Dr. Emin Faruk Kececi

Associate Professor of Mechatronics

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Istanbul Technical University

Gumussuyu/Istanbul – Turkey 34467

E-mail : kececi@itu.edu.tr

RESEARCH

1. Impact Resistant Throwable Rescue Robot, funded by Istanbul Technical University, ITU 33833, 2010.

Technical: The purpose of this project is to improve the impact resistant ability of a rescue robot in order to decrease the harmful effects of a drop and vibration. Especially designing the robot throwable will decrease the time required to deploy the robot in a disaster zone.

2. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot Design and Prototype Manufacturing, funded by The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, 104M122, 2005.

Technical: In this study an explosive ordnance disposal robot was designed and prototyped where the robotic arm is working in task space. The robot consists of 5 different parts, which are the body, arm, gripper, camera tower and control unit. The user controls the robot by sending RF signals through the control unit so that he can stay away from the explosive ordnance and decrease the risk of getting injured, in the event of an explosion.

Managerial: Mechanical design, manufacturing, electronic circuit design and manufacturing, assembly and software design were achieved. 3 graduate students were directed for the duration of 30 months. Journal papers were published and an embedded design book was written. During the manufacturing process more than 20 companies were used as subcontractors. A fully functional robotics laboratory was established.

3. Design and Prototyping of a Rescue Robot for Earthquake Rescue Operations, funded by Izmir Institute of Technology, IYTE 038, 2006.

Technical: This study concerns the design and prototype of 4 different mobile robot platforms for rescue robot operations after an earthquake. At first a test field was constructed to represent a mildly damaged earthquake zone. After the robots were manufactured, 18 different parameters of their performance in the test field were physically tested.

Managerial: The project was defined, design parameters were set, and the work was divided and given to the engineer groups (4 groups comprised of a total of 15 engineers). Prototypes were manufactured and tested and reported as a journal entry.

4. Mechatronic Design of a Completely Mechanical Quick-changeable Joint for Multi-Purpose Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robots, funded by State Planning Agency, DPT 012, 2005.

Technical: The main purpose of this study was to design completely mechanical quick changeable joints for multipurpose explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) robots. With the help of a quick changeable joint, an ordinary EOD robot can turn into a multipurpose robot, where the robot can change its end effector during the task and can achieve more complex duties. Making the joint completely mechanical increases its capacity and decreases its complexity of control, and risk of failure.

Managerial: 2 graduate students were directed during the design and prototyping process. After the manufacturing of 4 different joints, the testing procedure was defined and the test machine was designed and manufactured. The testing provided proof of the effectiveness of the joints. The final report was published as a journal paper and started further research in rescue robotics.

5. Design and Prototyping of a Mechatronic System as a Drag Reduction Device for Busses, funded by Izmir Institute of Technology, IYTE 049, 2005.

Technical: In this research, a mechatronic device which acts as a frontal drag reducer for a bus was designed, and a prototype was manufactured and tested in a wind tunnel. By reducing the drag force, a corresponding 6% amount of fuel saving is achieved. In the scope of this project a low-speed wind tunnel was designed and constructed. The wind tunnel flow tests were carried out by using a 1:50 scale model bus, and the relative reduction in drag forces was found as 11%, proving the effectiveness of the designed and manufactured system.

Managerial: 1 graduate student was directed and a subcontractor was used to manufacture the designed low-speed wind tunnel. A bus company was convinced to donate the necessary bus model. Technical devices were purchased from 3 different companies and borrowed from coworkers.

6. Design and Prototyping of a Fireproof Fire Fighting Robot.

Technical: As a result of this project, a fireproof fire fighting robot was designed and manufactured. Existing robotic technology was improved by making the robot fireproof.

Managerial: 1 graduate student was directed. Additionally there was cooperation with another academic from a second university and joint research was completed.

7. Design and Manufacturing of Wearable Exoskeleton Robot.

Technical: In this study a wearable exoskeleton robot to help paralytic or disable people to walk was designed and prototyped. An embedded system design was employed to run the light weight robot with precise speed. Gait analysis was achieved and the robot was programmed so that the center of gravity is controlled while the robot is walking.

Managerial: 2 graduate students were directed and subcontractors were used in the manufacturing of the robot. Funds were transferred from other projects to support the manufacturing costs.

EDUCATION

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA 1999-2003

PhD in Electrical Engineering,

Specialized in Adaptive Control for Failure Compensation in Robotics and Ground Vehicles

Duke University, Durham, NC, USA 1997-1999

MS in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Sciences,

Specialized in Workcell Automation

Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey 1992-1996

BS in Mechanical Engineering,

Specialized in Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing

EXPERIENCE

Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey Feb. 2010 – Current

Joint Appointment in Manufacturing Engineering

Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey April 2011 – Current

Associate Professor of Mechatronics

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey Feb. 2010 – April 2011

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Otokar Inc, Sakarya, Turkey Feb.2009 – Feb. 2010

Project Manager, National Battle Tank

Izmir Institute of Technology, Izmir, Turkey March 2003-Feb. 2009

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Servus Robots Inc., Richmond, VA Summer 2000

Research and Development Engineer

Duke Univ. Dept. of Civil and Env. Eng., Durham, NC Spring – Fall 1999

Teaching Assistant CE 161, CE 162 Architectural Engineering I, II

Ontrol Inc. Istanbul, Turkey Aug. 1996 – Mar. 1997

System Engineer

ROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Member of the Editorial Board for Robotica Journal 2011-2014

