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ABOUT



The RObotics and Computational KINematics Innovation (ROCKIN) Lab at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology seeks to develop cutting-edge transformative technologies. The ROCKIN Lab is dedicated to the development of novel complex robotic mechanical systems that generate spatial motion and force transmission. The Lab seeks to advance the design methodologies for these challenging mechanical systems as well as techniques for their utilization in industrial, manufacturing, and consumer applications.

The graduates of the ROCKIN Lab are well primed to produce disruptive technologies that will directly benefit the USA’s manufacturing enterprise. They are well prepared to conduct cutting edge research in kinematics & robotics; apply the latest techniques in creative ideation & design; design, build, and test prototypes; and publish their findings.

Mission


The mission of the ROCKIN Lab is to holistically educate engineers in robotics & computational kinematics as well as in creative ideation so that they may design innovative robotic mechanical systems.


Vision


The vision of the ROCKIN Lab is to be the world leader in the research and development of innovative robotic mechanical systems.


Partners


Please visit this page where we acknowledge those that have helped us establish and grow the ROCKIN Lab at South Dakota Mines.


Personnel



Faculty


Prof. Pierre M. Larochelle, P.E.

(LinkedIn, ORCiD ) Founder & Director

Current Students


Doctoral Students

Apply to add your name here!

Masters Students

Hunter Harrison

Trinity Lindner

John Miller

Undergraduate Students

Hunter Harrison

Eli Lowry

Jack McIntosh

John Miller

Makara Nichols

Kaitlyn O'Donnell

David Robbins

Alumni


Link to Alumni page

Collaborating Scholars


Prof. Jorge Angeles

McGill University

Dr. Michael Green

Kent School

Prof. Q. Jeffrey Ge

State University of New York at Stony Brook

Prof. Chintien Huang

National Cheng Kung University

Prof. J. Michael McCarthy

University of California at Irvine

Prof. Andrew P. Murray

University of Dayton

Prof. David Myszka

University of Dayton

Mr. Michael O'Donnell

Harmony High School

Dr. Michael Turner

Intuitive Surgical Systems

Prof. Judy M. Vance

Iowa State University

International Visitors


Benedikt Hottner

Visited Feb. - Jun. 2013
Hoschule Regensburg University of Applied Sciences
(Germany)

Gauthier Sellin

Visited Apr. 2017 - Aug. 2017
École Centrale de Nantes
(France)

Bastian Standfest

Visited Oct. 2012 - Feb. 2013
Hoschule Regensburg University of Applied Sciences
(Germany)

Yongli (Angel) Tan

Visited Aug. 2016 - Jan. 2017
Hubei University of Education
(China)

Publications & Awards

Many of the publications provided here have links to downloadable files. These files are provided solely for the educational use of faculty members or students that are pursuing graduate or undergraduate degrees in an accredited not-for-profit university. The files are not to be used by anyone involved in a for-profit enterprise or in other commercial uses.


Publications



2020 - 2024

  • Interactive Visualization of Spatial Triangles
  • Interactive Visualization of Spherical Triangles
  • Proceedings of 2020 USCToMM Symposium
  • Proceedings of 2022 USCToMM Symposium
  • Proceedings of 2024 USCToMM Symposium
  • SphereWalker- A Hexapod Walking Machine
  • Synthesis of Watt II Six-Bars for Simultaneous Pick and Place Tasks with Guiding Positions

2015 - 2019

  • A Robot Arm Based Additive Manufacturing System
  • An Algorithm for Generating 3D Lattice Structures Suitable for Printing on a Multi-Plane FDM Printing Platform
  • An Improved Principal Coordinate Frame for use with Spatial Rigid Body Displacement Metrics
  • BlueSheep
  • Design and Development of a Mobile Robot Platform for Autonomous Ground Vehicle Research
  • Design and development of planar reconfigurable motion generators
  • Design of a 3D Printable Time Simulating Solar System Model
  • Dynamic Anchoring in Soft Regolith Testing and Prediction
  • Dynamic Anchoring in Soft Regolith for Celestial Exploration
  • Incorporating an Entrepreneurial Mindset in a Freshman Mechanical Engineering Course
  • Intelligent Ground Vehicle
  • Internship Training in Robotics Lab Exploring Robotics Through Hands-On Learning
  • Motivatng STEM Studies Through a Space Exploration Robotics Summer Camp
  • MotoMaker a robot FDM platform for multi-plane and 3D lattice structure printing
  • Multiplane fused deposition modeling a study of tensile strength
  • Reconfigurable Motion Generator
  • Robot Arm Platform for Additive Manufacturing Multi-Plane Motion
  • Robot Arm Platform for Additive Manufacturing- 3D Lattice Structures
  • Robot Arm Platform for Rapid Prototyping- Concept
  • Robot Arrm Platform for Additive Manufacturing Using Multiplane Toolpaths
  • Robotic Walking Apparatus
  • Simulation of Soft Regolith Dynamic Anchors for Celestial Exploration
  • SphereWalker
  • Synthesis of Planar Mechanisms for Pick and Place Tasks With Guiding Positions
  • Synthesis of Watt II Mechanisms for Four Simultaneous Positions
  • Testing of Soft Regolith Dynamic Anchors for Celestial Exploration
  • Time Simulating Solar System Models
  • Using Optimization for the Mixed Exact-Approximate Synthesis of Planar Mechanisms(ASME)
  • Using Optimization for the Mixed Exact-Approximate Synthesis of Planar Mechanisms

