Robotic Systems Laboratory

formerly known as the Santa Clara Remote and Extreme Environments Mechanisms (SCREEM) Laboratory

Robots Expeditions & Operations Robotic Control Network Technology
  

Robotic Systems 

The following robotic devices are the primary experimental systems developed and used by students and staff in the laboratory:

Manipulators
Mitsubishi Manipulators - Operational. These two robots (one 5-DOF and one 6-DOF) are operational and are currently be configured into a robotic workcell. 
IBM 7545 Manipulator - Operational. This 5-DOF robotic arm is currently operational and is being adapted for use in mechatronics, robotics, and control theory classes.
Cylindrical  Manipulator - Operational. This 3-DOF robotic arm  is currently operational and is being adapted for use in mechatronics, robotics, and control theory classes.  This robot has interesting kinematics in that its actuator space and operational space variables are identical.
Staubli RX90 Manipulator - Undergoing retrofit. This 6-DOF robotic arm is being incorporated into laboratory exercises for several classes and will serve as a research platform for studies in manipulation and robot collaboration. Use of this manipulator is conducted in conjunction with the SCU Control Systems Laboratory.
Web-based Manipulator - Operational. This simple 2-DOF robotic arm is part of RSL's web-based robotics education system.  This system allows remote users to interactively control real robotic equipment through the internet.
Retired Manipulators - Lab students have re-engineered, converted, adapted and destroyed a wide variety of hobby-class manipulators for a range of class projects.
 
 
Land Rovers
Omnibots - Operational. These two holonomic robots are completely student-engineered and are routinely used for graduate level thesis work.
Roverwerx - Operational. This tank-like land rover is being used for a variety of robotic technology studies.  It has been use to successfully demonstrate internet-based piloting, remote manipulation of objects, and dGPS-based "goto" autonomous navigation.
Pioneer II-AT - Operational.  This system consists of a commercially available chassis and a suite of student-engineered and off-the-shelf subsystems.  The Pioneer is being used for several research projects involving robotic formations/collaboration and biologically inspired sensor suites. 
Amigobots - Operational.  Five of these robots are being incorporated into a range of undergraduate and graduate classes.  In addition, they are supporting several research projects in internet-based robotic control, collaborative robot formations, etc. 
Easybots - Operational.  Three of these robots are being incorporated into a mobile multi-robot testbed that is being used in several classes and research projects. 
BoeBots - Operational.  We have dozens of these... so, so many.... used in the classroom, for independent projects, for hands-on outreach events, etc. Of specific interest, six of these robots are being incorporated into a mobile multi-robot testbed that is being used in several classes and research projects.  An additional eight robots are used to support team-based laboratory exercises in several mechatronics and robotics classes.
LynxMotion Tracked Robot - Operational.  This robot is used for educational projects and as part of a web-based teleoperation testbed.
 
 
Marine Robots
Mantaris ROV - In development. This shallow-water 6 Hp tethered vehicle is being developed for marine operations commencing in the Summer of 2006. This vehicle will become one of the primary NOAA research vessels on the West Coast.
Triton ROV - Operational.  This shallow-water (<1000 ft) 3 Hp tethered vehicle is being used for a variety of marine science studies as well as for several robotic technology studies.
Photo of AUV
Bronco AUV - In development. This autonomous underwater robot includes a variety of donated parts by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Initial work on this retrofit project has been accomplished by senior design teams; current work is being performed as part of a Masters thesis project.
Wasp ASV - In development. This autonomous surface vessel is being developed for estuary/bay/lake operation, and it includes a deployable science package that can be lowered to depths of 200 meters.  It is scheduled for initial estuary tests in late 2006.
Nautilus ROV - Completed. This shallow-water 2 Hp tethered vehicle has been completed and demonstrated.  It is still capable of operation although it requires the development of a dedicated above-water control console.
microSwift ROV - Completed. This ROV is rated to 100 ft and uses PVC framing, refurbished trolling motors and dc battery power to provide adequate performance at very low cost and with fantastic operational convenience.
SeaFox ROV - Completed. This rudimentary, low-cost tethered vehicle is made of PVC tubing and uses bilge pumps as thrusters.  A camera and an internet control system allow students to fully control the vehicle and to rapidly prototype new ideas on a simple engineering platform.  The vehicle is rated to a depth of 30 ft.
 
