• Rolling Piezoelectric Robot Design and Realization (collaboration between SUTD Singapore and ECAM Lyon)     

Details will be provided later after completion of the project. Click here to find out more.

• Climbing Robot (postdoc Singapore November 2014- August 2018)

A Miniature Climbing Robot with Bilayer Compliant Tape for Autonomous Intelligent Surveillance and Reconnaissance is proposed. Click here to find out more.

• Design and develop innovative biologically-inspired piezoelectric robotic platforms (postdoc Singapore November 2014- August 2018)

Inspired by the bounding gait locomotion of the African Dung Beetles, a Legged Piezoelectric Miniature Robot (LPMR) is proposed. Click here to find out more.

• Implementation of a strain sensor on the tire for automobile active suspension (postdoc Sherbrooke December 2012-October 2014)

A successful active safety, vehicle monitoring, and (a suspension based) energy harvesting system require access to measured data on vehicle roll, pitch, yaw, road-tire friction coefficient and transmitted forces and torques to each tire, as well as the tire pressure, speed, and temperature. On the other hand, through previous AUTO21 (automotive national research community supported by the Government of Canada) support, Sherbrooke researchers have developed Active Noise Control (ANC) strategies where they minimize the vibrations transmitted through the suspensions, as measured by force sensors. The feedforward control algorithm used in these strategies requires a reference signal measured as close as possible to the disturbance source (tire-road interaction) for best performance. At the moment, the reference signal is obtained from an accelerometer located on the wheel hub. Significant noise control performance was demonstrated inside the cabin. The availability of a reference signal taken close to the disturbance could improve the performance (noise attenuation) of the control. The project conducted at Sherbrooke therefore aims at improving the performance of the active road noise control system through the implementation of an autonomous strain sensor within the tire.
The overall objectives of the project conducted at Sherbrooke are:
1. Application: Sensor and state requirement for Active Noise Control;
2. Establishment of the desired states;
3. Testing of the existing proof-of-concept systems and comparison with the model;
4. Suspension control for improved comfort.
5. Design of a smart-material energy harvesting device appropriate for installation in tires and to meet the power and speed demands of the sensors, electronics, and embedded computing system;
Click here to find out more.

• Design and realization of piezoelectric mobiles for cooperative use (PhD Paris October 2009 – November 2012)

SWARMs (Scalable Swarms of Autonomous Robots and Sensors) are considered today as a new solution to surpass the limits of traditional robotics. The joint and cooperative functioning of mobiles is inspired by the collective organization of living beings, which creates forms of intelligence and group control beyond the capacity of the individual organizations involved. The interest lies particularly when the mobiles are small and can move in various environments (soil, air, liquid). It is then that the piezoelectric materials offer valuable actuating techniques.
As the SWARMs are inspired by the modalities of the collective organization of living beings, the piezoelectric mini-robots we designed are inspired by the modes of movement of living beings. Piezoelectric patches will be glued astutely on a support whose oscillations (induced by piezoelectric actuation) recreate the crawling for the terrestrial environment, the ripple for the aquatic environment or the twisting of the wings for the air environment. An important part of this project reside in the modeling of the structures in order to create the necessary movements. However, all optimal design steps are carried out.
The subject is highly pluridisciplinary and covers the fields of fluids (for flows), mechanics (for deformations), materials (for piezoelectric actuation), electrotechnics (for power supply the actuator) and control (for control via the sensors).
Click here to find out more.

• Design and control of a static converter associated with a storage system by supercapacitor (Master Lyon 2008-2009)

The objective of the project consists in the implementation of a trunk based on supercapacitors allowing the supply of all the auxiliaries of a trolleybus when the external line is cut off. This optimized trunk will in a second stage be coupled to one or more other trunks to allow the power to be supplied to the electric traction and to absorb the power flows.
In addition to the technological challenge, the design of a vehicle operating supercapacitors is a complex problem because of the multiplicity of solutions offered and the lack of a real method to guide choices. Encountered by most manufacturers in the transport sector, this problem is clearly a problem of the overall design of a system. This problem raises the questions of the choice of the best architecture and dimensioning of its components, but also the choice of the best control strategy; These two difficulties being strongly coupled.
The project allows to have knowledge in hybrid and electric vehicle, design and modeling of static converters and studies of different control algorithms (PID, RST, sliding mode).
Click here to find out more.