2010 - 2014

  • A Coordinate Frame Useful for Rigid-Body Displacement Metrics
  • A Hoop Method for Orientation Order Analysis of Spherical Mechanisms
  • A New Concept for Reconfigurable Planar Motion Generators
  • Analysis of Planar Reconfigurable Motion Generators
  • Design of Graphical User Interfaces for the Synthesis of Planar RR Dyads
  • Orientation Order Analysis of Spherical Four-Bar Mechanisms
  • PANTHER PEER A WEB-BASED TOOL FOR PEER AND SELF EVALUATION
  • SphereWalker
  • Synthesis of Planar Mechanisms for Pick and Place Tasks with Guiding Locations
  • Synthesis of Spatial CC Dyads and 4C Mechanisms for Pick & Place Tasks with Guiding Locations

2005 - 2009

Click here for a listing of our 2005 - 2009 publications in BibTeX format.

  • A Displacement Metric for Finite Sets of Rigid Body Displacements
  • A Distance Metric for Finite Sets of Rigid-Body Displacements via the Polar Decomposition
  • A Metric for Finite Sets of Displacements
  • A Metric for Planar Displacements
  • A Polar Decomposition Based Displacement Metric for a Finite Region of SE(n)
  • Approximate Motion Synthesis of Robotic Systems via a Polar Decomposition Based Displacement Metric
  • Approximate Motion Synthesis of Spherical Kinematic Chains
  • Collision Detection of Cylindrical Rigid Bodies Using Line Geometry
  • Collision Detection of Cylindrical Rigid Bodies for Motion Planning
  • Computer-Aided Manufacturing of Spherical Mechanisms
  • Computer-Aided Modeling and Manufacturing of Spherical Mechanisms via a Novel Web Tool
  • Design and Implementation of Building Navigational Tools for the PantherBot Mobile Robot
  • Design of a Mirror Positioning System to Enhance the Performance of a PV Array
  • Effect of Tracking Flat Reflector Using Novel Auxiliary Drive Mechanism on the Performance of Stationary Photovoltaic Module
  • Guest Editorial- 2005 Mechanisms & Robotics Award
  • Interactive Visualization of the Coupler Surfaces of the Spatial 4C Mechanism
  • Motion Planning for Collision Avoidance via Cylindrical Models of Rigid Bodies
  • Projection Metrics for Rigid-Body Displacements
  • Proposed Design of a Triped Robot
  • Self-Collision Detection in Spatial Closed Chains
  • SphinxCAM-ProE Computer-Aided Modeling & Manufacturing of Spherical Mechanisms via the Web
  • Synthesis of Part Orienting Devices for Spatial Assembly Tasks
  • Systematic Process for Constructing Spherical Four Bar Mechanisms
  • Unifying Assessment of Freshman Design Teams with Team Project Management
  • Visualizing Quaternions_Review

2000 - 2004

Click here for a listing of our 2000 - 2004 publications in BibTeX format.

