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Dec2
EVENT DETAILSmore info
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Join the Center for Robotics and Biosystems December Seminar
Speaker: Robert Shepherd, Associate Professor at Sibley School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and the Organics Matter Lab at Cornell University
Date and Time: Friday, December 2 at 12:00 p.m. CT
Location: Mechanical Engineering Conference Room, B211 and Zoom
Zoom Link: https://tinyurl.com/CRBSeminar
• NU-authenticated attendees will be automatically admitted. Others, please email amy.nedoss@northwestern.edu to be admitted from the waiting room.
Abstract:
Animals are semi-discretized. Systems of organs that perform multiple functions and are spatially discrete from each other, yet interconnected chemically and electrically. The complexity of animals such as vertebrate mammals allow for adaptation within a single generation that has allowed many examples of species that have thrived without genetic modification even during periods of significant environmental change. In the search for generally adaptive robots, useful for far field exploration missions, we believe that a similar model of complex, multifunctional, and interconnected organ systems of animals should be embraced, rather than avoided. Of course, it is not yet that simple to be complex, but we will present approaches we have used to distribute sensing, actuation, energy, and computation in soft robots. The framework we use for guiding our design evolution is Autonomous Materials, where we push the manufacturing of robots towards forming processes, and multifunctional use of material chemistry. The resulting machinery presented will be organic both in chemical makeup and subsystem analogy to organisms.
Bio:
Rob Shepherd is an associate professor at Cornell University in the Sibley School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. He received his B.S. (Material Science & Engineering), Ph.D. (Material Science & Engineering), and M.B.A. from the University of Illinois in Material Science & Engineering. At Cornell, he runs the Organic Robotics Lab (ORL), which focuses on using methods of invention, including bioinspired design approaches, in combination with material science to improve machine function and autonomy. We rely on new and old synthetic approaches for soft material composites that create new design opportunities in the field of robotics. Our research spans three primary areas: bioinspired robotics, advanced manufacturing, and human-robot interactions. He is the recipient of an Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, and his lab’s work has been featured in popular media outlets such as the BBC, Discovery Channel, and PBS’s NOVA documentary series. He is an advisor to the American Bionics Project (americanbionics.org) which aims to make wheelchairs obsolete. He is also the co-founder of the Organic Robotics Corporation (ORC; lightlace.io), which aims to digitally record the tactile interactions of humans and machines with their environment.
TIME Friday, December 2, 2022 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LOCATION ME B211, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Amy Nedoss amy.nedoss@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR Center for Robotics and Biosystems (CRB)
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Sep16
EVENT DETAILS
lessEnjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free light breakfast on the Tech East Plaza will follow.
TIME Monday, September 16, 2024 at 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
LOCATION LR2, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Andi Joppie andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
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Sep23
EVENT DETAILS
lessEnjoy a welcome from Dean Christopher A. Schuh and other McCormick leaders, and receive a Northwestern Engineering T-shirt. A free lunch on the Tech East Plaza will follow.
TIME Monday, September 23, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
LOCATION Ryan Auditorium, Technological Institute map it
CONTACT Andi Joppie andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
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Sep24
EVENT DETAILS
lessFall 2024 Classes Begin (No Northwestern Monday in Fall)
TIME Tuesday, September 24, 2024
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Sep30
EVENT DETAILS
lessLast day to add a class or change a section for Fall (Last day for tuition adjustment related to enrollment changes (to or from full-time). No reductions are made to bills for dropped or swapped classes after this date)
TIME Monday, September 30, 2024
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar
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Dec7
EVENT DETAILS
lessFall classes end
TIME Saturday, December 7, 2024
CONTACT Office of the Registrar nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL
CALENDAR University Academic Calendar