Dawn Deborah Wheeler

Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (United States)

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Dawn Deborah Wheeler has made significant contributions to the field of robotics, with a particular focus on the modeling and control of compliant locomotion in wheel-on-leg robots. Her key research areas include robotic mobility, compliance modeling, and optimization for legged-wheeled hybrid systems. Her most notable work, "FootSpring: A Compliance Model for the ATHLETE Family of Robots," published in 2010, introduces a novel approach to modeling compliance by concentrating all deformation at ground contact points—specifically the tires and legs—while treating the rest of the robot as rigid. This method, which employs optimization techniques, provides a computationally efficient way to simulate and control the complex dynamics of these hybrid robots. Although her citation count is modest, with this paper garnering 8 citations, the work has been influential in advancing the understanding of how to effectively manage compliance in multi-limbed, wheeled robots for rough terrain navigation. Wheeler's research has practical implications for planetary exploration and disaster response robotics, and her compliance model remains a foundational reference for engineers working on similar platforms.