This paper reports on research into miniature, direct drive, high force/torque motors to support insect-sized mobile robotic platforms. The primary focus is on scalable motors based on piezoelectric transducers. The contributions of this work include: (1) the design, analysis, and characterization of a miniature mode conversion rotary ultrasonic motor based on a piezoelectric stack transducer; this produced a static torque density of 0.37 Nm/kg, (2) a millimeter scale linear piezometer, constructed with a parallel arrangement of annular stressed unimorph piezoelectric transducers and passive latches, exhibited 0.23 N of blocked force, and (3) simulation data is presented that compares these motor concepts to commercial systems in the context of scalability. Results suggest that smaller versions of the rotary ultrasonic motor would possess a static torque density seven times that of a commercial 3-mm electromagnetic system. This technology shows promise for driving the platform.

This panel will address the technical, economic and marketing hurdles that inhibit the widespread use of cloth/clothing modeling, design and animation technology.Many of the fundamental technologies needed to support cloth modeling have already been developed.Still, we do not see computer-animated characters wearing realistic clothing, and clothing designers are not creating new fashions with computer-based 3-D design systems.The CAD industry is capable of providing the systems for designing the Boeing 777, but almost none of the clothing we wear is designed with 3-D CAD tools.The panel will explore the reasons that the design of cloth and clothing, a material that has been a part of the human experience for thousands of years, has not yet been fully computerized.A variety of issues related to cloth/clothing modeling will be explored.Are there fundamental technological barriers preventing us from fully deploying computer technology when modeling, designing, or animating cloth/clothing?Have the technical problems been solved and our computers are just not fast enough?Do we simply need good user interfaces to solve this difficult modeling problem?Is realism always important when modeling cloth?Does computer-based manufacturing place special demands on cloth modeling?Are designers, artists and clothing makers resisting the computerization of their "black art"?Can the average user even afford to do cloth modeling?Is the technology too expensive?These are some of the questions that the panelists will address. Can We Get There From Here?: Current Challenges in Cloth Design, Modeling and AnimationOrganizer