Armour College of Engineering’s Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering Department will welcome Dr. David J. Cappelleri, an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, on Wednesday, October 21, to present a lecture on “Microrobots to Micro Aerial Vehicles: Robots Interacting with the Environment.”

Date and Time: Wednesday, October 21; 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Location: Virtual seminar

Contact: Elena Magnus at magnus@iit.edu for the seminar details and link to join

Abstract
The Multi-Scale Robotics & Automation Lab (MSRAL) at Purdue University performs cutting-edge research on robotic and automation systems at various length scales: macro-scale (cm to m), meso-scale (~100’s of um to a few mm’s), micro-scale (10’s of um to 100’s of um), and nano-scale (nm). All of the developed systems are designed to interact with the environment in unique ways. In this talk, I will discuss some recent MSRAL projects on: (1) developing learned models for 2D micromanipulation tasks, (2) wireless mobile microrobots driven by external magnetic fields, (3) robotic surgical tools for minimally invasive surgery, and (4) novel micro aerial vehicle designs and associated control schemes for 3D aerial manipulation tasks.

Biography

David J. Cappelleri is an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Cappelleri founded the Multi-Scale Robotics & Automation Lab (MSRAL) that performs cutting-edge research on robotic and automation systems at various length scales. His research interests include mobile microrobotics for biomedical and manufacturing applications, surgical robotics, automated manipulation and assembly, and unmanned aerial and ground robot design for agricultural applications. Dr. Cappelleri is currently co-leading a Purdue Engineering Initiative in Autonomous and Connected Systems and is the Purdue site director for the new NSF Engineering Research Center on the Internet of Things for Precision Agriculture (IoT4Ag). He has received various awards, such as the NSF CAREER Award, Harvey N. Davis Distinguished Assistant Professor Teaching Award, and the Association for Lab Automation Young Scientist Award. Dr. Cappelleri is also the co-founder of C2 Medical Robotics, Inc., a startup company spun out of intellectual property developed in the MSRAL, that is developing the world’s first robotic lumbar discectomy surgical system.