Date of Award
12-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Civil Engineering
Committee Chair/Advisor
Laura Redmond
Committee Member
Qiushi Chen
Committee Member
Weichiang Pang
Committee Member
Brandon Ross
Abstract
The era of space exploration is driven by and fuels large advances in technological progress.
Over the last decade, engineering practices for spacecraft, space structures, robotics, software and
hardware, manufacturing techniques, and the implementation of new and novel materials has been
revolutionized. Space exploration pushes the envelope in terms of technological capabilities and
robotic systems (rovers) become lighter, smaller, and more capable of sustaining damage. This
dissertation aids in the advancement of design knowledge for a class of rovers characterized by
their chassis architecture: rigid-flex printed circuit board (PCB) robotics. These rovers leverage
the printed circuit cards as the structural system, which advantageously reduces mass and volume,
but also necessitates high-fidelity analysis. This dissertation provides a description of finite element
modeling procedures for these systems under various loading conditions, the associated validation
steps (traditional modal testing, impact testing), and recommendations for future design. This
document provides a theoretical framework for high-level rigid-flex PCB robotic architecture anal-
ysis and presents results and conclusions using NASA JPL’s Pop-Up Folding Flat Explorer Robot
(PUFFER) as a benchmark.
Recommended Citation
Bell, John, "Dynamic Analysis, Characterization, and Design of Rigid-Flex PCB Robotics" (2022). All Dissertations. 3361.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/3361
Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7194-1631
Included in
Other Aerospace Engineering Commons, Other Mechanical Engineering Commons, Structural Engineering Commons