UC Berkeley Canfield Joint

[Maegan]

UC Berkeley Canfield Joint

A team of students at UC Berkeley were challenged to create a unique direction control device for aerospace applications, which would reduce or eliminate torsional stress on flexible members being directed by the device. Inspired by innovative work of Tennessee Tech Associate  Professor Stephen Canfield,  and current development by Kirk Sorensen of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, the team developed a robotic canfield joint with the following features:   
    * Capable of hemispherical motion
    * Uses 3 actuators to control orientation of nozzle through joint kinematics
    * Position feedback using angular transducers
    * HMI through LabView GUI and Joystick for automatic and manual control   Representative propulsion system for illustration of thrust direction

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