MITACS Globalink Research Internship

The Mitacs Globalink Research Internship is a prestigious 12-week program that allows international undergraduates to conduct research under Canadian university faculty across diverse disciplines.

I was selected by Dr Amy Wu, Associate Professor in Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Queen’s University, Kingston, and head of the Biomechanics x Robotics Laboratory (BxRL) at the Ingenuity Labs Research Institute.

My project, “Evolution of Multi-Legged Robots,” explored the evolutionary advantages of symmetric, even-numbered limb arrangements in legged organisms, given the rarity of odd-limb species like starfish or kangaroos. To enable experimentation, I developed a modular robotic prototype as a test platform.

Task:

1. Conduct an extensive review of literature on gait studies in legged robots and organisms, including gait patterns of hexapods and octopods with limb loss.

2. Curate a comprehensive list of gait patterns for octopods, hexapods, and quadrupeds, categorised by support polygon and locomotion speed.

3. Devise potential gait patterns for three-, five-, and seven-legged robots.

4. Design and develop a modular eight-legged robotic platform with remotely detachable limbs to simulate limb loss and enable gait testing with two to eight limbs.

Action:

1. Studied 20+ research papers on gait generation and limb coordination.

2. Developed and tested 3 octopod, 3 hexapod, 2 quadruped, and 1 tripod gait patterns.

3. Formulated 3 gaits for 7-legged and 2 for 5-legged robot configurations.

4. Designed an eight-legged robot with 3-DOF articulated limbs on an octagonal chassis, optimised for minimal workspace overlap through thoracic joint repositioning.

5. Fabricated and assembled components using FDM 3D printing and CNC laser cutting.