Week 8 Summer Undergraduate Research Showcase SURE- 2:00
Monday, August 14 2:00PM – 3:00PM
Location: Online - Live
The Zoom event has ended.
Presentation 1
RISHIKA AGGARWAL, FABIAN S. DEL VILLAR, BRIGHT A. OJO, and Ankur Mehta
Unfolding Origami-Inspired Robots: Constructing a User-Friendly Software and Advancing Techniques for Autonomous Compliant Oscillator Theory and Its Four-State System Applications
Origami-inspired robots historically used bulky electronics for control, limiting flexibility. Recent studies have introduced a self-sustained, bistable origami oscillator, which eliminates the need for electronic control hardware. This innovative approach explores the application of self-opening switches to enable flexible actuation, with the overarching goal of enhancing the accessibility of robotics by employing affordable materials such as plastic folding, conductive thread, and copper tape. To recreate the previously presented bistable beam mechanism, we manually used Adobe Illustrator to design a laser-cuttable file to be cut and folded out of plastic. To make the process simple and adaptable we used Python to develop a user-friendly software that automatically generates origami compliant bistable beams. The Python script prompts the user for dimensions and then outputs the schematic of the mechanism in an svg file. Preliminary results demonstrate that the automation of the design process increases efficiency by a significant amount compared to manually creating designs and enables enhanced customization of the mechanism. Considering different applications of the bistable beam, we also explored the theory behind developing a four state sequencer. This paper contains schematics and sequence truth table demonstrating the theory of the four state sequencer.
Presentation 2
SAMUEL APPAH KUBI, KHADIJ K. TANDJA, Alexis E. Block, and Veronica J. Santos
Calibrating a Novel Suction Cup Gripper Designed for Sensing Proximity and Touch
Our sense of touch is a primary method for perceiving physical interactions with our world. While robotic manipulators have advanced their ability to precisely interact with objects, they often have little to no low-cost, robust tactile sensing mechanisms. Without this, robots cannot perceive and leverage information about finger-object interactions. We propose a low-cost method of sensorizing a commercially available robot gripper that consists of two suction cup “fingers.” The suction cup is a simple but effective grasping tool and effective at conforming to objects for grasp and manipulation. Our design uses time of flight sensors to perceive proximity to objects and cameras to remotely observe the deformation of each suction cup. While the concave face of each suction cup makes contact with a grasped object, the convex backside of each suction cup is monitored by the camera. In order to amplify the deformation of the suction cup for computer vision-based tracking, we designed custom suction cups that feature hair-like papillae on their convex surfaces. To calibrate the sensorized gripper, we mounted a single sensorized suction cup to a modified 3D printer. This enables the control of physical interactions between the suction cup and objects of various shapes using known forces. Upon completion of our experiment, we will have calibrated our sensorized suction cup gripper to enable teleoperated and semi-autonomous robots to perceive proximity to and physical interactions with novel objects.
Presentation 3
KATELYN LYLE, Bo Liu, and Yuzhang Li
A Quantitative Figure of Merit for Battery SEI and its Use as a Functional Solid-State Electrolyte
Since the discovery of the ultra-thin, passivating layer known as the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) that forms in lithium-ion batteries, very little quantitative data has emerged to describe it. Here, the ionically conductive, electrically insulating nature of SEI is rigorously quantified through conductivity measurements of this layer after it forms on lithium. This is done with SEI formed in batteries with various liquid electrolytes and with different amounts of “swelling,” meaning different amounts of liquid within the film. Further, because this layer blocks the passage of electrons and allows the passage of ions, the SEI is introduced as a new form of ultra-thin electrolyte, working similarly to solid-state electrolytes. By cycling Cu|Li batteries with SEI in place of a typical electrolyte, it is illustrated that the lithium deposition and stripping processes needed for a battery to charge and discharge function with this new structure, paving the way for a new generation of batteries that demand fewer materials and have higher energy densities.
Presentation 4
STAR YU, Wenli Yu, Grace Wang, Meng Yuan, Ian Wilson, Xueyong Zhu
Wide Breadth of Anti-neuraminidase Antibody for Protection Against Influenza B Viruses
Influenza B virus (IBV) is one of the major causative agents of seasonal flu epidemics responsible for thousands of infections annually. Current treatment methods involve the use of seasonal influenza vaccines (IV), which, although effective, cannot elicit long-term immunity. Here we show that some IV induced human monoclonal antibodies (hMAb) can bind to multiple Influenza B Victoria lineage viral strains by targeting neuraminidase (NA), the viral protein responsible for virion spread and release. We gathered data by performing a biolayer interferometry assay to measure the interaction between our antibodies and NA, and then performed X-ray crystallography to analyze the antibody-antigen complex structures. We found that our antibodies exhibited a strong interaction against tested NA proteins, each with mutations resembling the NAs of Colorado17, Washington19, and Austria21 which are seasonal influenza vaccine strains prominent from 2018-2023. This suggests that our IV induced hMAb could be leveraged for future IBV vaccine design due to its wide breadth. Further studies are needed to confirm its neutralizing potential and evaluate its long-term effectiveness against evolving IBV strains.