Welcome to theduchy.ualr.edu.

http://calliope.ualr.edu

This server is owned and operated by the Mechatronics and Acoustics Group at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

This page is dedicated to documenting the activities of Dr. Andrew Wright's research group.

Office: ETAS 528D, Email: abwright@ualr.edu, Phone: (501) 569-8071

Education

B. S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Carolina, 1986 (magna cum laude from South Carolina College).

M. S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988 (emphasis on Controls).

Thesis: "Manufacturing Models of Metal Forming Processes for Design: Rolling and Bending"

Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1996.

Courses

Mechatronics I

Introduction to Signal Processing

Digital Control Systems

Advanced Dynamics

ASCI 4330/5330. Acoustics I

ASCI 4340/5340. Mechatronics II

ASCI 7370. Acoustic Analysis and Measurement

Robot Name

Picture

Drive System Type

Control System Type

CASSY

Phoenix

Differential Rear, Independent Ackerman Front

Innovation First, Basic Stamp

J5

J5

Differential, Wheeled

PC Motherboard, Linux, Gnu C

Buford

Differential, Wheeled

Innovation First, Basic Stamp

Velvet Fog

Differential, Wheeled, Suspension

Innovation First, Basic Stamp

Differential, Wheeled, Suspension

Mini-ITX Motherboard, Linux, GnuC (under development)

Green Smog

Differential, Wheeled

Innovation First, C

Intelligent control of Energy Systems

Publications

Wright, A. B., "Mode Selection Logic for Fault Tolerant Control of Fuel Cell," in conception.

Ericksen, J., Godere, E., Wright, A., "Digital Controller Improves Power and Flexibility of Gas Turbine Driven M1A1 Tank," IGTI Publication 91-GT-295, 1991.

Re-envisioning Energy Usage in Arkansas, Arkansas Energy Research Consortium National Science Foundation EPSCoR, $6,000,000, pending.

None

As co-investigator, "Investigation of Piloted Injector Concepts for Hydrocarbon-Fueled Ramjets", Department of Defense, $569,018, PI: L. Roe (UAF)

"Design, Diagnosis, and Control of a Pulse Detonation Engine," DoD EPSCoR, $426,156, 2000.

"Design, Diagnosis, and Control of a Pulsed Detonation Engine," Office of Naval Research, $1,551,912, 1998.

 

Mobile Robot Design and Behavior Based Control

Publications

Born, T., Ferrer, G., Wright, A. M., Wright, A. B., "Layered Mode Selection Logic for Unstructured Environments," Intl. J. of Intelligent Control and Systems., v. 13, n. 3, pp. 162-177, 2008.

Born, T., Ferrer, G., Wright, A. M., Wright, Wright, A. B., "Layered mode selection logic control for border security," Paper no. 6562-24, Proc. SPIE Defense and Security, 2007.

Born, T., Wright, A. B., "Layered mode selection logic control with fuzzy sensor fusion," Paper no. 6561-21, Proc. SPIE Defense and Security, 2007.

Wright, A. B., "Mechatronic Design of a Treaded Mobile Robot for Mine Sweeping," Journal of Arkansas Academy of Science, 54 (2000), pp. 133-137.

Funded and Pending Proposals

Development of Traversal Behavior, Arkansas Space Grant Consortium Graduate Student Fellowship, $4000, 2007.

Grants as Co-Investigator

"A Coupled Oscillator Approach for Control of Autonomous Mobile Robots," Department of Defense, 1997-1998, $277,855, PI: G. Anderson (UALR)

Declined Proposals

As co-Investigator, Information Kiosks," NSF, $200,000, PI: G. Anderson (UALR), 2004.

Layered Mode Selection Logic: a paradigm for multi-agent function in unstructured environments, NSF, $450,000

Students

Traig Born, MS, 2008, Robot Controller Architecture: Layered Mode Selection Logic with Fuzzy Sensor Fusion Network

Jeremy Diaz, PhD, Expected 2012, Design of Intelligent Sensor for Mobile Robotics Applications

Naresh Modugu, MS (Project), 2011, Design, Construction, and Testing of a Novel Moment of Inertia Measurement Device,

Sponsored Links

Active Sound Cancellation in an Enclosure

Publications

Anderson, E., Wright, A. B., "Study of Causal Component Placement in an Active Sound Cancellation System," J. Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 60, pp. 20-27, 2006.

