CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
26 March 2007
Implementation Investments
Dartmouth Engineering Researchers Use PTC Pro/ENGINEER® Solutions to Create Affordable Robots
PTC announced that researchers at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth are using Pro/ENGINEER, including Pro/ENGINEER Mechanica®, to develop autonomous, mobile, high-speed, low-cost robots as part of their study of cooperative control. These robots can be used to assist community first responders in assessing potentially dangerous situations rapidly and safely, with reduced risks to the responders. Pro/ENGINEER is used by forty-five of the top fifty-two engineering universities in the United States.
The Dartmouth engineering research team is studying the concept of cooperative control which allows one person to control multiple high-speed, all terrain robots. This approach eliminates the need for the one soldier per robot control procedure currently required with highly specialized military use robots. As a result, costs can be dramatically reduced enabling resource constrained communities to leverage robotics technology to optimize their public safety initiatives. These all-terrain robots are also being used as "scout" vehicles to characterize terrain and reduce the potential for robot immobilization.
Unable to locate commercially available robots for use in the study, the researchers opted to develop their own robots. Using the advanced capabilities of Pro/ENGINEER, the chassis was designed in less than twelve months at a fraction of the costs. Pro/ENGINEER Mechanica was utilized to perform structural analysis to ensure maneuverability on various terrains before creating the prototype. Furthermore, the researchers were able to use the 3D models to determine the optimum control and terrain algorithms for the robot, saving the time and costs of iterative prototyping.
"Robotics development is highly complex, involving mechanical, electrical and software components. As a result, it is typically a very long and costly process," says Laura R. Ray, associate professor of engineering at Dartmouth. "The 3D solid modeling capabilities of Pro/ENGINEER allowed us to determine the final outcome before investing time and money in the prototype. We could be fully confident that all the parts were going to fit, minimizing the impact of rework."
"The Dartmouth research project is an excellent example of how educational institutions can use PTC's leading technology solutions to prepare their students to compete effectively in the workforce," says John Stuart, senior vice president, global partners and education, PTC. "The student researchers at Dartmouth will have the added experience of using their engineering skills to create an innovative robot that can help solve the real world problem of public safety."
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