  • A Cornerstone Freshman Design Experience
  • An Innovative Introduction to Mechanical
  • Approximate Motion Synthesis of Open and Closed Chains via Parametric Constraint Manifold Fitting Preliminary Results
  • Approximate Motion Synthesis using an SVD based Distance Metric
  • Approximate Motion Synthesis via Parametric Constraint Manifold Fitting
  • Approximating Spatial Locations with Spherical Orientations for Spherical Mechanism Design
  • Circuit and Branch Rectification of the Spatial 4C Mechanism
  • Designing Spatial Mechanisms Using Virtual Reality
  • Fan Structure Having a Spherical Four-Bar Mechanism
  • Interactive Visualization of Line Congruences
  • Interactive Visualization of the Line Congruences Associated with Four Finite Spatial Positions
  • Interactive Viualization of Line Congruences for Spatial Mechanism Design
  • Line Based Collision Detection of Cylindrical Rigid Bodies
  • SVD and PD Based Projection Metrics on SE(n)
  • Spasur- Interactive Visualization of the Coupler Surfaces of the Spatial 4C Mechanism
  • Spatial Mechanism Design in Virtual Reality with Networking_Conf
  • Spatial Mechanism Design in Virtual Reality with Networking_Jrnl

1995 - 1999

Click here for a listing of our 1995 - 1999 publications in BibTeX format.

  • A Classification Scheme for Planar 4R, Spherical 4R, and Spatial RCCC Linkages to Facilitate Computer Animation
  • A New Method of Task Specification for Spherical Mechanism Design
  • A Virtual Reality Environment for Spherical Mechanism Design
  • Algebraic Motion Approximation with NURBS Motions and its Application to Spherical Mechanism Synthesis_Conf
  • Algebraic Motion Approximation with NURBS Motions and its Application to Spherical Mechanism Synthesis_Jrnl
  • Creating a Virtual Reality Environment for Spherical Mechanism Design
  • Design of 3-dof Spherical Robotic Mechanisms
  • Design of Cooperating Spherical RPR Robots
  • Integrating Spatial Motion Generation into the Engineering Curriculum
  • Mechatronic Design and Manufacture- A Capstone Design Experience
  • On the Geometry of Approximate Bi-Invariant Projective Displacement Metrics
  • On the design of spatial 4C mechanisms for rigid body guidance through four positions
  • Performance Evaluation of an Adaptive PD Robot Controller
  • Planar motion synthesis using an approximate bi-invariant metric
  • SPHINXCAM Computer-Aided Manufacturing for Spherical Mechanisms
  • Spades - Software for for Synthesizing Spatial 4C Mechanisms
  • Spherical Mechanism Synthesis in Virtual Reality_Conf
  • Spherical Mechanism Synthesis in Virtual Reality_Jrnl
  • Synthesis of Planar RR Dyads by Constraint Manifold Projection

1990 - 1994

Click here for a listing of our 1990 - 1994 publications in BibTeX format.

  • Design of the spatial 4C mechanism for rigid body guidance
  • Designing planar mechanisms using a bi-invariant metric in the image space of SO(3)
  • Performance evaluation of cooperating robot movements using maximum load under time-optimal control
  • SPHINX- Software for synthesizing spherical mechanisms
  • Static analysis of spherical nR kinematic chains with joint friction
  • Teaching Spatial Visualization via Spherical Mechanism Design

Awards



2020 - 2024

  • ASME Distinguished Service Award 2023


    Dr. Larochelle has been recognized by ASME for "dedicated voluntary service to the society marked by outstanding performance, demonstrated leadership, prolonged and committed service, devotion, enthusiasm, and faithfulness".

  • ASME CEE Election


    Dr. Larochelle has been elected to serve as chair of ASME’s Committee on Engineering Education (CEE) (2024 – 2027). The CEE is responsible for promoting high quality ME and MET educational programs.

  • NSLS Impact Leader Award


    Dr. Larochelle received the Impact Leader Award from the National Society of Leadership and Success for exemplifying a commitment to excellence in developing student leaders (NSLS 2022).

  • 2020 ASME Department Heads Committee


    Dr. Larochelle has been elected to serve as a member at large on the ASME's Mechanical Engineering Department Heads Executive Committee (ASME MEDHEC) (2021-2023). The MEDHEC oversees the ASME's mechanical engineering department heads committee and their activities including the annual ASME International Mechanical Engineering Education Leadership Summit (MEED).

  • 2020 ASME Committee on Engineering Accreditation


    Dr. Larochelle has been elected to serve as Chair of the ASME's Committee on Engineering Accreditation (ASME CEA) (2021-2022). The CEA oversees the ABET accreditation of mechanical engineering programs around the globe, defines ABET's mechanical engineering program criteria, and is responsible for selecting, training, and evaluating ABET's mechanical engineering program evaluators.

2015 - 2019

  • 2018 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition


    Ismayuzri Ishak and Mark Moffett (doctoral students) were awarded a $1,250 travel grant in the 2018 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition to attend the 2018 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC) and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE) in Quebec City, Quebec (Canada).

