Prof. Shiakolas discussed the MARS Lab research activities to the new MAE graduate students.
Samson Adejokun successfully defended his dissertation in Spring 2023!
Samson defended his dissertation titled “Compliant Robot Manipulator for Transurethral Diagnosis”.
Minimally invasive procedures employ continuum manipulators, however, the internal human anatomy presents challenges relating to size, dexterity, and workspace for these manipulators. This research presents modeling, kinematic analysis, limited prototyping, and characterization of a micro-robotic manipulator to assess viscoelastic tissue properties of the bladder through transurethral palpation towards the diagnosis of bladder dysfunction, urinary incontinence, and early-stage bladder cancer.
The proposed micro-robot consists of two subsystems; a unique 4 mm outer diameter tendon-driven continuum segment from assembled “vertebrae” components with male and female snap-in features for joint assembly, an elastic tube encompassing each joint for controlled compliance and structural integrity that enters the bladder through the urethral, and an external segment with prismatic and hyper-spherical joints to ensure higher dexterity and manipulability. The developed kinematic analyses avoid motion discontinuities and singularities for the desired poses anywhere in the confined space of the interior of the bladder wall.
The compliance of the tendon-driven proposed joint architecture was characterized as a function of the encompassing tube geometry and material properties using different modeling approaches (a strain energy model, a quasi-static model, and the principle of virtual work) and then applied to a multi-joint continuum segment.
Limited functionality continuum modules with different joint lengths and multiple joints were prototyped for tension-bend angle characterization using a computer vision outfitted experimental setup. A comparison of the results from the experimental analysis and theoretical models shows high fidelity in predicting the continuum robot behavior. In addition, multiple existing polymer-based additive manufacturing technologies were investigated for improving the fabrication quality of the continuum segment components while the pose error is evaluated using geometric manufacturing uncertainties.
This research demonstrates the proposed novel continuum segment module and its characterization for use in confined spaces in the human body for diagnostics purposes, employing the presented modeling approaches corroborated with experimental results.
Prashanth Ravi, successfully defended his Doctoral Research.
The title for his doctoral research is Towards the Fabrication of Bioresorbable Constructs with Customized Properties using Additive Manufacturing. Congratulations are in order for Dr. Ravi!
Prashanth’s research was a collaborative effort between UTA and UTSW Medical Center in Dallas. He was advised by Dr. Shiakolas and Dr. Welch (UTSW).
Congratulations to Prashanth for a great job on his research on Additive Manufacturing for bio-related applications with a employing a custom developed setup and characterizing the process for a newly developed bio-polymer towards the fabrication of biomedical scaffolds! Looking forward to your contributions to the research community!
Your considerate and pleasant persona is well respected and recognized. Keep up the good deeds and continue being an inspiration to the MARS Lab group!
Congratulations and we look forward to your continued successes!
Phillip James, aka Zach, successfully defended his MS thesis research.
Zach’s research was a collaborative effort and he was advised by Dr. Shiakolas and Dr. Aswath of the MAE and MSE departments of UT Arlington respectively, and Dr. Varanasi of Texas A&M School of Dentistry (Dallas, TX).
Congratulations to Zach for a great job on the analysis of ceramic materials for the fabrication of biomedical scaffolds!
Looking forward to your contributions to the research community!
Samson Adejokun successfully defended his MS thesis research.
Congratulations to Samson for a great job on the design and kinematic analysis of a micro-robotic device!
Looking forward to your contributions to the research community!
The lab would like to welcome four new members, Kashish, Ravi, Sudip, and Parimal.
Kashish, Ravi and Sudip will work in the area of Robotics – Human Robot Interaction and Parimal in the area of Additive Manufacturing.
We look forward to their contributions and welcome to the MARS Lab family!
Congratulations to Christopher Abrego for passing his doctoral comprehensive exam!
Chirstopher passed his doctoral comprehensive exam, the second major hurdle towards completing his PhD on April 27, 2017!.
Chris proposal is titled “On the Application of Machine Learning on Grasping and Haptic Feedback.
Congratulations and we look forward to your continued successes!
The MARS lab group is excited for Hasan – congratulations are in order!
Hasan was offered and accepted a full time employment as a Product Development Engineer at Dentsply Sirona USA (https://www.dentsplysirona.com/en-us).
He started work on April 3, 2017.
We would like to wish Hasan and his wife all the best on their new adventure!
The lab will miss the ‘smiling guy’!
Stay in toutch and hopefully we will see them soon!
Congratulations to Prashanth for the Graduate Student Employee of the Year award!
Prashanth was presented with the Graduate Student Employee of the Year award for 2016-2017 at a ceremony on March 28, 2017
Your considerate and pleasant persona is well respected and recognized. Keep up the good deeds and continue being an inspiration to the MARS Lab group!
Congratulations and we look forward to your continued successes!
MARS Lab in the news (March 2017) – UTA news on undergraduate research
Student senior design project yields patent on Smart Bandage
Link to the release at UTA news center:
http://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2017/03/letia-blanco-patent.php
Link to Todays Medical Developments:
http://www.todaysmedicaldevelopments.com/article/medical-device-smart-bandage-patent-uta-31017/
Link to ASEE – FIRST BELL:
http://mailview.bulletinmedia.com/mailview.aspx?m=2017030601asee&r=6106399-4c8f
Link to Science Magazine:
https://scienmag.com/uta-student-senior-design-project-yields-patent-on-smart-bandage/
Long wait (2011 – 2016) but worth the wait! Congratulations to whole team for research well ops exceptionally completed!