Abstract: In 2014, I was lucky enough to be one of 5 people to start HEBI Robotics, with the dream of eventually making the task of building custom robots as easy as building with Lego.  A few years later we are now 10 people, and our first product, a series of modular force-controlled actuators, is rapidly being adopted for research and development.  This talk will discuss the technical aspects of developing force-controlled actuators and the software tools for controlling them, why we are pursuing series-elastic actuation, and various challenges that we face during development.  I will also talk about what it’s like to be an engineer who is increasingly involved with the business aspects of a growing company.

Brief Bio: Dave Rollinson is a co-founder and mechanical/controls engineer at HEBI Robotics. He lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA.  He received a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014, as well as a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2006, also from CMU.  From 2006 to 2009, he worked as a robotics engineer for RedZone Robotics, designing, building, and deploying systems to inspect large diameter sewers in the U.S., Canada, and Singapore. In 2006, he did a solo bicycle trip across the continental United States.

Host: Howie  Choset

Point of Contact: Peggy Martin (pm1e@andrew.cmu.edu)