A.B. Wright, B. Xie, A. Karthikeyan, "A comparison of white test signals used in active sound cancellation, Applied Acoustics 59 (4) (2000) pp. 337-352.

 

 

Grants

"Active Sound Cancellation in Large Earth Moving Machinery," NSF MCEC, $35,000, 1998

"Active Sound Cancellation in Corporate Luxury Aircraft," Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, $30,000, 1997

Declined Proposals

"Development of Active Control Strategies and Smart Instrumentation to Improve Accuracy in Weapon Systems," DoD EPSCoR, $250,000, 2001.

"Development of Active Control Strategies and Smart Instrumentation to Improve Accuracy in Weapon Systems," DoD EPSCoR, $312,630, 2000.

"Creating a Virtual Wall of Silence using Active Sound Cancellation in a Reverberant Space," NSF Career Proposal, $200,000, 1998.

"Very Low Structure-borne Noise Unit Enclosure for COTS Modules," Department of Defense SBIR, $70,000, 1996, PI: K. Craig (RPI).

"Advanced Active Control of Rotorcraft Vibration and Aeroacoustics," Department of Defense, $1,000,000, 1996, PI: A. Lemnios (RPI).

Students

1. Baoai Xie, MS, 1997, A Comparison of Test Signals Used in Active Sound Cancellation.

2. Karthikeyan Amaleshekeran, MS, 1999, Multiple Input Active Sound Cancellation Scheme and Charaterization of the Zone of Silence in the Near Field.

3. Eileen Anderson, MS, 2004, Characterization of Active Sound Cancellation Zone of Silence in Reverberant Enclosure with Periodic Disturbance;

4. Eileen Anderson, PhD, "Sensor/Actuator Array and Model Reference Adaptive Control of Room Acoustic Response," in progress.

Sponsored Links

Hybrid Rocket Instrumentation and Control

Publications

Wright, A. B., Wright, A. M., Teague, M. W., Wilson, E. M.,"Instrumentation of UALR Labscale Hybrid Rocket," Proc. SPIE Defense and Security, v. 6222, n. 622202, pp. 1-12, 2006.

 

Ann Wright, Warfield Teague, Patrick Foley, Justin Patton, Brian Alford, Larry Dunn, Andrew Wright, Keith Hudson, "A Physical Characterization of Guanidinium Azo-Tetrazolate as a Fuel Additive for Hybrid Rockets," J. Pyrotechnics, n. 22, pp. 44-51, Winter 2005.

 

 

A. B. Wright, Calvin Cox, Abhijit Bhattacharyya, and M.K. Hudson, "PRELIMINARY CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF HYDROXYL-TERMINATED POLYBUTADIENE (HTPB) SOLID PROPELLANT," 39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, July 2003, Huntsville, Alabama.

 

Meadors, C. Y, Wright, A. B., "Pressure and Flow Validation of a Second Generation Gas Extraction Probe for a Hybrid Rocket Gas Extraction System," Journal of Arkansas Academy of Science, 56(2002), 117-124.

 

M.W. Teague, T.A. Jennings, A.M. Wright, and A.B. Wright, "UV Spectroscopic Monitoring of Rocket Motor Combustion Efficiency," 38th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, July 2002, Indianapolis, Indiana.

 

Meadors, C. Y., Elsasser, J. E., Wright, A. B., Hudson, M. K., "Design of an Optical Port in the Combustion Chamber of a Lab Scale Hybrid Rocket Motor," AIAA Paper Number AIAA-2000-3888.

 

Wright, A. B., Tomany, A., Wright, A. M., Hudson, K., "Pressure Measurement in the Post-Combustion Section of a Hybrid Rocket Motor," AIAA Paper No. AIAA-99-2536.

 

Meadors, C., Wright, A. B., "The Design and Construction of aGas Extraction Probe for a Hybrid Rocket Gas Extraction System," AIAA Paper No. AIAA-99-2535.

 

Meadors, C. Wright, A. B., "The Design and Construction of a Gas Extraction Probe for a Hybrid Rocket Gas Extraction System," Proceedings Journal of the 1999 Arkansas Undergraduate Research Conference and Space Grant Consortium, pp. 142-146.

Grants and Donations

"Instrumentation for a Chemical Rocket Motor", NASA, $500,000, 2004-2005.

"Instrumentation for a Chemical Rocket Motor", NASA, $750,000, 2001-2004.

