Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	Thomas, Shajan A
Author's Email Address	shajanathomas@gmail.com
URN	etd-09062011-155734
Title	Design of a Teleoperated Rock Sampling System
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Mechanical Engineering
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Kochersberger, Kevin Bruce Committee Chair Hong, Dennis W. Committee Member Williams, Christopher B. Committee Member
Keywords	Design Autonomous Systems Robot Arm
Date of Defense	2011-07-11
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Telemanipulators allow a user to interact with a potentially dangerous environment remotely. Deploying a robot arm from a UAV would allow an operator to reach farther and quicker than he or she would with a ground robotics system alone. This thesis will discuss the design and fabrication of a compact, light, 3 degree of freedom robot arm using common off the shelf products and machined components that in combination can pick up half pound samples and has a reach of 260 mm. Also addressed is making the telemanipulator interface easier to use. One of the challenges in using a robot arm with a single camera in a beyond line-of-sight scenario is the difficulty of interacting with the environment because of a loss of depth information. This lack of information can be remedied with additional sensors. Once depth to an object of interest is known, the sampler can automatically pick up objects of interest. The manipulator arm will be used in conjunction with systems developed by the Unmanned Systems Laboratory at Virginia Tech. This group is developing a unmanned ground vehicle to be carried in the payload pod of a unmanned aerial vehicle. The robot’s ultimate objective is to collect shrapnel and bomb material from potentially dangerous environments.
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