University of Waterloo Nano Robotics Group
Encyclopedia
University of Waterloo Nano Robotics Group (UW_NRG) is an undergraduate group from the Mechatronics, Nanotechnology, Electrical, Computer, Software Engineering, and Arts programs at the University of Waterloo
. The group is known internationally because it won the Microassembly Challenge at the 2011 Mobile Microrobotics Challenge. It was the only completely undergraduate team, as well as the only Canadian team competing.
The team's success comes from the fact that its members have various engineering backgrounds. This makes them experts in a wide variety of tasks, from programming to fabrication to marketing.
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
. The group is known internationally because it won the Microassembly Challenge at the 2011 Mobile Microrobotics Challenge. It was the only completely undergraduate team, as well as the only Canadian team competing.
The team's success comes from the fact that its members have various engineering backgrounds. This makes them experts in a wide variety of tasks, from programming to fabrication to marketing.
The Robots
UW_NRG is currently working on four different microrobots code named EMMA, PAMELA, MICROCOPTER, and SAW.EMMA
EMMA (ElectroMagnetic Micro Actuation) is their most known project. It placed 3rd overall in the 2010 NIST Mobile Microrobotics Challenge in Alaska, and first place in 2011 competition in Shanghai, China. EMMA is made of a magnetic alloy which moves by displacing the magnetic field surrounding the robot (magnetic actuation). The team is currently working on a research paper "characterizing the surface tension around the robot at a micro scale" and upgrading the design to have rotation along its axis.PAMELA
PAMELA (Pump Actuation Mediated by Excited Light Absorption) is a microfluidic based MEMS which was first developed by the NanoRobotics Group. It was originally proposed in 2007 by the founding members of the group to use thrust to manipulate a MEMS device a fluidic medium. The motion of the robot is determined by focusing the laser beam onto an individual pump to turn, or on both pumps simultaneously for forward motion.MICROCOPTER
MICROCOPTER is UW_NRG's new development robot with a copter-based propulsion system. The robot uses a rotor-shaped magnetic dipole placed in a rapidly revolving magnetic field. The rotor will constantly align itself with this magnetic field therefore mimicking a helicopter.SAW
UW_NRG’s surface acoustic wave team is attempting to diversify the group’s arsenal of microrobotic achievements. This new developmental design was initially conceived following the 2011 NIST Mobile Microrobotics Challenge, and features the group’s first entirely fluid microrobot design. Excited fluid droplets will create a linear propulsion of the fluid microrobot.The Nanotech Expo
UW_NRG was a participant in the NANOTECH EXPO 2009 TOKYO, JAPAN in 2009, where the group travelled to Japan to represent the Canadian delegation, along with government officials and private organizations. The group was the only undergraduate organization at this international event. With the help of the groups mentors (professors and graduate fellows), the group presented its nanoscale pneumatic pump technology to an audience of Japanese government and industry representatives at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo.The Mobile Robotics Micro Challenge
At the ICRA 2011 in Shanghai, China, UW_NRG placed first in the Mobile Microrobotics Challenge, beating over 10 other registered teams from top institutions internationally. This included entrants from the United States, France, and Italy. In 2010, UW_NRG placed third place overall in the Mobile Microrobotics Challenge. Out of the registered teams, UW_NRG was the only undergraduate and the only Canadian team competing. The competition consisted of creating a robot of under 600 micrometers in all dimensions and completing in agility, speed and control challenges.Members
The team is composed entirely of undergraduate students from the University of Waterloo and divided into several independent sub-teams: technical groups in charge of each of the robots, the control systems group, business development, and marketing. The associated University of Waterloo professors include Dr. Mustafa, Dr. Prouzet, Dr. Cui, Dr. Raafat, and Dr. Fidan.External links
- UW_NRG's official website http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~uwnrg/
- The Nano Tech Expo Website http://www.nanotechexpo.jp/en/
- The ICRA Conference 2010 http://icra2010.grasp.upenn.edu/
- The ICRA Conference 2011 http://icra2011.org/