News - Ray W. Herrick Laboratories - Purdue University

Consumer drones can hover and take photos, but they can't physically interact with their environment. The Boomcopter changes that. It's a tri-rotor, with an extra arm and propeller that allows it to move laterally, while performing a task with its arm. It can open doors, flip switches, and attach sensors onto walls -- all autonomously, using an array of sensors and cameras. In dangerous or inaccessible environments, the Boomcopter can perform tasks that would be too risky for humans. David Cappelleri is assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue, working with Ph.D. candidates Daniel McArthur and Arindam Chowdhury at Herrick Labs.

Francesco Danzi, visiting scholar working with Prof. James Gibert on topology optimization smart structure with internal resonance, won a SPIE Student Paper Award at the annual conference recently held in Portland, OR.

Purdue University is leading part of a national effort to reduce vehicle fuel consumption by 20 percent through automated systems that interconnect cars and trucks. Purdue leads a project focusing on Class 8 trucks (tractor-trailers), and will work with team members Cummins Inc., Peloton Technology, Peterbilt Motors Co., the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and ZF TRW.

Shirley Dyke, Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, and her Post Doc, Chul Min Yeum are the first to combine computer vision and deep-learning technologies for rapid assessment of structural wreckage.

George Chiu, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been elected as the Editor-in-Chief for the publication IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, starting in January 2017.

Patricia Davies received the 2016 Per Bruel Gold Medal for Noise Control and Acoustics from ASME, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

A native of Bangalore, India, Chaitanya Bhat came to Purdue University as a graduate student in mechanical engineering, researching the acoustic properties of diesel engines at Herrick Labs. At the same time, he has always had a love for North Indian (Hindustani) classical music. Now he can pursue his two favorite kinds of sound: as an acoustical engineer for Honeywell in Bangalore, and as a performing musician in concerts and recordings. In his own words, here is Chaitanya's story...

Cummins, Inc. and Purdue University have been industry partners for many years. At a recent networking event, members of Cummins and Purdue shared a lunchtime "speed dating" session, where they could learn about each other's research -- and then 5 minutes later, move on to learn about the next person's research. More connections between industry, researchers, and students, translates to more opportunities to move the world forward.

Graduate students from Purdue teamed up with students from Dresden, Germany to complete an international course in refrigeration and compressors. They spent one week at the Technical University of Dresden, collaborated long-distance over the summer, and then convened for one week at Purdue University's Herrick Labs to present their final projects.

Did you know that buildings consume 40 percent of the nation's energy? Creating efficient buildings saves energy, and helps to stave off climate change. That's the focus of three simultaneous conferences happening this week at Herrick Labs: the 16th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference, the 23rd International Compressor Engineering Conference, and the 4th International High Performance Buildings Conference.