Robots & Design

Design plays a fundamental role in engineering and how well its solutions can be implemented in the real world. Pablo Valdivia y Alvarado Ph.D.

Publications

Books and Book Chapters:

  1. P. Valdivia y Alvarado and Kamal Youcef-Toumi, “Soft-Robot Fish”. In Bio-inspired Fishlike Underwater Robots, Springer, 2015.
  2. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, “Design of biomimetic compliant devices for locomotion in liquid environments”, Thesis (Ph. D.)–Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007.
  3. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, “Design, analysis and control of an autonomous conveyance module for well exploration”,Thesis (S.M.)–Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2001.

Refereed Journal Articles:

  1. P. Valdivia y Alvarado and K. S. Sekar,“Modeling Wake Topology and Thrust Production in Batoid-inspired Oscillating Fins”, In preparation.
  2. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, V. Subramaniam, and S. Bath, “Whisker-like Flow Sensors with Soft Tunable Follicles”, In preparation.
  3. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, “Design of soft batoid-like underwater robots”, In preparation.
  4. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, and K.S. Sekar,  “Design of a Constrained Bi-Layer Flapper for Bio-inspired Fins”, In preparation.
  5. M. Asadnia, A.G.P. Kottapalli, A. Cloitre, P. Valdivia Y Alvarado, J. Miao, and M. Triantafyllou, “MEMS sensors for assessing flow-related control of an underwater biomimetic robotic stingray”, Accepted for Publication: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, 2015.
  6. B. Epps, P. Valdivia y Alvarado, K. Youcef-Toumi, and A. Techet, “Swimming Performance of a Biomimetic Compliant Fish-like Robot”, Experiments in Fluids, 47(6), pp:927-939, 2009.
  7. Y.J. Lim, P. Valdivia y Alvarado, C.Y. Chang, and N. Tardella, “MR Fluid Haptic System for Regional Anesthesia Training Simulation”, Stud. Health Technol. Inform. 132, pp:248-253, 2008.
  8. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, and K. Youcef-Toumi, “Design of Machines with Compliant Bodies for Biomimetic Locomotion in Liquid Environments”, ASME Journal of Dynamics Systems Measurement and Control,128, pp:3-13, 2006.

Refereed Conference Papers:

  1. K. S. Sekar, M. Triantafyllou, and P. Valdivia y Alvarado, “Flapping Actuator Inspired by Lepidotrichia of Ray-Finned Fishes”, Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), September 14-18, Chicago, IL, 2014.
  2. A. Cloitre, B. Arensen, N. Patrikalakis, K. Youcef-Toumi, and P. Valdivia y Alvarado, “Propulsive Performance of an Underwater Soft Biomimetic Batoid Robot”, Proc. the 24th International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference (ISOPE), Busan, Korea, Jun. 2014.
  3. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, and S. Bhat, “Whisker-like sensors with tunable follicle sinus complex for underwater applications”, Proc. of SPIE Bioinspiration, Biomimetics, and Bioreplication IV conference, March 9-12, 2014, San Diego, CA, USA.
  4. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, V. Subramaniam, and M. Triantafyllou, “Performance Analysis and Characterization of Bio-Inspired Whisker Sensors for Underwater Applications”, Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), November 3-7, 2013, pp:5956-5961, Tokyo Big Sight, Japan.
  5. A. Cloitre, V. Subramaniam, N. Patrikalakis, and P. Valdivia y Alvarado, “Design and Control of a Field Deployable Batoid Rotot”, Proc. IEEE International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), Jun. 2012, pp:707-712, Rome, Italy.
  6. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, “Hydrodynamic Performance of a Soft Body Under-actuated Batoid Robot”, Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), Dec. 2011, pp: 1712-1717, Phuket Island, Thailand.
  7. H. Hans, J. Miao, P. Valdivia y Alvarado, and M. Triantafyllou,“Chemical Composition and Physical Features of Harbor Seal (Phoca Vitulina) Vibrissae for Underwater Sensing Applications”, Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), Dec. 2011, pp:1439-1443, Phuket Island, Thailand.
  8. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, S. Chin, W. Larson, A. Mazumdar, and K. Youcef-Toumi, “A Soft Body Under-actuated Approach to Multi Degree of Freedom Biomimetic Robots: A stingray example”, Proc. IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), Sept. 2010, pp: 473-478, Tokyo, Japan.
  9. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, C.Y. Chang, and K. Hynynen, “Design of a Manipulator System for Hemorrhage Detection and Treatment using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)”, Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Oct. 2009, pp:4529-4534, St. Louis, MO.
  10. Y.J. Lim, T. Le, P. Valdivia y Alvarado, C.Y. Chang, and N. Tardella, “A Regional Anesthesia Training Simulation System”, Proceedings of Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR) 17, Long Beach, CA., Jan, 2009.
  11. Y.J. Lim, T. Le, P. Valdivia y Alvarado, N. Tardella, and K. Curley, “Simulation-Based Military Regional Anesthesia Training System”, 26th Army Science Conference, Orlando, FL, December, 2008.
  12. A. Mazumdar, P. Valdivia y Alvarado, and K. Youcef-Toumi, “Maneuverability of a Robotic Tuna with Compliant Body”, Proc. IEEE International conference on robotics and automation (ICRA), 2008, pp:683-688, Pasadena, CA.
  13. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, and K. Youcef-Toumi, “Performance of machines with flexible bodies designed for biomimetic locomotion in liquid environments”, Proc. IEEE International conference on robotics and automation (ICRA), May 2005, pp:3324-3329, Barcelona, Spain.
  14. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, and K. Youcef-Toumi, “Modeling and design methodology for an efficient underwater propulsion system”, Proc. IASTED International conference on Robotics and Applications, 2003, pp:161-166, Salzburg, Austria.

