Siddharth Rath clears Dissertation Proposal Examination, July 2022

Siddharth Rath cleared his Dissertation Proposal Examination in July 2022. The topic for his Ph.D. dissertation is "On the Zeros of Flexible Systems". In his dissertation, Siddharth explores mathematical frameworks to derive various necessary and sufficient conditions for the elimination of non-minimum phase (NMP) zeros in the transfer functions of flexible systems. The dissertation provides design insights in terms of actuator - sensor placement, damping strategy as well mass and stiffness distribution in order to guarantee better dynamic performance of flexible systems via the elimination of NMP zeros.

Revanth Damerla presents a paper in the IEEE/ASME Automated Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) Conference, July 2022

Revanth Damerla presented his paper on “Design of a Novel Linkage-Based Active Continuously Variable Transmission for Anthropomorphic Prosthetic and Robotic Hands” in the Automated Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) Conference virtually in July 2022. Modern anthropomorphic prosthetic and robotic hands are not capable of meeting desired values in all the five criteria of size, weight, strength, speed and dexterity. A key reason for this is that DC motors combined with transmissions with constant reduction ratio are unable to achieve performance that addresses all of the above criteria. Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVTs) are a promising alternative. However, existing CVTs that can produce sufficient output torque and speed capabilities are not small and lightweight enough for practical use in an anthropomorphic prosthetic or robotic hand. In this paper, we present the design of a novel linkage-based active CVT that has the potential to overcome the limitations of existing CVTs and thereby achieve the desired values in all five criteria. This CVT has the potential to be small and lightweight enough to meet all target specifications needed for use in anthropomorphic prosthetic and robotic hands that achieve strength comparable to the human hand as well as a suitably high speed and dexterity.

Siddharth Rath presents a paper in the American Control Conference, June 2022

Siddharth Rath presented his paper on "Distribution of Real and Imaginary Zeros of Multi-DoF Undamped Flexible Systems" in the American Control Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia from June 8th to June 10th. This paper investigates the distribution of zeros with respect to the poles on the imaginary and real axes of the s-plane in the transfer function of a multi-DoF undamped flexible LTI system. It is well known that when all the modal residue signs are the same, all the zeros of the multi-DoF undamped flexible LTI system are minimum phase (MP). However, the same sign for all modal residues is a sufficient condition for the elimination of non-minimum phase (NMP) zeros and not a necessary one. In order to find sufficient conditions for the elimination of NMP zeros when all modal residue signs are not the same, specific results are needed that explain the distribution of zeros with respect to the poles in the s-plane. Therefore, in this paper results are provided that elucidate the distribution of zeros with respect to the poles on the real and imaginary axes of the s-plane for any combination of modal residue signs.

PSDL receives the MTRAC Grant, Jun 2022

The Precision Systems Design Lab received a Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization (MTRAC) grant with the objective of bringing together and integrating all the previously developed PREACT components into an operational technology that can be deployed in MCity and be validated in realistic driving conditions with human subjects. We expect that this demonstration will facilitate the transfer of the PREACT technology from the university setting to the industry, where this technology can be integrated within AV hardware and software platforms that are currently under development.

PSDL publishes research on the Design and Testing of a Novel, High-Performance Two DoF Prosthetic Wrist, May 2022

Extrinsically powered prosthetic wrists have the potential to offer significant improvements to the functionality and dexterity of a prosthetic hand. They can also reduce a user’s overreliance on their intact limb and help prevent injury from overuse of upper limb (both intact and residual) and trunk joints. Despite these potential advantages, there are very few prosthetic wrist options that are commercially available and these devices are not commonly used by prosthetic hand users due to several factors including inadequate performance specifications. Our research, published in the IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, presents the design of a novel two Degree of Freedom parallel kinematic prosthetic wrist that is the first to demonstrate anthropomorphic torque, speed, weight, and size.

PSDL receives the CCAT Impact Research Grant, Apr 2022

The Precision Systems Design Lab received an Impact Research Grant from the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT) to develop and demonstrate a passenger motion sickness mitigation solution that employs preemptive or anticipatory interventions in autonomous vehicles. With the impending transformation in ground transportation due to autonomous vehicles, where every occupant is a passive passenger, the deleterious effects of motion sickness on the passenger comfort and productivity during their commute is expected to be significant. The resulting proof of concept will enable implementation and deployment of the proposed technology. This project will leverage the lab's expertise in mechanism and mechatronic design to design the active seat and its controllers. In addition, this project will explore licensing and strategic partnerships in order to create a technology transfer and commercialization road map.