  • 2017 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition


    Ismayuzri Ishak and Mark Moffett (doctoral students) were awarded a $1,250 travel grant in the 2017 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition to attend the 2017 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC) and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE) in Cleveland, Ohio.

2010 - 2014

  • 2014 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition


    Jugesh Sundram (masters student) was awarded a $1,250 travel grant in the 2014 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition to attend the 2014 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC) and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE) in Buffalo, New York.

  • 2014 Florida Tech Outstanding Professor Award


    Dr. Larochelle received the Outstanding Professor Award from the ASME Student Section at Florida Tech. This award is voted on by the students and is given to the professor that has "demonstrated an ability to enhance the education of his students, grow a strong research program, and advance the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department".

  • 2011 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition


    Venkatesh Venkataramanujam (doctoral student) was awarded a $1,250 travel grant in the 2011 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition to attend the 2011 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC) and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE) in Washington D.C.

  • 2010 ASME International Design Conference


    Dr. Larochelle served as the General Conference Chair for the 2010 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences (IDETC) and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (CIE) that took place August 15-18, 2010 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

  • 2010 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition


    Venkatesh Venkataramanujam (doctoral student) was awarded a $1,250 travel grant in the 2010 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition to attend the 2010 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences in Montreal, Canada.

  • 2010 College of Engineering Design Showcase President's Award


    A multidisciplinary capstone design project, lead by RASSL's own Shashank Bishnoi, to design and build an autonomous robot to compete in the 2010 DARPA sponsored Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition received the President's Award and Best of Show at Florida Tech's 2010 Northrop Grumman Engineering and Science Student Design Showcase.

2005 - 2009

  • 2009 College of Engineering Service Excellence Award


    Dr. Larochelle received this award from Florida Tech's College of Engineering for his efforts to support the ABET accreditation of the College's eight programs.

  • 2009 Women In Defense Scholarship


    Christina Lucas (BSME 2011) received a prestigious Women In Defense HORIZONS Scholarship. She was one of only three women to receive an award this year.

  • 2008 ASME Fellow


    Prof. Larochelle has been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

    2007 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition


    Venkatesh Venkataramanujam (doctoral student) was awarded a $1,250 travel grant in the 2007 NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition to attend the 2007 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences in Las Vegas, Nevada.

  • 2007 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics Best Paper Award


    Venkatesh Venkataramanujam (MSME 2007) and Prof. Larochelle received the Best Paper Award at the 2007 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics for their paper "A Metric for Planar Displacements". Download the pdf file here.

  • 2005 ASME National Student Mechanism Design Competition


    Daniel Brown (MSME 2005) was invited to this national competition in Long Beach, California as one of the finalists. His design "An Auxiliary Mirror Positioning System for PV Arrays" was awarded fourth place.

2000 - 2004

  • 2004 College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award


    Dr. Larochelle received this award from Florida Tech's College of Engineering for teaching excellence and the development of innovative curricula at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

  • 2003 ASME International Curriculum Innovation Award


    Drs. Larochelle, Gutierrez, and Engblom received this award from ASME International for their innovative revision of the Introduction to Mechanical Engineering experience at Florida Tech. Download the pdf file here.

  • 2001 & 2000 Link Foundation Scholarships


    Agnes Agius (MSME 2002) was one of four students to receive the 2001 Link Foundation Scholarship.

    Stacy Dees (MSME 2001) was one of four students to receive the 2000 Link Foundation Scholarship.

1995 - 1999

  • 1998-1999 ASME Leadership Development Initiative


    Dr. Larochelle was selected to join a select group of 6 ASME International Members to participate in ASMEs's Leadership Development Initiative(LDI).

  • 1998 Florida Tech Sigma Xi Student Research Paper Competition


    1st place for the unpublished paper on "The Infinity Fan'' by Stacy Dees (MSME 2001). The Infinity Fan (US Patent #6213715) is a unique desktop or standing fan design whose oscillating motion is generated by a spherical four-bar mechanism.

  • 1998 College of Engineering Faculty Service Award


    Dr. Larochelle received this award for his service to the College of Engineering which includes: hosting the 1998 Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics, his involvement in the FIRST Robot Competition, and advising the ASME Student Section at Florida Tech.

  • 1998 ASME National Student Mechanism Design Competition


    Stacy Dees (MSME 2001) was invited to this national competition in Irvine, California as one of the finalists. Her design "The Infinity Fan'' was awarded fourth place. Her presentation described the kinematics of spherical mechanisms.

