UW Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Dr. John F. O'Brien

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John F. O'Brien, Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Room 5034, Engineering Building
University of Wyoming
College of Engineering and Applied Science
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Dept. 3295
1000 E. University Avenue
Laramie, WY 82071

Phone: 307.766.2162
Fax: 307.766.2248

Education:

B.S. Aerospace Engineering, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
M.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Wyoming
Ph.D. Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Areas of Expertise:

Robotics, Automatic Control

Kinematics, dynamics, and control of parallel mechanisms. Applications include vibration suppression and precision pointing for space/military payloads, and manufacturing.

Related Experience:

MISSILE DEFENSE NATIONAL TEAM SYSTEMS (GENERAL DYNAMICS) - Senior Lead Engineer, 2/02 - 8/03.

GENERAL DYNAMICS - Lead Engineer, 6/01 - 2/02.

NASA JET PROPULSION LABORATORY - Member of Technical Staff, 6/91 - 8/97. Academic Part-Time, 12/89 - 6/91.

Fellowship Awards:

1998 DOE Integrated Manufacturing Predoctoral Fellowship
1996 NASA Graduate Student Research Program Fellowship
1996 University of Wyoming-NASA Space Grant Fellowship

Selected Publications:

Wen, J.T., and O'Brien, J.F., "Determination of Unstable Singularities in Parallel Robots," IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, Volume 19, Number 4, pg 720 - 725, August 2003.
O'Brien, J.F. and Wen, J.T., "On Kinematic Instability of Parallel Robots," Electronic Journal of Computational Kinematics, 1(1), February 2002.
O'Brien, J.F. and Wen, J.T., "Kinematic Control of Parallel Robots in the Presence of Unstable Singularities," IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Seoul, Korea, May 2001.
O'Brien, J.F. and Wen, J.T., "Redundant Actuation for Improving Kinematic Manipulability," IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Detroit, MI, May 1999.
McInroy, J.E., O'Brien, J.F., and Neat, G.W., "Precise, Fault-Tolerant Pointing Using a Stewart Platform," IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (Short Paper), Volume 4, Number 1, pg. 91 March 1999.
O'Brien, J.F, McInroy, J.E., Bodtke, D., Bruch, M., and Hamann, J.C., "Lessons Learned in Nonlinear Systems, Flexible Structures, and Robotics Through Experiments on a 6-Legged Platform," American Control Conference, Philadelphia, PA, June 1998.
O'Brien, J.F., Goullioud, R., and Neat, G.W., "Micro-Precision Interferometer: Evaluation of New Disturbance Isolation Solutions," Spaceborne Interferometry Session of the 1998 SPIE Conference, San Diego, CA, March 1998.
McInroy, J.E., O'Brien, J.F., and Neat, G.W., "Method and Experimental Validation of a Precision, Reconfigurable Pointing Control Strategy," 36^th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, pp 3900-3905, Dec. 1997.
Neat, G.W., Abramovici, A., Melody, J.W., Calvet, R.J., Nerheim, N.M., and O'Brien, J.F., "Control Technology Readiness for Spaceborne Optical Interferometer Missions," The Space Microdynamics and Accurate Control Symposium, Toulouse, France, May 1997.
Neat, G.W. and O'Brien, J.F., "Micro-Precision Inteferometer: Fringe Tracker Control System," 19^th Annual Guidance and Control Conference, Breckenridge, CO, February 1996.
O'Brien, J.F. and Neat, G.W., "Micro-Precision Interferometer: Pointing Control System," Proceedings of the 4^th IEEE Conference on Control Applications, pp. 464-469, Albany, NY, September 1995.
O'Brien, J.F., Neat, G.W., Calvet, R.J., and von Flotow, A., "Six-Axis Vibration Isolation System for Spaceborne Interferometers," Proceedings of the SPIE International Symposium on AeroSense, Conference on Spaceborne Interferometry, vol. 1947, pp. 199-197, Orlando, FL, April 1995.
Neat, G.W., O'Brien, J.F., et al, "Micro-Precision Interferometer: First Stabilized Fringes," Proceedings of the SPIE International Symposium on AeroSense, Conference on Spaceborne Interferometry, vol. 1947, Orlando, FL, April 1995.