Siddharth Rath presents a paper in the Modelling Estimation and Controls Conference, Oct 2021

Siddharth Rath, presented his paper on "Non-minimum Phase Zeros of Two-DoF Damped Flexible Systems” at the Modelling, Estimation and Control Conference held in Austin, Texas from October 24th to 27th. This paper presents an investigation of the non-minimum phase (NMP) zeros in the SISO dynamics of a two-DoF damped flexible LTI system. The presence of undamped poles and non-minimum phase (NMP) zeros limits the performance of feedforward and feedback control in dynamic systems. While, the addition of passive viscous damping is beneficial for the undamped poles of the flexible systems, it can lead to the presence of NMP zeros in the system dynamics. Using modal decomposition, it is shown in this paper that as long as all the modal residue signs of multi-DoF damped flexible LTI system are same, the addition of passive viscous damping does not lead to NMP zeros in the system dynamics for any value of system parameters – modal residue, modal frequency and modal damping ratio. Further, the zero loci of a two-DoF damped flexible LTI system is investigated in order to understand how the addition of passive viscous damping can lead to NMP zeros when the modal residue signs are different.

PSDL publishes research reviewing state-of-the-art Extrinsically Powered Prosthetic Hands, Jul 2021

Extrinsically powered prosthetic hands offer the potential to replicate the capabilities of a human hand. Over the past 20 years however, amputees have consistently indicated that several user needs have not been met. Many of these user needs are related to the hardware of the prosthetic hand, and in particular, its actuators and transmissions. Our research, published in the IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, investigates the state of the art in extrinsically powered prosthetic hands through a comprehensive review of the research, commercial, and open-source literature. The review focuses specifically on actuation of the prosthetic hands because actuation is central to addressing user needs. We systematically characterize the actuation design space, identifying that improvements to transmission pathways are the most promising avenue of further research and innovation to enable future prosthetic hands that adequately address user needs.

PSDL publishes research on Constraint-Based Analysis of Parallel Kinematic Articulated Wrist Mechanisms, March 2021

Articulated wrist mechanisms offer at least two rotations (commonly designated as pitch and yaw) as in the human wrist and are used in an array of applications that require dexterous manipulation, remote access, or orientation adjustment. Our paper, published in the ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, presents a systematic constraint-based analysis of the motion attributes of eight parallel kinematic articulated wrist mechanisms from the existing literature. This systematic analysis reveals performance tradeoffs between key motion attributes for a given mechanism, as well as design tradeoffs across the mechanisms with respect to their motion attributes. This analysis should help inform the suitability of a given mechanism for specific applications.

PSDL receives the CCAT Impact Research Grant, Nov 2020

The Precision Systems Design Lab received an Impact Research Grant from the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT) to develop a motion sickness alleviation system that leverages anticipatory control of an active seat in autonomous vehicles. The objective of this project is to develop a functional proof of concept hardware of an actively controlled seat, and then conduct experiments with anthropomorphic dummy to determine the performance of the active seat in mitigating motion sickness while in a moving vehicle. This project will leverage the labs expertise in mechanism and mechatronic design to design the active seat and its controllers. The experimental results will be used to establish feasibility, and define performance envelope of the proposed motion sickness mitigation system. In addition, this project will use licensing and strategic partnerships in order to create a technology transfer and commercialization road map. This work complements ongoing simulation research on estimating motion sickness for passengers in autonomous vehicles.

Daniel Schulman passes RFE, Sept 2020

Daniel Schulman successfully cleared his Research Fundamentals Exam (RFE) and advanced into candidacy in his PhD program. He presented his research on modeling of passenger comfort in autonomous vehicles as a tool to plan and predict motion sickness mitigation interventions. The presentation included a thorough survey of the prior art in the field of motion sickness theory, preliminary results on a novel motion sickness estimation model, early conclusions, and future work.

