Hands-On Demo Robotics

Dr. O’ Malley took us on a tour of her lab. We were allowed to see different aspects of mechanical and electrical engineering. The first project we saw was a targeting machine. What would happen was a subject would sit in front of a computer screen with two joysticks, one joystick for each hand. The subject was able to control the right joy stick. The object of the exercise was to control the joystick to manipulate a dot connected with a sting to a larger dot. The subject controlled the smaller dot and could feel the resistance of the larger dot. The subject had to hit targets with the large dot by swinging it with the smaller dot. Once they tried this they would then use the left joystick. What was interesting about this joystick was it was considered the expert. The left joy stick taught the subject how to perform the task at the maximum efficiency. This project could be used to teach astronauts how to perform maneuvers in a safe environment. The second project that we saw was a motion caption project. The graduate student was trying to determine the effectiveness of accelerometers in game controllers. He was comparing his stop motion acceleration data with the readings in the controller.