GENERAL-PURPOSE MOTION MODULES

IN THE FUTURE, AUTOMATED MACHINERY WILL REQUIRE DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENT ACTUATORS, SENSORS AND CONTROLS. THIS PHASE I EFFORT WILL PRODUCE A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR AN INTEGRATED SET OF LIGHTWEIGHT, LOW-COST, MODULAR, INTELLIGENT CONTROLLERS AND SPEED REDUCERS FOR USE IN A VARIETY OF AUTOMATION AND ROBOTIC SYSTEMS. THESE WILL BE EXTENDABLE HARDWARE/SOFTWARE MODULES UTILIZING ALTERNATIVE AND ADAPTIVE CONTROL STRATEGIES. A TRADE-OFF ANALYSIS OF THE CANDIDATE CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS AND BASIC TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE PROVIDED. THE FEASIBILTY OF THE RESULTING CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED IN THREE WAYS: 1) COMPUTER MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS AND COMPLETE SERVO POSITIONING SYSTEMS; 2) A COMPUTER AIDED VISUALIZATION (CAV) SYSTEM WILL BE USED TO PRODUCE PHOTO-REALISTIC ANIMATION OF CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS IN OPERATIONS. 3) A PHYSICAL MODEL OF ONE SPEED REDUCER/CONTROLLER MODULE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED TO ILLUSTRATE THE SPEED REDUCTION PRINCIPLE AS WELL AS THE RELATIVE SIZE, SHAPE AND INTERCONNECTION PROJECT COMPONENTS. A FINAL REPORT WILL BE PRODUCED DOCUMENTING THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES, WORK CARRIED OUT, RESULTS OBTAINED AND ESTIMATES OF TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY. THIS EFFORT WILL LAY A FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF MODULAR CONTROLLERS AND SPEED REDUCERS. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: THE PROPOSED CONCEPTS FOR MODULAR SPEED REDUCERS AND CONTROLLERS HOLD GREAT PROMISE FOR IMPROVING THE COST/PERFORMANCE OF FUTURE MILITARY AND INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION SYSTEMS. THESE WILL ALLOW FASTER DESIGN AND PRODUCTION OF ROBOTIC DEVICES FOR NUMEROUS APPLICATIONS, AT GREATLY REDUCED COSTS OVER TRADITIONAL METHODS.