16 Jun - 2017
How often do you get to see a large town-centre square packed with hopping robots? Well, you will have the opportunity to do exactly that on Markt square in Delft, on Wednesday 21 June, during the annual Design Competition for first-year Bachelor’s students of Mechanical Engineering. Who will make the best robohopper?
Hundreds of students
More than 70 teams and hundreds
of students are taking part in this year’s annual Design Competition for
first-year Bachelor’s students of Mechanical Engineering at TU Delft.
The competition forms part of the regular curriculum, and is an
important exercise in collaboration and design for first-year Bachelor’s
students. Some notable assignments have been carried out in the past,
such as the mechanical baseball pitcher, the robowaiter, and the
penalty-kick machine.
New
This time, the theme is jumping
robots. And it will be the first time that the competition is being held
entirely away from the TU Delft campus. We often see robots moving on
wheels, but walking robots are not unknown either. Some robots use
advanced walking mechanisms, of which the ‘Strandbeesten’ by
artist Theo Jansen are an example. Jumping robots, however, are
relatively new, even to scientists. In due course, ‘jumpers’ could be of
assistance – in the wake of a disaster for example, especially in areas
that are difficult to access.
Learning from nature
One of the starting points of the
competition is learning from nature, as inspiration for new technical
solutions. This bio-inspired design has already led to many innovative
solutions. Many animals make jumping movements, especially when moving
quickly; examples include dogs running after a ball, or predators
jumping on their prey.
Removal box
The challenge for the students is
therefore to design a robot able to move as quickly as possible using
repeated jumping movements. In addition, the ‘robohopper’ has to be able
to come to a standstill after jumping (once or several times) without
falling over and be ready to continue jumping.
The robohopper also has to meet a number of design requirements. For example, it has to fit into a removal box (when disassembled if necessary) and be operational within ten minutes of being unpacked.
Three categories
The teams also have the choice of
two sources of energy – compressed air or electricity, and for three
different competition elements. The first option is Free Jumping. This
concerns moving as quickly as possible in a straight line using a
repeated jumping motion (without assistance).
The second category is the Distance Jump – jumping as far as possible and landing in the starting position without falling over. Finally, there is Assisted Jumping. This involves moving as quickly as possible in a circular path using a repeated jumping motion (in a type of mill).
More information
Web page including videos about the assignment and the progress being made.