Siddarth Rath takes part in National I-Corp Program, Sept 2020

Siddharth Rath led a team of researchers in the summer cohort of the National I-Corps Program held virtually at Austin, Texas from 20th July to 1st September 2020. During the 7 week program, Siddharth and his team interacted with 110 interviewees working in different sectors within the semiconductor industry. The objective of this program was to find a product market fit for flexure mechanism based advanced nano-positioning motion stages developed by PSDL researcher Siddharth Rath and Professor Shorya Awtar. Siddharth worked closely with the industry veterans with successful entrepreneurial careers to gain experience in building and running a technology based start-up. The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a cost effective, high speed nano-positioning stage for use in the semiconductor industry.

Revanth Damerla presents a paper in the ASME IDETC-CIE Conference, August 2020

Revanth Damerla presented his paper on “Constraint-Based Analysis of Parallel Kinematic Articulated Wrist Mechanisms” in the International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference virtually in August 2020. This paper presents a systematic constraint-based analysis of the motion attributes of six parallel kinematic articulated wrist mechanisms from the existing literature. This systematic analysis reveals performance tradeoffs between key motion attributes for a given mechanism, as well as design tradeoffs across the mechanisms with respect to their motion attributes. This analysis should help inform the suitability of a given mechanism for specific applications.

PSDL receives MEDC ADVANCE Prototyping Grant, Jul 2020

The Precision Systems Design Lab received an ADVANCE prototyping grant from the Michigan State Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to develop a theoretical (simulation) proof of concept of PRE-ACT - PREemptively controlled ACTive Systems to Mitigate Motion Sickness in Autonomous Vehicles. The objective of this project is to develop Proof of Concept via Computer Simulations that help validate system performance and efficacy. This simulation will leverage existing models in the literature, and new models created by the lab to simulate vehicle dynamics, passenger dynamics, and motion sickness. These simulations will be used to establish feasibility, define performance envelope, and determine technical specifications for the PRE-ACT system. Develop a technology translation and commercialization road map based on licensing, strategic partnership, startup, or a combination thereof.

Shorya receives the ASME Thomas Edison Patent Award, Jul 2020

American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Thomas A. Edison Patent Award, 2020.This is ASME's highest society-level award that recognizes eminent creative achievementin the form of a patented invention, which is broadly recognized as significantly enhancing the practice of mechanical engineering or having a significant industrial or commercial impact. Shorya received this award for translating his patented invention from university research lab to a commercialized medical product, FlexDex, that is making minimally invasive surgery more affordable and accessible for patients all around the world.

PSDL research in Rehab Robotics recognized by Best Conference Paper Award, Jul 2020

Best Paper in Compliant Mechanisms Application Award, 2020, at the 44th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference, International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC). Awarded by the Mechanisms and Robotics Committee of the ASME Design Engineering Division.
Jalgaonkar, N., Kim, A., and Awtar, S., “Design of an Ankle Rehab Robot with a Compliant Parallel Kinematic Mechanism”, ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC), St. Louis MO, Paper # IDETC2020-19424

Shorya honored by the ASB Goel Award for PSDL’s translational research in human-machine kinematic interface, Jun 2020

American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) Goel Award for translational research in biomechanics, 2020. This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments in translational biomechanics research, entrepreneurship, and societal benefit. Selection is based on originality, quality and depth of the candidate’s research, and the commercial and societal benefits in terms of human health and well-being emanating from this research. Shorya received this award for his research in human-machine interface that recognizes that an articulating surgical instrument for complex laparoscopy that offers dexterity, intuitive control, and an ergonomic posture for the surgeon has to be designedin harmony with the biomechanics of the surgeon’s hand, wrist and arm. The resulting commercialized product, FlexDex, is impacting the society by providing affordable healthcare to patients around the world.

PSDL receives National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) Grant, Apr 2020

The Precision Systems Design Lab, in partnership with semiconductor OEM and other university labs, received an NSF PFI grant to develop and demonstrate advanced nanopositioning technology for semiconductor fabrication process control. This project aims to develop nanopositioning technology that achieves a range of several millimeters of motion, high speed, smaller settling time, nanometric accuracy, and low heat generation - specifications previously considered impractical in a compact and cost-effective package. These stringent motion specifications will be met via research and innovations in parallel kinematic design, non-linear flexure mechanics,structural dynamics, and electromagnetic actuators. When incorporated within semiconductor process control equipment to rapidly move wafers from one defect to another, this nanopositioning technology will improve the inspection throughput of semiconductor wafers at an economically viable price-point, resulting higher yield. The societal impact of this project will ultimately be in the form of cheaper electronics (processors, memory, sensors, etc.) that will broaden access to computers, mobile devices, automobiles, robotics, automation, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, among others.

