Adam has experience in the simulation, design, modelling, construction and control of robots and mechatronic systems for in-situ inspection and repair, parallel kinematic machine tools and surgical robots.

He has developed a number of novel machines, including a new type of 3D printer for metals based on Droplet on Demand technology.

Major research interests:

• Robotics
• Mechatronics
• Advanced Manufacturing Techniques
• Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)
• Laser Ablation
• Metal Materials

Recent Projects

1. A Novel Low-Cost 3D Printer for Stainless Steel and Aluminum Alloy (PI, CNY 500,000) At present, 3D printing technology is developing rapidly in high-end manufacturing fields such as automobile, medical health, aerospace and national defense. Its significant rapid prototyping advantage has been widely recognized by the industry. However, compared with printing other materials, 3D printing technology for metal structures is quite limited, and individuals have little opportunity to use this technology in their homes. Although there are some metal 3D printers based on metal powder on the market, which can be used to produce complex and fine parts, these devices usually occupy a large area and are expensive for small batch production, and using metal powder as raw material is both expensive and dangerous. The project adopts the controllable metal droplet on-demand generation technology, heats the end of the metal wire through high-frequency eddy current induction to make it in a nearly molten state, and then quickly extrudes the metal droplets from the nozzle through high-frequency excitation of metal filament, so as to obtain the droplets whose diameter size is less than the nozzle size. Repeat printing the droplets on the substrate to obtain high-resolution parts. Compared with other technologies, the system has obvious advantages: (1) Safe raw materials, and continuous raw material feeding can be realized without closing the equipment and refilling raw materials; (2) It is applicable to a wide range of materials, and can use one printing nozzle to print a variety of materials; (3) The higher working temperature can be adopted, the nozzle blocking probability is low, and the droplet size can be selected and controlled in the printing process; (4) Low cost system components, raw materials and consumables; (5)There are few system operating parameters.
2. A Novel Low-cost Soft Drone Robotic Platform (CoPI, CNY 383,000) The project is a combination of safety drone technology and soft robotics. The forming process and control of soft-body airbags, processing process parameters, etc., are thoroughly investigated, and the control system identification based on a soft-body airbag is carried out. These have not been adequately studied in previous work. This project team has mastered the processing and molding of flexible airbags and broken the technical barriers. Based on this work, the possibility of applying soft-body airbag structures to robotics research can be significantly expanded, giving a new direction to soft-body robotics research. The project's main work has the following four parts.
   1. Soft body airbag UAV manufacturing control and process
   2. Optimization of the flight control system of the flexible airbag UAV system
   3. Development and integration of indoor positioning system for UAVs
   4. Overall system integration and systematization of the soft airbag UAV
3. A Printhead for GRCop-84/Alloy 718 Bimetallic Structures Developed by Metal Droplet Extrusion (PI, CNY 60,000)
4. RoboBIM: Robotic Buildings Information Modelling (CoPI, CNY 100,000), development of a robotic system for digital twin acquisition and creation for buildings under construction for the purpose of optimising the quality and precision of civil structures.
5. The ‘MiRoR’ project, an EU project focusing on the development of a hybrid, walking-robotic-system for performing in-situ inspection and repair. Adam’s work focused on the conceptual design and gait analysis of the WalkingHex walking machine tool robot and the design and construction of end-effectors for the SeRArm continuum robot.
6. The ‘REINER’ project, a Rolls-Royce industrial project focusing on the development of mechatronic systems for inspection of aero-engines
7. ‘SpineBot’, a project concerning the adaptation of an existing parallel kinematic machine tool, the FreeHex, to tasks related to corrective surgery for scoliosis.

Dr Adam Rushworth obtained his MEng in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics in 2011 from the University of Nottingham (UK), where he subsequently completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 2015.

He conducted research as a Research Fellow as part of the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in On-platform Repair and Manufacturing Technology, focusing on topics such as robotics for in-situ inspection, manufacture and repair, mechatronics and machining.

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Undergraduate

Design and Manufacture

PhD opportunities

There are opportunities for PhD studentship at The University of Nottingham (Ningbo and UK campuses). Interested applicants in the below research areas are welcome to contact Dr Rushworth for more information.