More Like this

1. A Magnetically Transduced Whisker for Angular Displacement and Moment Sensing

   https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS40897.2019.8968518  

   Kim, Suhan ; Velez, Camilo ; Patel, Dinesh K. ; Bergbreiter, Sarah ( November 2019 , 2019 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS))

   null (Ed.)

   This work presents the design, modeling, and fabrication of a whisker-like sensor capable of measuring the whisker's angular displacement as well as the applied moments at the base of the whisker. The sensor takes advantage of readily accessible and low-cost 3D magnetic sensors to transduce whisker deflections, and a planar serpentine spring structure at the whisker base is used to provide a mechanical suspension for the whisker to rotate. The sensor prototype was characterized, calibrated, and compared with analytical models of the spring system and the magnetic field. The prototype showed a moment sensing range of 1.1N·mm when deflected up to 19.7°. The sensitivity of the sensor was 0.38°/LSB for the angular displacement sensing, and 0.021 Nmm/LSB for the moment sensing. A fully integrated system is demonstrated to display real-time information from the whisker on a graphical interface. 

   more » « less
2. A Whisker-inspired Fin Sensor for Multi-directional Airflow Sensing

   https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS45743.2020.9341723  

   Kim, Suhan ; Kubicek, Regan ; Paris, Aleix ; Tagliabue, Andrea ; How, Jonathan P. ; Bergbreiter, Sarah ( October 2020 , 2020 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS))

   null (Ed.)

   This work presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of an airflow sensor inspired by the whiskers of animals. The body of the whisker was replaced with a fin structure in order to increase the air resistance. The fin was suspended by a micro-fabricated spring system at the bottom. A permanent magnet was attached beneath the spring, and the motion of fin was captured by a readily accessible and low cost 3D magnetic sensor located below the magnet. The sensor system was modeled in terms of the dimension parameters of fin and the spring stiffness, which were optimized to improve the performance of the sensor. The system response was then characterized using a commercial wind tunnel and the results were used for sensor calibration. The sensor was integrated into a micro aerial vehicle (MAV) and demonstrated the capability of capturing the velocity of the MAV by sensing the relative airflow during flight. 

   more » « less
3. Contact-Resistive Sensing of Touch and Airflow Using a Rat Whisker

   Yang, Anne ET ; Hartmann, Mitra JZ ; Bergbreiter, S ( July 2018 , Proceedings of the ... IEEE/RAS-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics)

   Rats rely heavily on tactile information from their whiskers to acquire information about their surroundings. A whisker has no sensors along its length. Instead, mechanical deformation of the whisker is sensed via receptors at its base. The present study introduces a micro-sensor developed specifically to imitate the sensing of biological rat whiskers. The sensor responds to bending moments resulting from touch and/or airflow in two axes. The sensor was designed based on analytical models from cantilever beam theory, and the models were validated with finite-element analysis. Sensors were then fabricated using micro-milled molds and integrated into an Arduino-based circuit for simple signal acquisition. The present work begins to develop the technology to allow investigation of important engineering aspects of the rat vibrissal system at 1x scale. In addition to its potential use in novel engineering applications, the sensor could aid neuroscientists in their understanding of the rat vibrissal-trigeminal pathway. 

   more » « less
4. Embedded Magnetic Sensing for Feedback Control of Soft HASEL Actuators

   https://doi.org/10.1109/TRO.2022.3200164  

   Sundaram, Vani ; Ly, Khoi ; Johnson, Brian K. ; Naris, Mantas ; Anderson, Maxwell P. ; Humbert, James Sean ; Correll, Nikolaus ; Rentschler, Mark ( September 2022 , IEEE Transactions on Robotics)

   The need to create more viable soft sensors is increasing in tandem with the growing interest in soft robots. Several sensing methods, like capacitive stretch sensing and intrinsic capacitive self-sensing, have proven to be useful when controlling soft electro-hydraulic actuators, but are still problematic. This is due to challenges around high-voltage electronic interference or the inability to accurately sense the actuator at higher actuation frequencies. These issues are compounded when trying to sense and control the movement of a multiactuator system. To address these shortcomings, we describe a two-part magnetic sensing mechanism to measure the changes in displacement of an electro-hydraulic (HASEL) actuator. Our magnetic sensing mechanism can achieve high accuracy and precision for the HASEL actuator displacement range, and accurately tracks motion at actuation frequencies up to 30 Hz, while being robust to changes in ambient temperature and relative humidity. The high accuracy of the magnetic sensing mechanism is also further emphasized in the gripper demonstration. Using this sensing mechanism, we can detect submillimeter difference in the diameters of three tomatoes. Finally, we successfully perform closed-loop control of one folded HASEL actuator using the sensor, which is then scaled into a deformable tilting platform of six units (one HASEL actuator and one sensor) that control a desired end effector position in 3D space. This work demonstrates the first instance of sensing electro-hydraulic deformation using a magnetic sensing mechanism. The ability to more accurately and precisely sense and control HASEL actuators and similar soft actuators is necessary to improve the abilities of soft, robotic platforms. 

   more » « less
5. 100 pT/cm single-point MEMS magnetic gradiometer from a commercial accelerometer

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-020-0173-z  

   Javor, Josh ; Stange, Alexander ; Pollock, Corey ; Fuhr, Nicholas ; Bishop, David J. ( December 2020 , Microsystems & Nanoengineering)

   Abstract Magnetic sensing is present in our everyday interactions with consumer electronics and demonstrates the potential for the measurement of extremely weak biomagnetic fields, such as those of the heart and brain. In this work, we leverage the many benefits of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices to fabricate a small, low-power, and inexpensive sensor whose resolution is in the range of biomagnetic fields. At present, biomagnetic fields are measured only by expensive mechanisms such as optical pumping and superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), suggesting a large opportunity for MEMS technology in this work. The prototype fabrication is achieved by assembling micro-objects, including a permanent micromagnet, onto a postrelease commercial MEMS accelerometer using a pick-and-place technique. With this system, we demonstrate a room-temperature MEMS magnetic gradiometer. In air, the sensor’s response is linear, with a resolution of 1.1 nT cm −1 , spans over 3 decades of dynamic range to 4.6 µT cm −1 , and is capable of off-resonance measurements at low frequencies. In a 1 mTorr vacuum with 20 dB magnetic shielding, the sensor achieves a 100 pT cm −1 resolution at resonance. This resolution represents a 30-fold improvement compared with that of MEMS magnetometer technology and a 1000-fold improvement compared with that of MEMS gradiometer technology. The sensor is capable of a small spatial resolution with a magnetic sensing element of 0.25 mm along its sensitive axis, a >4-fold improvement compared with that of MEMS gradiometer technology. The calculated noise floor of this platform is 110 fT cm −1  Hz −1/2 , and thus, these devices hold promise for both magnetocardiography (MCG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) applications. 

   more » « less