Design and Actuation of Shape-Changing Mechanical Devices

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The design of mechanisms is often a neglected aspect of modern mechatronics which typically prefers to rely on complex control strategies and sophisticated sensors and actuators. However, over the past decades, mechatronic systems have been proposed by researchers, including the applicant, taking advantage of self-adaptive mechanisms. These mechanisms are characterized by the property of having a large part-if not all-of their control tasks delegated to the mechanical layout of the system rather than to an electronic board. Self-adaptive linkages can be considered a subspecies of shape-changing mechanisms where the cause for the shape adaptation is external to the device. Self-adaptive or even shape-changing mechanisms have only recently been considered in robotics since the still most common trend has been to expect that the growing power of computational devices would allow to easily control all systems with great efficiency despite their inherent complexity. However, this prediction has only been partially fulfilled as the increase of the computation capabilities of modern digital systems has not always been able to overcome all these drawbacks. The research initiative proposed here stems from from the applicant's earlier works and proposes to extend recent discoveries to new applications along four research thrusts focusing on aerospace and biomedical. The introduction of self-adaptive shape-changing linkages in the mechatronic systems of these two industries will significantly reduce their costs by decreasing the number of required actuators and sensors as well as their control burden. Challenging and exciting issues will be addressed in this research program and the impact on the associated research field is expected to be significant. The development of advanced mechatronic systems will hopefully attract the attention of the international research community and the industry in Canada. Indeed, this proposal has potential applications in areas where Canadian companies are at the forefront of the technology.