Patrick Dills

I am a graduate student in the Mechanical Engineering Department at UW Madison, where I am advised by Dr. Mike Zinn.

I am currently involved in the REACH Lab’s Haptic Interface Hybrid Actuation project. My interests include Machine Design, Robotics, and Control systems. Working on the Hybrid Actuation Project combines all of these interests.

I received a BS in Mechanical engineering From California State University Chico in 2013. Subsequently, I worked for Sierra Pacific Industries as a Mechanical Engineer until the fall of 2016, when I began my studies at UW Madison.

Recent work

• IEEE Haptics Symposium 2022: Stability and Rendering Limitations of High-Performance Admittance Based Haptic Interfaces Abstract— This work investigates the stability and rendering limitations of admittance-type haptic devices. We investigated a wider range of impedances than had previously been considered, including stiffness, damping, mass, and combinations thereof. The coupled human driving impedance, actuator position control bandwidth, and loop delay are identified as major factors affecting the range of stable impedances. ...
• IEEE Haptics Symposium 2018: Design and Analysis of a High Performance Impedance Based Hybrid Haptic Interface WINNER! – Best Work-In-Progress Paper This paper describes the design of a novel, high performance one degree-of-freedom hybrid haptic interface. The interface integrates a particle brake, a Series Elastic Actuator (SEA), and a small DC motor into a single actuator. Unlike existing hybrid designs, the one presented here does not suffer from a significant mismatch between passive and active torque capability. The ...
• Milestone: Mechanical Design Review Completed! The Hybrid Actuation Project has completed its final mechanical design review for the one degree of freedom testbed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K38cvl2kv4A&feature=youtu.be