Nishant Jalgaonkar passes RFE, Nov 2019

Nishant Jalgaonkar successfully cleared his Research Fundamentals Exam (RFE) and advanced into candidacy in his PhD program. He presented his research on the design and development of a novel ankle rehabilitation robot. The presentation included a thorough survey of the prior art in the field, preliminary results (including a mock up of the robot), early conclusions, and future work. The examiners provided valueable insights and shared constructive feedback.

Revanth Damerla wins NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Summer 2019

Revanth has won a 2018 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship as a part his research at PSDL. This award "recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines". Revanth will use this award to continue making strides in his research on mechanism design, prosthetics, and applications of machine learning in design.

FlexDex Needle-Driver wins 2019 Edison Award

FlexDex (Needle-Driver) and its distribution partner Olympus (3D ENDOEYE) have won the 2019 Edison Award (Silver) in the Surgery Robotics category.

Nishant Jalgaonkar joins PSDL, May 2019

Nishant Jalgaonkar joins the PSDL team in May, 2019. Nishant received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering [B.Eng. (Hons)] from the National University of Singapore in 2014. After graduation, Nishant worked at the Yale-NUS College in Singapore, where he mentored freshman students, and helped setup and run the college's maker space. At the University of Michigan, he received his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering (M.S.E) specializing in Design in 2019. He is pursuing research in the field of Human Machine Interaction, and is working to build mechatronics and mechanism design expertise.

Siddharth Rath passes RFE, Nov 2018

Siddharth Rath cleared his Research Fundamental Exam (RFE) and advanced to Ph.D. candidacy. He presented his research on the occurrence of Complex Non Minimum Phase (CNMP) Zeros in the dynamics of spring mass systems and its correlation with the phenomenon of curve veering observed in symmetric/periodic elastic structures. The presentation included a thorough survey of the prior art in the field, preliminary results in the form of mathematical hypothesis that explain the presence of CNMP zeros in spring mass systems, early conclusions based on this hypothesis and plans for future work.

FlexDex Named 2018 Excellence in Surgical Products Award Winner

FlexDex Needle Driver, in conjunction with Olympus ENDOEYE, has been recognized with the Surgical Products' 2018 Excellence in Surgical Products (ESP) Award, as the winner in the OR Equipment and Accessories category.

Revanth Damerla joins PSDL, Jul 2018

Revanth joins the PSDL team in July of 2018 after completing his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in 2018. His interests lie in precision machine design and its applications to the broader area of mechatronic design. At PSDL, Revanth is working on mechanism synthesis tools/methods and upper limb prosthetics.

Prof. Awtar invited to present at the National Science Foundation, Apr 2018

In April 2018, Shorya Awtar was invited by the Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation, Directorate for Engineering to present his research and development over the last decade to their Engineering Advisory Committee. Out hundreds of PIs nation-wide funded by the Engineering Directorate, Shorya was the only PI invited to present to the committee in-person. He talk titled "Basic Research to Societal Impact” highlighted how NSF grants (basic research, I-Corps, SBIR) enabled new discoveries, disruptive technologies, tech transfer, and societal impact.

Prof. Awtar invited to represent FlexDex at the National Academies Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Nov 2017

On Nov 15, 2017, Shorya Awtar and FlexDex were invited by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to present at the National Convocation on Revitalizing the University-Industry-Government Partnership in Support of Research in Science, Engineering, and Medicine that included a Showcase of University Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Only eight out of all US universities that receive federal funding were selected to present at this event.

Prof. Awtar invited to meet with Congressional offices at the US Capitol Hill, Nov 2017

In Nov 2017, Shorya Awtar was invited by the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU) to present at the University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase and the Capitol Hill Reception & Exhibition. These events was hosted by the Council on Government Affairs (CGA) and the Commission on Innovation, Competitiveness, and Economic Prosperity (CICEP) and was attended by members of the US Congress and their aides. The prupose was to highlight the importance of federal funding for basic and translational research that ultimately leads to breakthrough technology and addresses societal issues of national and global significance.

