HTP Graphics

LEAD RESEARCHER: AMMAR AL MHDAWI I hold a PhD in electronic and computer engineering. I am a postdoctoral researcher at Newcastle University with the school of engineering. My main research areas of interest lie in the area of robotics, artificial intelligence and interconnected networks. I have collaborated with the marine engineering department on developing approaches for an underwater robotic tether. I hold professional certifications with over 13+ years of engineering experience. I am also a professional member of engineering and science institutions in the USA and UK. Currently, I am working with the RAIN Hub to develop an intelligent robotic tether for efficient underwater inspection tasks. UNIQUENESS// The design of the robotic tether is a totally novel concept. The goal of the design is to develop distributed micro thrust robotic propellers over the tether cable that are reliable, flexible and able to generate axial thrust with a specific pulse to implement the desired locomotion. The design of the micro thrust units was fully novel, and it allows; - efficient buoyancy in the water. - side motion in the water, and - side-top motion that mimics snake motion. We have developed multiple prototypes and one of the benefits of our model is that it does not require internal modifications to the tether design. COLLISION AVOIDANCE ROBOTIC TETHER (CART) 44 The thrusters have 5 speed settings; normal operation speed is level 3. The speed can be increased based on the duty-cycle of the thrusters. The system is controlled via two main controllers one is a small-scale controller that is used in experimental testing and a full-stack controller that can perform high computation analysis and artificial intelligence for object detection. A novel soft sensor that can detect objects using light force detection is being developed. The OrcaFlex simulation package has been used to aid practical implementation of the tether designs, considering simulated thrust and buoyancy.

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