• Journal Reviewer for Robotica and Mechatronics

• Reviewer and referee for TEYDEB, TTGV and Ministry of Industry

• Consultant for Peace Eagle Project, TAI, Boeing

• Taught, MKM 512 Mechatronics System Design

• Taught, MAK 421E Manufacturing Engineering and CAM

• Taught, MAK 568E Computer Integrated Manufacturing

• Taught, ME 328 Manufacturing Engineering

• Taught, ME 401 Engineering Economics and Design

• Developed and Taught new course, ME 402 Engineering Design – All Terrain Mobile Robot Design

• Developed and Taught new course, ME 564 Advanced Machine Design

• Developed and Taught new course, ME 565 Adaptive Control

• Developed and Taught new course, ME 566 Advanced Robotics

• Developed and Taught new course, ME 567 Robotics Research

• Developed and Taught new course, ME 568 Mechatronics

• Developed and Taught new course, ME 569 Mechatronics Projects

AWARDS

TUBITAK Success Stories, one of the best 150 projects out of 6000 in 2005-2010 2011

Full scholarship for attending Duke and University of Virginia
by the Turkish Ministry of Education, 1997 - 2003

Teaching Assistantship from Duke University, Fall – Spring 1999

Scholarship for undergraduate study by the Turkish Ministry of Education, 1992 - 1996

Scholarship for undergraduate study by the Turkish Education Foundation, TEV, 1992 - 1996

NEWS AND MEDIA COVERAGE

Newspapers

[3] Rescue robot with no obstacles, Sabah, April 15th, 2011.

[2] Border patrol robot, Hurriyet, October 24th, 2010.

[1] Explosive ordnance disposal robot, Sabah, March 20th, 2008.

Televisions

[2] Rough terrain robot for rescue and military operations, TGRT, April 19th, 2011.

[1] Search and rescue robot developed, TRT (State Channel), April 19th, 2011.

PUBLICATIONS

Books and Book Chapters

[2] Kececi, E.F., “Safer and Faster Humanitarian Demining with Robots” by Ceccarelli , M., “Service Robots and Robotics: Design and Application”, IGI Global, to be published in 2012.

[1] Kececi, E.F., “Embedded Electronics Design with PIC Microcontrollers for Robotics and Automation Applications”, in Turkish, ISBN 978 9944-89-618-4.

Journals

[5] Kececi, E.F., “Fireproofing the firefighting robot”, Photonics Spectra, vol. 43, no. 6, pp. 43-46, 2009.

[4] Kececi, E.F., “Design and prototype of mobile robots for rescue operations”, Robotica, vol. 27, no. 5, pp.729- 737, 2009.

[3] Kececi, E.F., “Completely mechanical quick changeable joints for multipurpose explosive ordnance robot”, Robotica, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 555-565, 2009.

[2] Kececi, E.F., Tang, X., Tao, G., “Adaptive actuator failure compensation for redundant manipulators”, Robotica, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 19-28, 2009.

[1] Kececi, E.F., and Tao, G., “Adaptive vehicle skid control”, Mechatronics, vol.16, no.5, pp. 291-301, 2006.

Conferences

[8] Kececi, E.F., Invited Participant, “Advanced All-Terrain Autonomous Systems”, NATO-ASI, Izmir, August 2010.

[7] Kececi, E.F., “Portable Robot Usage in the Soldier Modernization Program”, SAVTEK ’10 Defense Technologies Congress, Ankara, 2010 (in Turkish).

[6] Kececi, E.F., “A Diagnostic and Calibration Card for Robotic Applications”, TOK’08 National Automatic Control Conference, Istanbul, 2008 (in Turkish).

[5] Tavsel, O., and Kececi, E.F., “Task Space Control of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot”, TOK’05 National Automatic Control Conference, Istanbul, 2005 (in Turkish).

[4] Kececi, E.F., Tang, X., and Tao, G., “Actuator Failure Compensation for Concurrently Actuated Manipulators”, SAFEPROCESS 2003, 5th IFAC Symposium on Fault Detection, Supervision and Safety of Technical Processes, Washington, D.C., USA, June 9-11, 2003.

[3] Kececi, E.F., Tang, X., and Tao, G., “Actuator Failure Compensation for Cooperating Multiple Manipulator Systems”, SAFEPROCESS 2003, 5th IFAC Symposium on Fault Detection, Supervision and Safety of Technical Processes, Washington, D.C., USA, June 9-11, 2003

[2] Kececi, E.F. and Tao, G., “An Intelligent Robotic Walker: Mechanical Design and Control System”, 2002 ASME International Symposium on Advances in Robot Dynamics and Control, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, New Orleans, USA, November 17-22, 2002.

[1] Kececi, E.F. and Tao, G., “Adaptive Actuator Failure Compensation for a Platform Manipulator”, ESDA2002, 6th Biennial Conference on Engineering Systems Design and Analysis, Istanbul, Turkey, July 8-11, 2002.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Bukey, V., Expected in 2012, “Advanced Control Applications for Rescue Robotics with Off the Shelf Electronics”.

Gezici, A., Expected in 2012, “Design and Prototyping of an Autonomous Cleaning Robot”.

Ergenekon, E., Expected in 2012, “Finite Element Analysis of a Electrically Driven Vehicle”.

Tok, O., MS, 2008, “Design and Manufacturing of a Fireproof Fire Rescue Robot”.

Gun, V., MS, 2007, “Wearable Exoskeleton Robot Design and Prototyping”.

Kor, M.B., MS, 2006, “Mechatronic Design of a Completely Mechanical Quick-changeable Joint for Multi Purpose Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robots”.

Kavadar, G., MS, 2006, “Design and Prototyping of a Mechatronic System as a Drag Reduction Device for Busses”.

Pekdur, O., MS, 2006, “Autonomous Solid Waste Separation System Design”.

Akdemir, D., MS, 2006, “Design of a Rescue Robot for Search and Mapping Operation”.

Tavsel, O., MS, 2005, “Mechatronic Design of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robot”.