Siddharth Rath joins PSDL, Aug 2017

Siddharth Rath, aka Sid, joined the PSDL team in August 2017. Sid received his undergraduate degree (B.Tech) in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 2017. As an undergraduate, Sid worked on developing diagnostic and prognostic tools for industry grade CNC grinding machines using an array of sensors to estimate and keep track of the machine's health in real time. At PSDL he will be pursuing research in areas of Dynamics and Control. Specifically he will be working on control of flexible systems and its application in the design of high speed, high resolution, large range of motion flexure mechanism based motion stages.

Prof. Awtar elected ASME Fellow, Jul 2017

Shorya Awtar has been elected Fellow of the American Society Of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The ASME Committee of Past Presidents confers the Fellow grade of membership on worthy candidates to recognize their outstanding engineering achievements. Web Link. List of ASME Fellows

Leqing Cui defends Ph.D., May 2017

Leqing Cui defended his Ph.D. thesis titled "On the Complex Non-Minimum Phase Zeros in Flexure Mechanisms" on May 26, 2017. His doctoral thesis committee comprised Prof. Awtar (Chair), Prof. Kon-Well Wang, Prof. Chinedum Okwudire, and Prof. James Freudenberg. Leqing presented significant results in the field flexible system dynamics with specific application to flexure mechanisms. In particular, he investigated the genesis of complex non-minimum phase zeros in such systems and developed analytical tools to predict the absence or presence of these zeros. He confirmed his predictions via experimental measurements conducted on a carefully designed hardware setup comprising flexures, sensors, actuators, and data processing. He also demonstrated a correlation between the phenomena of complex non-minimum phase zeros and curve veering. Leqing has accepted a position with ASML and will be moving to their facility in Wilton, CT after graduation. Thesis Link

PSDL research wins two Best Paper awards by ASME Dynamic Systems and Controls Division, 2017

Ph.D. candidate Leqing Cui, Prof. Shorya Awtar, and Prof. Okwudire's paper, "Complex Non-minimum Phase Zeros In The Dynamics Of Double Parallelogram Flexure Module Based Flexure Mechanisms", has been selected as the winner of the 2017 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division (DSCD) Best Conference Paper on Mechatronics. This award is given to the best original paper in the area of mechatronics presented at any of the DSCD-sponsored conferences in 2016 including the IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), the American Control Conference (ACC), and the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference (DSCC). Previously, the same paper won the Best Student Paper Award at the 2016 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference (DSCC). This paper presents significant new contributions in the analytical prediction of the existence of complex non-minimum phase zeros in the dynamics of flexure mechanisms. Web Link.

Prof. Awtar wins the CoE Rexford Hall Innovation Award, Jan 2017

For the 2016-2017 year, the College of Engineering has chosen Shorya Awtar to receive the Rexford E. Hall Innovation Excellence Award. This award recognizes a breakthrough technology and its transformational potential in engineering practice or the market, the translation of a significant innovation from the university to market readiness by starting a company, and deploying a university innovation towards societal good. Prof. Awtar won this award for the invention and commercialization of FlexDex technology via his start-up FlexDex Surgical, for development of the HIPERNAP technology that is being deployed by the semiconductor industry, and for creation of several mechatronics exhibits for the Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum. This award is intended to recognize entrepreneurial aspects of innovation that fall outside the scope of innovation in basic research, education, and service.

PSDL receives NSF Dynamics, Controls and System Diagnostics (DCSD) grant, Jul 2016

Our research lab received a grant (Award # 1634824) from the National Science Foundation, Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) to investigate the dynamics of flexure mechanisms in the presence of geometric non-linearities. The proposal titled "Non-Minimum Phase Zeros in the Dynamics of Flexure Mechanisms" was funded by the Dynamics, Controls and System Diagnostics (DCSD) program at NSF.

PSDL Start-up FlexDex Inc. receives SBIR Phase II Award and Series A Funding, 2014

In Nov 2014, FlexDex Inc., the start-up company founded by Professors Awtar and Geiger, received an SBIR Phase II grant from the National Science Foundation along with matching funds from the State of Michigan, and closed a Series A round of funding from private investors. With this funding, the company is developing its first product, an articulating needle-driver.