Contributed Papers and Abstracts:

  1. P. Valdivia y Alvarado and K.S. Sekar, “Effects od Deformation Kinematics on Underwater Fin Locomotion”, Proceedings of the 7th Symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines AMAM 2015, June 21-25, Cambridge MA, USA (to appear).
  2. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, “Modeling and Control of Soft Body Underwater Fin Locomotion”, ICRA 2015 Workshop on Soft Robotics: Actuation, Integration, and Applications, May 30 2015 (to appear).
  3. M. Asadnia, J. Miao, A.G.P. Kottapalli, P. Valdivia Y Alvarado, and M. Triantafyllou, “Self-powered Micro-sensors to Improve Control and Maneuvering of a Robotic Stingray”, Proc. IEEE SENSORS, Nov. 2014, pp:458-461, Valencia, Spain.
  4. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, S. Bhat, and K.S. Sekar, “Soft Tunable Whisker-like Sensors”, Workshop on Advances on Soft Robotics, Robotics Science and Systems (RSS) Conference, July 13, 2014, Berkeley CA.
  5. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, K. Srivatsa, and M. Triantafyllou, “A Simple Analytical Model for Batoid Wakes and Thrust”, Bulletin of the American Physical Society DFD 58, 2013.
  6. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, V. Subramaniam, and M. Triantafyllou, “Design of a Bio-Inspired Whisker Sensor for Underwater Applications”, Proc. IEEE SENSORS, Oct. 2012, pp:1-4, Taipei, Taiwan.
  7. N. Patrikalakis, G. Weymouth, H. Kurniawati, P. Valdivia y Alvarado, T. Taher, R. Khan, J.C. Leighton, and G. Papadopoulos, “Modeling and Inspection Applications of a Coastal Distributed Autonomous Sensor Network”, Proc. of the ASME 31st International Conference on Ocean, Offshore, and Arctic Engineering (OMAE), Jul. 2012, pp:319-325, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  8. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, G. Weymouth, D. Thekoodan, and N. Patrikalakis, “Wake topology of under-actuated rajiform batoid robots”, Bulletin of the American Physical Society DFD 56, 2011.
  9. H. Hans, P. Valdivia y Alvarado, D. Thekoodan, M. Jianmin, and M. Triantafyllou, “A whisker sensor: role of geometry and boundary conditions”, Bulletin of the American Physical Society 56, 2011.
  10. P. Valdivia y Alvarado, T. Taher, H. Kurniawati, G. Weymouth, R.R. Khan, J. Leighton, G. Papadopoulos, G. Barbastathis, and N. Patrikalakis, “A Coastal Distributed Autonomous Sensor Network”, Proc. MTS/IEEE OCEANS’11, Sept. 2011, pp:1-8, Kona, Hawaii.

I design simple and elegant mechanisms that exploit natural phenomena to achieve their function by drawing inspiration from nature and a deep understanding of the physics of a problem.