SPRING 2025 | 27 Ideas on the MOV E Students explore robotics design, complex movement, problem-solving and more at the Freed Family Robotics Design Studio, Lehigh’s latest Design Lab. With pincer-like hands, the robotic monkey known as “Willy” grasps a bar overhead while its tail— abruptly curved like the handle of an umbrella—slowly swings to the side, propelling it forward on a set of monkey bars. Willy demonstrates brachiation, a form of movement where primates swing from tree limb to tree limb using their arms. Eventually, the robot will traverse a 20-foot span of bars underneath a sign for the new Freed Family Robotics Design Studio in Wilbur Powerhouse, inviting visitors to discover what’s possible at Lehigh’s latest Design Lab. The robotics studio provides a space where students can bring their ideas to life through complex movement with components such as nuts, bolts, actuators and motors. Willy— named after Wilbur—was one of the first robots designed in the new studio by a group of mechanical engineering students for their Senior Capstone Design Project. Selena Ueno ’25, Athanasios Cosse ’24, Graham Engel ’25 and Gregorio Macchia ’25 went through eight iterations of Willy, who started as a box-like creature without a tail, before landing on the cute simian-inspired robot. One of the challenges was getting Willy to properly perform the swinging motion. The robot, who was conceptualized as a ninja warrior, would tilt sideways when it had only one hand on the bar. The students quickly realized Willy needed a tail, and that’s how the robotic monkey came to be. “We added a counterweight which we could rotate to change the position of the center of mass. This originally took the form of a box with fishing weights in it, but to add more of an effect on the position of the center of mass, we increased the length of the counterweight,” says Macchia, explaining how Willy uses its prominent tail. At Wilbur, a variety of resources brought Willy to life, Cosse says. “You have electronics downstairs and a 3D print lab—all of those things came together to make Willy possible,” he says. “You have all these tools, you have this ability to make things and create whatever you want, but to actually create the motion, that’s why the robotics studio is there.” story by Christina Tatu illustration by Sean McCabe
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0OTQ5OA==