David Hiemstra Masters Thesis Defence, 2014

David Hiemstra successfully defended his M.S. thesis titled "Design of Moving Magnet Actuators (MMA) for Large-range Flexure-based Nanopositioning" on July 6, 2014. This work investigates the use of MMAs to simultaneously achieve large range, high speed, and high motion quality in flexure-based nanopositioning systems. This work impacts technologies such as scanning probe microscopy and lithography, industrial semiconductor wafer quality control processes, and other applications which rely on nanopositioning systems to provide controlled motion with nanoscale precision, resolution and accuracy. Various actuator types are compared to meet system-level requirements and the MMA is chosen as a promising potential candidate. Component and system level design challenges and associated tradeoffs in designing the MMA to meet nanopositioning performance are discussed and derived in this thesis. Thesis Link

Gaurav Parmar Doctoral Thesis Defence, 2014

Gaurav Parmar successfully defended his doctoral thesis titled "Dynamics and Control of Flexure-based Large Range Nanopositioning Systems" on Jan 16, 2014. The objective of this thesis was to demonstrate desktop-size, cost-effective, flexure-based, multi-axis nanopositioning capability over a motion range of several millimeters per axis.Increasing the motion range will overcome one of the main drawbacks of existing nanopositioning systems, thereby significantly improving the coverage area in nanometrology and nanomanufacturing applications. Professors Shorya Awtar (Chair), Heath Hofmann, Kira Barton, and Chinedum Okwudire served on Gaurav's doctoral thesis committee. Thesis Link

PSDL Start-up FlexDex LLC wins an SBIR Phase I Award, 2013

FlexDex LLC was created to develop and commericialize a platform technology for minimally invasive surgery based on research and innovations in the PSDL. In July 2013, the company was awarded an SBIR Phase I grant from the National Science Foundation. FlexDex technology employs a novel forearm mounted tool configuration and an associated parallel-kinematic virtual center mechanism that makes the tool input joint coincident with the surgeon's wrist. This enables a highly natural control of the two wrist-like rotations of the end-effector, along with the translations and roll rotation. The resulting intuitive mapping between the surgeon's hand motions and the end-effector motions makes the tool a natural extension of the surgeon's hand inside the patient's body. While such motion transmission, in surgery as well as other applications, has long been possible via robotics, FlexDex provides comparable functionality via a simple, low-cost, mechanical design without using sensors, actuators, or computers.

Best Paper Award in Compliant Mechanisms, 37th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference, 2013

The paper titled "Extensible-Link Kinematic Model for Determining Motion Characteristics of Compliant Mechanisms" was awarded the Compliant Mechanisms Award for a "significant contribution to the theory and application of compliant mechanisms" at the 37th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference at this year's ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC) held in Portland, OR. This paper authored by Justin Beroz, John Hart, and Shorya Awtar presents an analytical model for understanding the motion characteristics of arbitrary planar compliant mechanisms for high-accuracy motion applications. From the model, the authors present new insight into the fundamental sources of trajectory error in a compliant mechanism, such as a microgripper, and the limits with which it can be corrected.

Best Paper Award, 7th International Conference on Micro and Nano Systems, 2013

The paper "MEMS Based XY Stage with Large Displacement" authored by Mohammad Olfatnia, Leqing Cui, Pankaj Chopra, and Shorya Awtar was selected for the Best Conference Paper Award at the 7th International Conference on Micro and Nano Systems. This conference was part of the ASME 2013 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC) held in Portland, OR. This paper presents a novel parallel-kinematic micro XY stage that employs electrostatic comb-drive actuators guided by the Clamped Paired Double Parallelogram flexure to achieve a bi-directional displacement range greater than 225 ?m per motion axis, which is one the largest reported in the literature so far. Video Demonstration.

RD100 Award, 2013

High performance MEMS micro-actuator technology developed by PSDL researchers has won the 2013 RD100 Award. Every year, the editors of the R&D Magazine recognize the 100 most technologically significant products or inventions from the past year. Traditional electrostatic comb-drive actuators, although easy to fabricate and integrate within MEMS, suffer from limited stroke and force because of sideways snap-in instability. On the other hand, electromagnetic and piezoelectric actuators provide better actuation performance but are considerably more challenging to fabricate and integrate in MEMS devices. The actuators invented, developed, and demonstrated at PSDL overcome these long-standing tradeoffs between ease of fabrication and performance. Fundamentally new flexure mechanisms were used for actuator guidance to mitigate sideways instability in electrostatic comb-drive actuators, enabling 3 times greater single-directional stroke and 5 times greater bi-directional stroke, compared to the state of the art in comb-drive actuators while maintaing small actuation effort and ease of fabrication. These advances in micro-actuator technology serve as potential enablers in applications such as micro-switches for consumer products, optical switches in the networking industry, probe-based data storage, micro-scale energy harvesting, and video-rate AFM. The award will be presented at the 2013 R&D100 Awards ceremony to be held in Orlando, FL on November 7, 2013. Web Link. Video Demonstration.

