Shane Migliore, a 2001 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship recipient, is currently a senior member of the technical staff at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Migliore spent 2001 to 2007 getting his master’s and doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT). His specialties at GIT were guidance, navigation, and control of high-performance aerospace systems and design and control of robotic systems.
It is no surprise Migliore went to work for the Sandia National Labs where he helps to develop science-based technologies that support national security efforts with solutions to solve national and global threats to peace. Magliore lead a project performing neuromuscular experiments using a robotic leg that moves more naturally than any other before it.
Robot Leg Takes A Natural Swing
Human-like locomotion requires a mix of complex joint movements–some needing actuation, others needing a more passive approach. Migliore gives the forward swing of a human leg as a prime example. “It’s almost entirely passive with very little contribution from the muscles,” he says. This mix of active and more passive movements, in turn, has created some actuation challenges for Migliore. Whereas traditional robots legs benefit from stiff joints capable of error-free actuation–the better to achieve their precisely calculated trajectories and positions–Migliore’s robotic leg actually takes the opposite approach and has somewhat compliant joints. His biggest design challenge has been finding motors and actuators strong and stiff enough to deal with the forces required to move a human-scale leg while still providing enough compliance for the leg to swing naturally and respond to unforeseen obstacles. One key to the project has been using brushed DC motors from Thin Gap. They’ve eliminated cogging problems that make robot legs seem to index though its cycle of movement rather than swing.
Migliore eventually intends to build a complete biped robot. For now, though, he continuing work on the fundamentals of leg movement, which have implications for both a robot’s overall energy usage and its ability to navigate unfamiliar environments.
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