Location:	Columbia, SC
Participants:	Departmen of Mechanical Engineering
Contact:	Mr. Robert Kennedy
website:	http://www.me.sc.edu/SolarBoat/
AMC Model:	B100A8

The USC solar boat team competes in an annual week-long event called Solar Splash, the Solar Boating World Championship. We have been World Champions three times The international competition consists of three major events: sprint, slalom, and endurance. The Sprint race is a 300 meter sprint and is organized into something similar to a double elimination tournament. The slalom is a high speed maneuverability race that tests the boats’ handling abilities. The endurance race is the main event. The endurance consists of two 2 hour races during which teams try to accumulate the highest number of laps.

Location:	Storrs, CT
Participants:	Mechanical Engineering
Contact:	Ms. Jacqueline Veronese
website:	http://www.engr.uconn.edu/me/pdf/Brochure04.pdf (Team 7)
AMC Model:	25A8

This project involved the creation of an electromagnetic active device that attenuates transient oscillations in a helicopter tail rotor driveshaft. The device prevents large torsional overshoot within the shaft and reduces oscillation settling time. The result is increased operational life expectancy due to reduced fatigue.

Location:	Boulder, CO
Participants:	Aerospace Engineering
Contact:	Mr. Zac Eichmeyer
website:	https://webfiles.colorado.edu/arringo/ASEN/SpEC/spec_home.htm
AMC Model:	B20A25

Conceive, design, fabricate, integrate, test, and verify a space elevator climber prototype to ascend and descend a thin ribbon carrying a payload following the 2006 guidelines for the NASA Space Elevator Challenge 2010. The competition will not be attended but the climber will be designed in every aspect for a "phantom" beam power. Theoretical performances of the "phantom" beam power will be calculated in order to regulate the actual power that will be supplied to the climber.

Location:	Columbus, OH
Department:	Mechanical Engineering
Contact:	Dr. Eric R. Westervelt
website:	http://www.mecheng.ohio-state.edu/locomotion/
AMC Model:	ZB12A8, PS16L30

A primary goal of this lab is to develop design principles and control theory approaches for legged machines that are able to realize fast and efficient locomotion. Also being explored is the application of the understanding gained from the study of robotic locomotion to the study of human gait and lower-limb prosthetic design.

Location:	Stanford, CA
Department:	Mechanical Engineering Design Division
Contact:	Mr. Paul Csonka
website:	http://www.stanford.edu/group/locolab
AMC Model:	BE40A8

Evaluation of autonomous galloping quadraped robot

Ohio State and Stanford Universities are cooperating to better understand quadrupedal galloping through the design of a self-contained quadrupedal robot. The leg for this quadruped was first designed at Ohio State University (OSU). A second-generation leg is being tested at Stanford University.

The Stanford leg incorporates important characteristics of a quadruped leg. These characteristics are grouped into three categories: biomimetic design, design for simulation and control, and design for experimentation. Important biomimetic design characteristics include minimal impact loss, elastic energy storage, and low inertia. Important characteristics for simulation and control include freedom from tether forces, high structural rigidity, and uncoupled actuation. To facilitate experimentation, the leg should resist the vibration of constant galloping, and be rapid to fabricate. The Stanford leg design is intended to improve on the OSU leg design with respect to these characteristics.

Location:	Hanover, NH
Department:	Thayer School of Engineering
Contact:	Dr. Laura Ray
website:	http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/other/crobots/
AMC Model:	BE15A8-H

Our research task is the design and fabrication of a lightweight mobile robot that enables deployment of instrument networks in Antarctica. One can envision deploying multiple robots from the South Pole to desired locations on the plateau for long- or short-term observation, and retrieving or repositioning the robot network through Iridium-based communication. Potential missions include deploying arrays of magnetometers, seismometers, radio receivers and meteorological instruments, measuring ionosphere disturbances through synchronization of GPS signals, using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to survey crevasse-free routes for field parties or traverse teams, and conducting glaciological surveys with GPR. Robot arrays could also provide high-bandwidth communications links and mobile power systems for field scientists.