NSF SBIR Phase I Award, HiperNap LLC, 2013

PSDL start-up HiperNap LLC has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant to develop and commercialize large range flexure-based nanopositioning technology created by PSDL engineers over the last several years. In Phase I, the company is focusing on developing novel moving magnetic actuators that simultaneously enables large range, high speed, and nanometric precision in nanopositioning systems. David Hiemstra, a PSDL graduate, is leading the R&D effort at HiperNap LLC as its Chief Technology Officer. Link

College of Engineering 1938E Award, Shorya Awtar, 2013

Prof. Shorya Awtar has been selected to receive the College of Engineering 1938E Award. Established by the Class of 1938 Engineers' Fund, this award is presented in recognition of an Assistant Professor who is an outstanding teacher in both elementary and advanced courses, an understanding counselor of students who seek guidance in their choice of career, a contributor to the educational growth of his/her College, and a teacher whose scholarly integrity pervades his/her service to the University and the profession of Engineering. Link

Distinguished Leadership Award, David Hiemstra, 2013

David Hiemstra has been awarded the The University of Michigan College of Engineering Distinguished Leadership Award. This honor is conferred upon undergraduate and graduate students of the College of Engineering who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to the College, University, and community. Link

Shiladitya Sen Ph.D. Defense, 2012

Shiladitya successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis "The Beam Constraint Model: A closed-form parametric model of the constraint characteristics of generalized beam flexures" on September 24, 2012. Congratulations! Shiladitya is now working with Bruker in Santa Barbara CA.

SAE Ralph Teetor Educational Award, Shorya Awtar, 2012

Prof. Shorya Awtar has been selected to receive the 2012 Ralph R. Teetor Award by the Society of Automotive Engineers. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to engineering education by a young engineering educator. Established in 1963, this award is presented at the Awards Ceremony during the SAE World Congress. Link

William Mirsky Memorial Fellowship, David Hiemstra, 2012

David Hiemstra has been awarded the The University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering Department William Mirsky Memorial Fellowship. This honor is awarded to a Mechanical Engineering Master's student that has shown outstanding research and academic achievement. Link

Rackham Centennial Spring/Summer 2012 Fellowship, David Hiemstra, 2012

The award is designed to enable graduate students enrolled in a Rackham program to work on research, scholarly, or creative projects in collaboration with faculty mentors during the Spring/Summer 2012 term to advance progress towards the degree and their future impact as "Michigan Graduate Students in the World". As a Rackham Centennial Spring/Summer 2012 Fellow, David completed his M.S. Thesis, "Design of Moving Magnet Actuators for Flexure-based Nanopositioning Systems". Link

DAAD RISE Professional Fellowship, David Hiemstra, 2012

The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) RISE program places excellent graduate students in the natural sciences and engineering in research and work internships with companies, universities and research institutes in Germany. As a DAAD RISE Professional Fellow, David gained additional experience in precision engineering at Kleindiek Nanotechnik, GmbH in Reutlingen, Germany. Link

Rackham International Student Fellowship, Siddharth Sood, 2011

Siddharth Sood has been awarded the Rackham International Student Fellowship for 2011/2012 based on his academic achievements. Link

ASME DSCD Best Conference Paper Award on Mechatronics, Shorya Awtar and Gaurav Parmar, 2011

The paper "Physical and Control System Design Challenges in Large Range Nanopositioning" presented by Shorya Awtar and Gaurav Parmar at the 5th IFAC Symposium on Mechatronic Systems, Cambridge MA, 2010 has been selected for the Best Conference Paper Award on Mechatronics by ASME's Dynamic Systems and Control Division (DSCD). This award recognizes the best paper presented and published in the proceedings of conferences sponsored by the ASME DSCD Mechatronics Technical Committee in 2010. These conferences included Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), American Controls Conference (ACC), Dynamic Systems and Control Conference (DSCC), and the IFAC Symposium on Mechatronics.

