This procedure marks the first commercial release of the Galaxy System in the US following its recent FDA clearance and first-in-human trials at Macquarie University Hospital in Sydney, Australia. The system was designed to give physicians more confidence in locating and navigating to lung nodules during biopsies as part of a more effective and efficient bronchoscopy procedure.   “The Galaxy System is the first robot for peripheral lung navigation that includes integrated imaging, which is the solution bronchoscopists have been asking for,” Hogarth said. “We are excited to be the first hospital in the United States to implement this next-generation robotic solution for our patients which we believe will improve and expedite the early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.
Read more

Chipotle testing avocado processing robot in test kitchen

-
Image
Chipotle Mexican Grill announced Autocado, an avocado processing cobotic prototype that cuts, cores, and peels avocados before they are hand mashed to create the restaurant’s famous guacamole. The prototype, developed in collaboration with Vebu , is currently being tested at the Chipotle Cultivate Center in Irvine , California.  How Autocado works  A team member loads Autocado with a full case of ripe avocados and selects the size setting. Autocado can hold up to 25 lbs. of avocados at once. One at a time, avocados are vertically oriented, then transferred to the processing device. The avocados are sliced in half. Their cores and skin are automatically removed, and the waste is discarded.  The fruit is safely collected in a stainless-steel bowl at the bottom of the device.  A team member removes the bowl of avocado fruit and moves it to the counter where they add additional ingredients and hand mash the avocados to make Chipotle’s signature guacamole.  How the Autocado idea s
Read more

Inside Comaus testing of Intrinsic Flowstate

-
Image
Intrinsic tested its latest platform and Flowstate with Comau , an Italian-based robot manufacturer and global systems integrator. Comau has been working with Intrinsic for several years now to validate Intrinsic’s platform technology and developer product, Flowstate, through real-world use cases.  Flowstate, announced earlier this year in May , is a robotic software development platform. It’s Intrinsic’s first developer product built on the Intrinsic platform. Comau was also introduced as the company’s first industry partner in May.  The Intrinsic Flowstate software  adds a layer of abstraction to traditional robotic software tools with the goal of reducing the development skillset required while making it easier than ever before to program a robot in simulation. “Partnering with Comau over the years has brought our team a tremendous amount of expertise, knowledge, and real-world use cases to focus our efforts on. We’re excited for what’s next and what it will mean to the solutio
Read more