"Gremlins: An Architectural Framework for Reconfigurable Autonomous Robots"

Graduate Thesis
Ryerson University
2003 - 2005

This thesis was nominated for the Governor General's Gold Medal in 2005.

Download the entire thesis [PDF] (12.9MB)

Watch the videos:
(You may need the xvid codec to view these videos)

Robots Docking: [6MB mpg] [1MB .avi]
Robots Docking with Failure Recovery: [5MB mpg] [700kB avi]
Robots Climbing Stairs: [3.1MB mpg] [500kB .avi]

Nobody's perfect, and any design project has setbacks. This blooper video [mpg 800kB or avi 100kB] shows what happens when a Gremlin optical array fails. This blooper [mpg 1MB or avi 100kB] demonstrates my exceptional reflexes. :)

This video (800kB mpg) shows a second generation gremlin drive system as it automatically calibrates its custom designed wheel encoders. First, the base is sent off uncalibrated, and drives around in circles. Next, the "calibrate" button is pushed and the base adjust the wheel speeds until it drives in a straight line.

This video (900kB mpg) was taking during the development of the docking system. It shows the robots performing a docking maneuver by manually controlling the motors.

This time lapse video (600kB mpg) was taking during development and shows manually testing of Gremlin stair climbing.