Collaborative Research Center:
The Nuclear & Applied Robotics Group (NRG) is one of 13 robotics research groups working together in the newly renovated Anna Hiss Gym. This building includes 55,000+ sqft of collaborative research space, comprised of an open North and South(1) wing each the size of 2 basketball courts as well as additional enclosed lab spaces, motion capture setups, and collaborative work areas. There are separate rooms for machining and rapid fabrication, containing both manual and CNC mills as well as a laser cutter and several 3D printers. NRG resides in the Heavy Robotics Bay(2) on the first floor of the South Wing and maintains a presence at the Pickle Research Campus in both the MER High Bay and Nuclear Engineering Teaching Center.
Equipment and Robots:
NRG leverages these resources to design, modify, and deploy a wide array of robots. This consists of several mobile platforms, such as a dual-armed mobile manipulator(3) for contact-based teleoperation, an all-terrain AGV(4) with a 400lb payload, a custom holonomic robot(5) for radiation survey, and another mobile base(6) equipped with a modular, series elastic manipulator to monitor large oil & gas facilities. There are several manipulators, including a pair of compact industrial manipulators(7), one dual-armed manipulator(8), and a high-payload collaborative manipulator(9) with passive gravity compensation. There are also 2 UAV’s for indoor/outdoor use. Peripheral devices include a variety of grippers, cameras, LiDARs, virtual/augmented reality headsets, and sensors to record/monitor fugitive emissions, radiation, force-torque, acoustics, etc.