"Instrumentation and Diagnosis of a Hybrid Rocket Motor," NASA Preparation Grant, $102,500, 2000

"Instrumentation and Diagnosis of a Hybrid Rocket Motor," NASA Preparation Grant, $102,500, 1999

"Hybrid Rocket Exhaust Gas Analysis and Combustion Instability Study," Arkansas Space Grant Consortium, $52,000, 1998

"Sensor Development for NASA Projects," Arkansas Space Grant Consortium, $2,550, 1998

"Design of High Temperature Probe for Mass Spectroscopy of Hybrid Rocket Plume," NASA Fellowship for Constance Meadors, $66,000, 1998-2000

"Acoustic Modelling of Hybrid Rocket Motor," Arkansas Space Grant Consortium, $2,000, 1997

Donation: Finnigan MAT Mass Spectrometer ($50,000) from Rineco, Benton, AR

Donation: Perkin Elmer AA Spectrometer ($25,000) from Rineco, Benton, AR

Donation: Varian Gas Chromatograph ($20,000) from Rineco, Benton, AR

Donation: Shimadsu Gas Chromatograph ($15,000) from Rineco, Benton, AR

Students

Jason Elsasser, MS, 2000, Design of a Hybrid Rocket Motor Injector Head for Internal Combustion Chamber Studies using Fiber Optics

 

Constance Meadors, MS, 1999, The Design and Construction of a Hybrid Rocket Plume Gas Extraction System

Sponsored Links

NASA Stennis Space Center

Walking Robot Design and Control

Publications

Liu, L., Wright, A. B., "A Flexible Real-Time Motor Control System for Robot Joints," Proc. of Mechatronics 2000, 9/00.

Liu, L., Wright, A. B., Anderson, G. T., "TRAJECTORY PLANNING AND CONTROL FOR A HUMAN-LIKE ROBOT LEG WITH COUPLED NEURAL-OSCILLATORS," Proc. of Mechatronics 2000, 9/00.

Wright, A. B., "Equations of Motion for a Four Degree of Freedom Leg," Journal of Arkansas Academy of Science, 53 (1999), pp.137-142.

Grants

ASGC (1 AWARD), $30,000, 1996-1997, AS Co-Investigator (PI: G. Anderson)

"Biological Strategies for Control of Mobile Robots" Faculty Infrastructure Grant, ASGC, $8,238, 1996

"Design of Robotic Leg," ASGC Fellowship for Jeff Dobbins, $2,527, 1997.

Design for Manufacturing

Publications

 

Proposals and Grants

"Data Acquisition System for Composite Waterjet Design", ASTA/NAMJ Applied Research, $39,000, 1999.

"TTAG: Proposal for NAMJ SBIR to SOCOM, " ASTA, $2,500, 1999.

Experiential Learning, Service Learning, and Curriculum Development

Publications

Wright, A. B., Wright, A. M., "FIRST in Engineering: Elements of Mechanical Design," 2003 ASEE Annual Conference.

Wright, A. M., Wright, A. B., "A Liberal Arts Approach to Teaching Robotics," 2003 ASEE Annual Conference.

Wright, A. B., Wright, A. M., "FIRST in Engineering, A Service Learning Approach to Mechanical Design," 2002 ASEE Annual Conference, 6/2002.

Wright, A. B., "PLANTING THE SEEDS FOR A MECHATRONIC CURRICULUM AT UALR," Journal of Mechatronics, v. 12(2), pp. 271-280, 2002.

Declined Proposals

NSF IGERT Preproposal ? circa 08/01/04

NSF IGERT Preproposal ? circa 12/01/01

NSF CCLI 2, $66,000, 2001.

NSF CCLI 1, $?, 2000.

"Development of a Mechatronic Curriculum through Case Study of a Walking Robot," National Science Foundation, $196,454, 1998

Biomedical Implant Design

Patents

Shape Memory Alloy Internal Linear (SMAIL) Actuator for Use in Orthopedic Correction, 5,575,790

Declined Proposals

"Non-invasively Actuated Scoliosis Correction Implant"

Orthopedic Research Education Foundation $80,000 9/10/94

Whitaker Foundation $100,000 6/15/94

Scoliosis Research Society $50,000 5/15/94

National Institute of Health $300,000 for 3 years 4/8/94

National Inst. of Arthritis, Musculosketetal, and Skin Diseases $125,000 3/1/94

PI: K. Craig (RPI), Co-PI: A. Carl (Albany Medical College)