TU Delft students present eight innovative robots
A robot that removes weeds, a robot that journeys deep below the sea and a robot that can fish blue algae from the water. These, together with five other robots, will be on display at the demo day of the TU Delft Minor in Robotics on Wednesday, 30 January 2019.
The demo day is the annual highlight of the Minor in Robotics, an educational programme in which student teams from various different specialisms spend five months working on a robot, facing all of the challenges that this involves. This year, eight different teams are working on robots. The student teams are commissioned to make the robots by a client, for example by a company or a museum. In many cases, the robots have a specific problem to solve. At the demo day on 30 January, the teams will be showcasing the results of their efforts.
These are the robots that can be admired during the demo day on 30 January 2019:
Weeding robot
Team: Bolts ’n Bears
Client: Odd.Bot
The Weed Whacker is a lightweight weeding robot that can detect and remove weeds itself. This prevents the need for heavy machinery that cannot easily access the weeds and the use of pesticides can be reduced. On the development of this robot, the student team collaborated with the start-up Odd.bot.
Deep-sea explorer
Team: LOBSTER
The deep sea is one of the world’s most fascinating environments. However, reaching the deep sea for research or inspection is complex and expensive. Team LOBSTER is developing a relatively small and autonomous robot that can quickly reach the deep sea, take photographs and/or readings, before returning to the sea’s surface.
More information: http://lobster-explorer.com/
Removing blue algae
Team: Blooming Robotics
Client: Deltares
During the summer, the Netherlands’ coasts are plagued by an unwanted guest – blue algae. This toxic micro-organism makes activities on and in the water difficult or even impossible. On behalf of Deltares, Team Blooming Robots is developing an autonomous vehicle that removes algae from the water surface and takes it away.
More information: https://www.bloomingrobotics.nl/
Aircraft engine maintenance
Team: nFocus
Client: KLM Engine Services
Aircraft engine maintenance is extremely time-consuming, sometimes taking as long as 80 hours. Team nFocus is working on a robot that can conduct the initial inspection of an aircraft engine autonomously. They are not only exploring the technical aspects, but also how the robot can be integrated within the overall inspection and maintenance process.
Cheese ripening
Team: Easy Cheesy
Client: Lely
Team Easy Cheesy is working on a fully autonomous cheese-ripening robot. This robot can travel through a cheese-ripening warehouse and handle the entire ripening process for more than 3,500 16-kg cheeses. To do this, the robot must regularly turn the cheeses to prevent them from sagging. The cheeses are also given a special fungicide coating to ensure that the cheese remains in good condition.
Autonomous dredging
Team: Indepth Dredging
Client: Boskalis
In order to dredge ports and waterways, large ships are used that travel the world to do their work. This uses a lot of fossil fuels and manpower. The robot being developed by Team Indepth Dredging, Amphi, aims to make this process autonomous, sustainable and scalable. The underwater robot travels across the river or seabed to suck up sludge and transport it to a central pump.
Portable drone show
Team: bHive
Client: MAVLab TU Delft
Drone demonstrations are held regularly in order to spark people’s enthusiasm for this technology and its many possibilities. bHive has developed a drone show that can easily be transported in a box and performed anywhere, even indoors. The drones fly out of the box themselves, returning to it independently after the show.
Coffee Corner robot
Team: Dorst. Robotics
Client: Science Centre Delft
The TU Delft Science Centre coffee corner comprises a coffee machine and a fridge. The Science Centre would like to convert this coffee corner into an interactive environment that is more in keeping with the exhibition area. Team Dorst. Robotics intends to automate this process by means of a modular system and a robot arm.
More information
Minor in Robotics demo day:
Date and time: Wednesday, 30 January, 15:00 – 17:00
Location: Science Centre Delft, Mijnbouwstraat 120, 2628 RX Delft
About the minor:
A minor is a coherent combination of modules that enables students to widen (or deepen) their studies while studying as part of their main discipline. The aim of the Minor in Robotics is to teach students to work on a robot commissioned by a client in a complex, multidisciplinary environment. Students must apply for a place on this popular minor. Before it starts, they can indicate the projects they prefer. They are then allocated a team based on their preference.
Contact:
Martin Klomp (coordinator, TU Delft Minor in Robotics), M.Klomp@tudelft.nl, +31 15 2786740
Ilona van den Brink (TU Delft Science Information Officer), I.vandenBrink@tudelft.nl, +31 15 2784259