Areas of Research
- Nonlinear Dynamics
- Vibrations
- Medical Robotics
- Soft Robotics
- Transmissions
Dr. Xuefeng Wang’s research of mechanical design and medical robotics are:
- a remotely-actuated MRI-compatible neurosurgical robotic system has been developed and under testing, where a creative switching mechanism has been invented to reduce the number of ultrasonic motors by half;
- a bionic hand exoskeleton with a new concept to mimic tendon routing in real hands is designed and in prototyping;
- a micro soft robotic guidewire is designed and its notched-joint bending behavior is modelled;
- a SMA-actuated multi-segment guidewire is fabricated and under testing for the use of cardiac surgery in MRI room; and
- a scalable infinitely variable transmission, or IVT, using an innovative mechanism to change its speed ratio continuously, which can effectively improve mechanical efficiency in robotic and vehicle applications. A robust nonlinear control method of the IVT was developed to achieve fast and stable speed-ratio tracking.