Freudenstein / General Motors Young Investigator Award, Shorya Awtar, 2011

Prof. Shorya Awtar has received the 2011 Freudenstein / General Motors Young Investigator Award established by the ASME's Design Engineering Division to encourage young investigators in accomplishing high quality research. This award recognizes the paper titled "An XYZ Parallel Kinematic Flexure Mechanism with Geometrically Decoupled Degrees of Freedom", co-authored by Shorya Awtar, John Ustick, and Shiladitya Sen. Link

ASME Student Mechanism Design Competition, John Ustick and Shiladitya Sen, 2011

John Ustick and Shiladitya Sen won the 2nd place at the Student Mechanism Design Competition (Graduate Level) held at the 2011 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences, Washington DC. They won this award for the design of a novel parallel-kinematic XYZ flexure mechanism for use in large-range nanopositioning. Link

American Society for Precision Engineering Scholarship, David Hiemstra, 2011

David Hiemstra was awarded an ASPE Scholarship by the Education Committee of the American Society for Precision Engineering for his contributions to a paper, "Design, Fabrication, and Testing of a Moving Magnet Actuator for Large Range Nanopositioning." David will present the paper at the ASPE 2011 Annual Meeting in Denver, CO in November.

ASME Leonardo da Vinci Award, Shorya Awtar, 2011

Shorya Awtar has received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Leonardo da Vinci Award for eminent achievement and important advances in the field of Machine Design. Link

Mechanical Engineering Department Achievement Award, Shorya Awtar, 2011

Shorya Awtar has recieved the Mechanical Department Achievement Award for outstanding contributions in research, teaching, and servcie.

NIST ARRA Graduate Research Fellowship, Gaurav Parmar, 2011

Gaurav Parmar has been selected for the National Institute for Standards and Technology's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (NIST-ARRA) Measurement Science and Engineering Fellowship. He will work with the Precision Engineering Division at NIST, under the supervision of Dr. John Kramar, to design and develop a Large-range Coordinate Measuring Machine with nanometric uncertainty (nano-CMM).

NIST ARRA Graduate Research Fellowship, Siddharth Sood, 2011

Siddharth Sood has been selected for the National Institute for Standards and Technology's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (NIST-ARRA) Measurement Science and Engineering Fellowship. He will work with the Intelligent Systems Division at NIST, under the supervision of Dr. Jason Gorman, to create and validate High-speed Scanning Probe Microscopy and Lithography.

SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award, Shorya Awtar, 2010

Prof. Shorya Awtar has been selected for the 2011 Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Since 1980, the Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award has recognized manufacturing engineers, age 35 or younger, who have made exceptional contributions and accomplishments in the manufacturing industry. Link

First Place, TIGO Spotlight, Benjamin Pascoe and Alejandro Pelaez, 2010

Professors Shorya Awtar and Damian Beil co-advised the student team - composed of Benjamin Pascoe and Alejandro Pelaez - that won the first place in the annual Spotlight competition organized by the Tauber Institute for Global Operations (TIGO), University of Michigan. This winning team worked on a project for General Motors to study the engineering challenges and commercial potential associated with aluminum-based Injection Mold Tooling. Link

Editor's Award for ME450 team's Ann Arbor Hands-on Museum Exhibit, 2010

In Winter 2010, an ME450 team led by Daniel Ponstein and supervised by Prof. Awtar designed and fabricated an Inverted Pendulum system exhibit for the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum. This "Mechatronics" exhibit highlights multi-disciplinary engineering and the role of feedback controls in modern systems. It won an Editor's award for outstanding exhibitions at the Maker's Faire, an event held annually at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI. Link

First Place, ASME Student Mechanism Design Competition, IDETC 2010

FlexDex article in the ASME Journal of Medical Devices, most downloaded in Sept, Oct, Nov 2010

FlexDex invention selected for Celebrate Invention, 2009

First Place, TIGO Spotlight, Jialing Li and Claudia Uehara, 2009

NSF CAREER Award, Shorya Awtar, 2009

R&D 100, XY HiPER-NaP, 2008