My primary PhD research is on using models of wheel-soil manipulation to develop strategies for planetary rovers to alter soft-soil terrain. Nonprehensile terrain manipulation has the capability to enhance sampling, augment mobility, and much more. In 2018 I earned a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship to pursue this research. I collaborate frequently with engineers at …
In 2020 I constructed a testbed in my apartment for measuring wheel-soil interaction forces. This testbed is modeled on one developed at NASA Ames, and is fabricated nearly entirely with rapid prototyping methods and precut material. The testbed has a 6-axis force-torque sensor, four motors for controlling a soil preparation mechanism and wheel travel speed, …
Inspired by my previous work on Volcanobot, myself and several friends developed a microspine-enhanced hexapod robot based on the RHex architecture. While not yet able to climb vertical walls, the robot can scale inclines up to 55 degrees and statically cling to overhangs far beyond vertical. I contributed the overall leg architecture as well as …
In summer 2016, I worked under Professor David Wettergreen of CMU's field robotics center to design a rover rocker capable of push-roll locomotion. Push-roll locomotion is a novel mobility concept in which a rover is able to expand and contract each rocker such that the front and rear wheels can be moved relative to another …
Continue reading "Design of Rover Rocker for Push-Roll Locomotion"
Volcanobot refers to a series of robots designed for 3D mapping of post-eruptive volcanic fissures, with the aim of analyzing their geometry to discover their formation mechanism. In the summers of 2014 & 2015 I designed, fabricated, and tested generations 2 and 3 of Volcanobot. I also assisted in field testing during spring of 2015, …
Catherine Pavlov 