Development of a Mechatronic Measurement System
Introduction
Only with a variety of sensor systems can robots interact with their environment. Humanoid robots, such as LOLA, which is continuously being developed at the Chair of Applied Mechanics, are no exception and are equipped with cameras, force sensors in the feet, and torque sensors in the joints.
A particularly crucial aspect for a stable walking motion is the correct identification of ground contact. This involves determining the forces acting on the robot and reacting quickly to insufficient contact, for example, when stepping on ice. Accurately capturing the dynamic processes of ground contact requires high signal sampling rates. However, since a central control and regulation system is not capable of processing signals at such speeds—especially when the measured data must first be transmitted via a bus system—a decentralized identification of ground contact is desirable.
The goal of this seminar is, therefore, to develop an innovative mechatronic measurement system that independently records and processes measurement data while reliably providing the central motion planning system with higher-quality state information.
Objective and Contents of the Seminar
In the seminar, participants will acquire the following general competencies:
- Versioning and Collaboration: Introduction to Git for collaborative software development.
- Technical Documentation: Creating reports and project documentation using LaTeX.
- Project Management: Applying agile methods from software development and using tools for organization and planning.
The seminar focuses on the practical development of a measurement system for analyzing mechanical systems. Students will gain expertise in the following areas:
- Development and design of circuit boards using the open-source tool KiCAD.
- Construction and assembly of measurement systems, including mechanical and electrical integration.
- Programming and data processing for utilizing and analyzing the developed systems, with a focus on Python as the programming language.