Dr Mingfeng Wang
Senior Lecturer in Robotics and Autonomous Systems
Howell 123
- Email: mingfeng.wang@brunel.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)1895 266411
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences
Research area(s)
Innovative design, modelling and control of specialised robotic systems:
- Robots for inspection and maintenance: Continuum robots, composed of multiple small-diameter bendable sections, are promising to be applied to access and operate in confined spaces for which a wide range of practical applications have been presented (e.g. minimally invasive surgery, nuclear facility decommissioning, aircraft maintenance). His expertise is mainly focused on the ones with an extra slender structure (i.e. diameter-to-length ratio < 0.02 with at least meter-like length), which is unique as it’s challenging not only in the design stage but also the modelling and control in a precise way. Starting from the fundamental study, the physical prototype of an extra slender continuum robot has been developed and demonstrated with high TRL (>5) in the real scenario, which provides a promising solution for inspection and maintenance operation in-situ.
- Mobile Robots: Legged robots, consisting of two or multiple legs, are the most promising among ground robots for locomotion flexibility as compared with the wheeled and tracked counterparts. His expertise is mainly focused on the biped and hexapod robots with peculiar designs based on parallel mechanisms, which are fundamentally different from the existing serial mechanism based ones. Thanks to the unique advantages of parallel mechanisms, the elaborated biped robot is capable of walking stably with a payload of approx. 3 times its weight, while the hexapod one can perform advanced walking and machining operations in extreme environments (e.g. nuclear facility).
- Miniaturised Robots: Capsule robots, composed of a locomotion module and several functional modules (e.g. vision, wireless communication, drug), are promising to be revolutionary early diagnosis and treatment devices for gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. His expertise is primarily focused on the active locomotion and drug delivery modules, which not only allow capsule robots self-propelling and docking at the interest area for diagnosing, but also have other functions such as biopsy and drug release.