Robotics Colloquium: Speaker Ryan Caverly

Title: Modeling, Pose Estimation, and Control of Cable-Driven Robots

Abstract:
Cable-driven robots are a relatively new class of robotic manipulators that have intriguing features, including a large workspace and high payload-to-weight-ratio, which have the potential to enable exciting new robotic applications.  While these features are promising, high-acceleration maneuvers that take advantage of these properties are challenging and can even cause instability of the system if the end-effector pose is not known accurately and the feedback controller is not robust to large amounts of model uncertainty.  The first part of this talk will focus on dynamic modeling, pose estimation, and robust control methods developed by the Aerospace, Robotics, Dynamics, and Control (ARDC) Lab to help enable cable-driven robotic applications. The second part of the talk will introduce the Cable-Actuated Bio-inspired Lightweight Elastic Solar Sail (CABLESSail) concept being developed by the ARDC Lab for space exploration.

Bio:
Ryan Caverly is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Minnesota.  He received his B.Eng. degree in Honours Mechanical Engineering from McGill University, and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  From 2017 to 2018 he worked as an intern and then a consultant for Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in Cambridge, MA.  Dr. Caverly is the recipient of a Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) Award and a NASA Early Career Faculty award.  His research interests include dynamic modeling and control systems, with a focus on robotic, mechanical, and aerospace applications, as well as robust and optimal control techniques.

Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics