Interface[s] Montréal

Telemanipulation and Robotics

Jorge Angeles

McGill University, CIM, Robotic Mechanical Systems Laboratory

Schönflies – Motion Generators for Industry and the Operating Room

View the presentation [In English]

Schönflies – Motion Generators for Industry and the Operating Room
Schönflies motions are characterized by a set of rigid-body displacements involving three translations in space plus one rotation about an axis of fixed direction. Simply put, these are the motions undergone by the tray of a waiter. This set of motions is named after the German mathematician-mineralogist Arthur Moritz Schönflies (1853-1928), who studied them and found that the set of displacements involved is endowed with the algebraic property of a group. Schönflies motions have been found to be quite common in industry, especially in the assembly of electronic parts with a flat geometry, which is the reason why they prompted the invention of what is known in industry as SCARA (Selected-Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) , for Selected-Compliance Assembly Robot Arm, in the early eighties. SCARA systems are also found in the operting room nowadays. In this talk, the speaker will report on work conducted the Robotic Mechanical Systems Laboratory over the last seven years in the area of Schönflies-motion genertion, including the innovative design of one heavy-duty serial robot and a light-duty parallel robot, as yet under construction.

Jorge Angeles obtained the Ph.D. degree in Applied Mechanics from Stanford University. Between 1973 and 1984, Angeles taught at UNAM, where he also served as Chairman of the Graduate Division of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. Since 1984, Angeles is with the Department of Mechanical Engineering of McGill University, where he is a member of the Centre for Intelligent Machines. Angeles’research interests focus on the theoretical and computational aspects of robotic mechanical systems and design theory and methodology. Jorge Angeles is one of the 12 Honorary Members of IFToMM, the International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science; a Honorary Professor of Tianjin University,China; a Fellow of the Royal Scoiety of Canada; a James McGill Professor of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University; a NSERC (Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) Design Engineering Chair holder; anASME Fellow; a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering;a Senior Member of the IEEE; Past President of IFToMM; and a member ofvarious professional and learned societies. Professional registration as an engineer includes Quebec, Mexico, and Germany.