 
Aircraft
RC Plane Fleet - Operational. Three of these 81"wingspan ARF planes have been used to demonstrate autonomous follow-the-leader formation flying, realtime aerial imaging, etc.   
OV-1 Outdoor Airship - In test. This 16 ft scale model of a larger airship in the design phase has undergone static line outdoor testing in Oklahoma.  It is being developed in conjunction with Highships, LLC.  RSL has developed and delivered all on-board avionics for this vehicle.
 High Altitude Balloons - Operational. These balloons are capable of carrying 6 lb payloads to an altitude of 100,000 feet.  RSL has participated in a number of these flights with partners that include HighShips LLC, RocketCam, Washington Univ in St. Louis, and the Univ of Colorado's SHOT program.  RSL paylaods have supported environmental monitoring experiments, aerial photography, and component technology tests.
Bronco Blimp - Operational. This 10.0 ft blimp supports experiments in autonomous navigation and pilot interfaces. In addition, it is used for entertainment and advertising at SCU athletic events.
Retired RC Aircraft - In the process of developing the lab's current 3-plane UAV cluster, two RC aircraft were developed, adapted, flown, tested, and ultimately destroyed...
Retired Indoor Airships - Several indoor airships have been developed as senior design projects to demonstrate a variety of capabilities such as navigation, internet-based piloting, etc.  These include the 3-ft Preeminence blimp (a retro-fitted hobby class blimp; 1999), the 11 ft long Eminence blimp (developed from scratch and successful at demonstrating both internet-based remote piloting and automatic altitude control; 2000-2001), and the 8' diameter Big Blimp'n (successful at demonstrating heading and altitude control; 2002-2003).  
 
 
Spacecraft
GeneSat-1 - In development. Development of this satellite is being led by NASA Ames.  SCU students is developing the entire ground segment for this mission and will be conducing all on-orbit operations.  SCU is also contributing to the development of the communication system, the formal test and verification of the flight vehicle.  Launch is currently scheduled for November 2006.
GeneBox - In operation. Launched in early July on the Bigelow Aerospace Genesis I vehicle, GeneBox is currently being operated.  GeneBox is a precursor test for GeneSat-1.
ONYX - In development. ONYX is an undergraduate project to develop a complete 30 kg satellite as part of the 4th AFOSR/NASA University Nanosatellite Program. ONYX will demonstrate (for the first time ever) the on-board execution of an advanced anomaly management reasoning system and will include fault-injection capability in support of controlled, double-blind validation of this technology. ONYX will also demonstrate the use of a novel multi-spectral imager developed by JPL, validate updates to RSL's dCDH avionics suite, and offer web-based heat transfer experiments for on-line educational exercises.
FASTRAC - Completed. This 2-satellite cluster was developed by U.T. Austin as part of the 3rd University Nanosatellite Program.  RSL partnered on the project, providing the complete distributed command and data handling system.  RSL will also be providing mission operations support for the on-orbit test, which will be demonstrating several enabling technologies for satellite formation flying.
Sapphire - Operational. Developed by Stanford graduate students and launched by the USNA and Washington Univ in St. Louis, RSL is one of the primary operators of the Sapphire microsatellite.  This work has included a 3-year campaign to demonstrate advanced model-based anomaly management algorithms relevant to the control of distributed space systems.
Emerald - In development. The winner of the 1st University Nanosatellite Program competition, Emerald was a joint project with Stanford University and MIT to develop and deliver two satellites to demonstrate several enabling technologies that support spacecraft formation flying and distributed space systems. The flight project was near delivery and slated to be launched from the Space Shuttle, but was cancelled after the Columbia crash.  RSL continued development of Emerald dCDH, power and communications subsystems as part of an effort to mature its own satellite technologies.  These technologies have since been incorporated into the FASTRAC and ONYX missions.
Artemis - Completed. Three simple, sub-kilogram spacecraft capable of performing a basic science mission involving the monitoring of Earth lightning were developed in order to demonstrate the feasibility of extremely small satellites and distributed sensor-craft. The spacecraft were ejected from the Stanford OPAL microsatellite after a launch off a U.S. Air Force Minotaur rocket in January 2000.
Barnacle - Completed. Two versions of this microsatellite were developed and readied for flight.  The first, suborbital version was prepared for the amateur rocket ICANO, which was never completed.  The second, orbital version was prepared for the maiden SeaLaunch flight, but was ultimately unable to be included on the flight due to federal ITAR regulations.  Both configurations had MEMS sensor to be characterized in the space environment.  Developed in 1998-1999, these were the first completely SCU-developed spacecraft; given that their designs have been superceded and that the payload sensors have since flown on other missions, flight options for these satellites are no longer being pursued.
SHARP Re-entry Vehicle Prototype - Completed. Joint project with NASA Ames, Montana State University and Stanford University to develop and operate a scale prototype of a small re-entry vehicle with a sharp wing leading edge enabling improved aerodynamic maneuverability while being able to withstand extreme thermal loads.  RSL and MSU completed the project and delivered a prototype for a test balloon drop.  Unfortunately, NASA terminated the project prior to a test flight.
 
 
Other Systems
Test Telescope - This 12" Meade telescope has been used to develop control systems capable of addressing operational issues at the telescope, observatory, and global network levels.