Teaching
Intermediate Controls (AME 40652/60652, 2022-2024)
Dynamic systems, systems with behaviors that change over time, are part of our everyday life. For example, glucose levels in our body depend on insulin and glucagon generation from the pancreas; the angular speed of an electric motor depends on its input voltage; the rate of infection of a disease depends on the fraction of the population that develops immunity. How should you engineer the inputs to a dynamic system to achieve a desired behavior? What sensors or estimations do you need to calculate the system inputs or monitor the system state? Computer algorithms (e.g., controllers and estimators) based on differential equations, linear algebra, and first principles provide a modern answer to those questions.
Wearable Robotics (AME 60553, 2023)
Physical assistance from wearable robots has the potential to improve our quality of life. Achieving positive health outcomes requires a multidisciplinary approach to the robot design and evaluation process. In this class, we will introduce some of the biomechanical and mechatronic principles to guide this process. The main topics include compliant actuation methods for exoskeletons, exosuits, and robotic prostheses; dynamic models of the human body and wearable robot; hierarchical control through state variables, finite-state machines, and impedance control; optimization for mechanical design, real-time control, and real-time estimation; and methods for the evaluation of health outcomes.