  • 1998 ASME National Student Manufacturing Design Competition


    Stacy Dees (MSME 2001) was invited to this national competition in Atlanta, Georgia as one of the finalists. Her design "The Infinity Fan'' was awarded fourth place. Her presentation was aimed at introducing spherical mechanisms as a tool of manufacturing automation for repetitive tasks. She also described the design and manufacturing processes involved and the simplifications made to the manufacturing process.

  • 1998 MDI Mechanical Simulation Software Award


    Dr. Larochelle received the MDI Mechanical Simulation Software Award for his paper entitled "SPADES: Software for Synthesizing Spatial 4C Mechanisms'' at the 1998 ASME(American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Design Engineering Technical Conferences.

  • 1997 National F.I.R.S.T. Robot Competition


    In its inaugural year the Space Coast FIRST team placed 14th of 113 teams at the National Finals held at Disney's Epcot theme park. RASSL participants included John Ketchel, Juan Davilla, and Prof. Larochelle.

  • 1997 Junior Faculty Enhancement Award


    This $10,000 award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities was presented to Dr. Larochelle for his work in advancing the state of the art in spherical mechanism design.

  • 1996 ASME National Student Mechanism Design Competition


    5th place for the design of "The Florida Tech Hinge'' by Ned DeWitt (BSME awards-1995), Stewart Johnson (BSME 1996), and Michael Carmichael (BSME awards-1995) under the supervision of Dr. Larochelle and Prof. Stiles. The Florida Tech Hinge is a spherical four-bar mechanism designed to deploy and retract the wings on the Carnard roadable aircraft.

Videos & Photos

Videos


Visit our YouTube channel to see all of our videos!



Photos


2020 - 2024

  • Siemens PLC Activities Album



  • GP12 Rube Goldberg ME 454 Project Album



  • Summer Camp 2022: Industrial Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing Album



2015 - 2019

  • FCRAR 2016 Album



  • MISC Photos 2015 to 2019



2010 - 2014

  • ASME 2010 Album



  • FCRAR 2010 Album



  • Ark 2012 Album



  • Taiwan Trip 2012 Album



  • Venkatesh Graduation Album



  • MISC Photos 2010 to 2014



2005 - 2009

  • ASME DETC & CIE 2009



  • ASME DETC & CIE 2006



  • ASME DETC & CIE 2005



  • Stanford Design Workshop 2009



  • ARK 2008



  • ARK 2006



  • RoManSy 2006



  • FCRAR 2009



  • FCRAR 2008



  • FCRAR 2007



  • FCRAR 2006



  • NSF Conf 2006



  • Graduation 2007



  • Graduation 2005



  • MISC Photos 2005 to 2009



2000 - 2004

  • ARK 2004



  • ARK 2002



  • ARK 2000



  • ASME DETC & CIE 2002



  • McCarthy ASME Fellow



  • MISC Photos 2000 to 2004



1995 - 1999

  • FCRAR 1998 Album



  • Graduation 1998 Album



  • MISC Photos 1995-1999






Fun



Transformers: Dark of the Moon


ROCKIN alumnus Michael Giordano (MS 2005) appears briefly in the 2011 blockbuster film
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

The Song of the Screw


In the summer of 2000 Prof. Larochelle had the privilege of being invited to participate in a special commemorative symposium honoring the life and work of Robert Stawell Ball on the 100th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work A Treatise on the Theory of Screws.

This Symposium took place at the University of Cambridge, Trinity College, England, July 9-11, 2000. At that Symposium the attendees were treated to a performance of the Song of the Screw. Click the link below to download a recording of the performance.

The Song of the Screw
(Lyrics here)

Rockwell Collins TV Commericial


While in graduate school Prof. Larochelle was part of a small group of graduate students from the University of California at Irvine that were asked to appear in a commercial for Rockwell Corporation (now Rockwell Collins).

The commercial was made to promote Rockwell and to publicize its committment to higher education as one of Prof. Larochelle's colleagues in the Robotics Lab, Dr. Brian McDonell, was being supported by a doctoral fellowship from Rockwell and his work, the development of a pneumatic robot, is featured in the commercial. It was a very interesting experience for all involved. The commercial was directed by two time Academy Award Nominee Roland Joffe.

Use this link to view the commercial just as it aired on Nightline, Meet the Press, 60 Minutes, and many other programs. Click here.

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