Tom Vose

Tom Vose is a doctoral student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering studying robotic manipulation with Professor Kevin Lynch. His research focuses on very simple manipulators with surprising abilities:  vibrating plates. More precisely, plates that are flat, rigid, and can be programmed to move along periodic, small amplitude trajectories. Although a plate obviously cannot grasp an object, rapid vibrations cause parts on the surface to slide under the influence of friction. For every periodic plate motion, these frictional forces average out in such a way that the parts appear to converge to a velocity field, much as the trajectories of leaves falling on a river converge to the local flow of the water. The ability to program the plate's motion is like being able to change the river's flow pattern on command. A variety of velocity fields arise from very simple plate motions, many of which are useful in common manipulation tasks. These include fields that can translate, rotate, sort, assemble, position, and orient parts. A primary goal of Tom's research is to understand the full set of velocity fields that can be generated by a plate capable of moving with all 6-degrees-of-freedom. For videos and more information, please visit the Department of Mechanical Engineering.