In 1983, Joe Davidson established one of the first robotics courses in the country. He couldn’t have predicted that four decades later, he would still be shaping the field by investing in the students who will carry it forward.
Davidson is an emeritus professor in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. He recently created a fellowship for graduate students in mechanical engineering and robotics.
He sees the students he’s investing in at the same crossroads he once faced.
Fixing machines, finding direction
As a teenager in Columbus, Ohio, Davidson had a special knack for understanding how machines worked and fixing them when they didn’t. He and a high school friend repaired clocks and watches, got the school’s broken scoreboard working again and even fixed the cafeteria jukebox, a coin-operated music machine that was common in restaurants and diners in the 1940s.
One particular repair job sparked his lifelong pursuit of understanding kinematics, the study of how the moving parts of a machine work together.
After hearing about all the repairs the two teenagers had been doing, a local drugstore owner invited them to fix a mechanical cash register. It had been registering random prices instead of those entered by a clerk. They took the register apart in his friend’s basement, figured out how it worked and discovered the exact issue causing it to malfunction.
“Those old machines worked with spring-driven geared wheels, one for $10, one for $1, one for 10 cents and another for one cent,” Davidson says. “In a cycle of operation, the machine would run them all back to zero, and then, depending on which key a clerk had pushed for each digit, the wheels would spring back until they were stopped by the mechanical piece connected to that key. It turned out a passport-sized photo of the owner’s granddaughter had slipped inside a crack in the outer case and was catching two of the wheels during the spring-back phase.”
Davidson’s fascination with machines eventually led him to study mechanical engineering at The Ohio State University. He attended graduate school there during the early 1960s, when the U.S. was investing heavily in science and engineering education after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit Earth. Davidson says the support he received as a graduate student is what motivates him to give back today.
“I had five fellowships when I was a graduate student at Ohio State,” Davidson says. “I was lucky that there was a big push politically to fund organizations that would produce people who could figure out big engineering problems like launching satellites into space.”
Davidson went on to build a fulfilling career as a researcher and educator, applying kinematics to a series of engineering challenges. He recalls one project in particular.
Math meets manufacturing
During the Obama administration, the federal government launched initiatives to strengthen U.S. manufacturing by encouraging collaboration between universities and industry. Davidson had the opportunity to work on a project aimed at helping manufacturers machine metal castings more efficiently. Such castings can be large, like engine blocks used in heavy machinery and diesel locomotives.
To make castings, manufacturers pour molten metal into molds. Internal openings, such as for cylinders, are left unfilled by placing cores inside the mold. The follow-on machining is done precisely so that all surfaces line up correctly. However, because the cores often shift unpredictably during the casting process, every casting comes out with a slightly different shape.
This makes it necessary, before machining begins, to position each casting uniquely in a machining fixture with six locating adjusters. If not done properly, there can be insufficient material to completely machine one or more of the surfaces to the required geometry.
In collaboration with another professor, Davidson used ideas from robotics to identify the six adjustment settings.
“We created two models: one from measurements on a given casting that showed where all the existing to-be-machined surfaces were, and the other, a tolerance model that showed the required relative locations for all the machined surfaces on a finished part for it to be acceptable,” he says. “If these two models intersected for a given casting, we used robotics to produce optimum fixture adjustment settings for it before cutting started. And, if the models did not intersect for a given casting, the mathematical method could identify surfaces for repair, so the casting could be salvaged and later be machined to an acceptable part.”
Investing in future problem solvers
Throughout his career, Davidson has taken a first-principles approach to engineering — breaking complex problems down into their smallest parts, understanding how they work and then finding a solution. Today, Davidson hopes the fellowship he established will give graduate students studying mechanical engineering and robotics the freedom to pursue ambitious goals and develop the same problem-solving mindset that guided his career.
That kind of investment reflects a broader effort across ASU to expand access to education and support future engineers through initiatives like the Changing Futures campaign.
When asked why he decided to establish the fellowship, Davidson offers a simple answer.
“Because I’m able to now,” he says. “The world is changing fast, and I don’t know what the new applications of kinematics and robotics are going to be as time goes by, but it’d be good for people with interests in kinematics and robotics to have the opportunities I had as a graduate student. Perhaps this new fellowship can help a younger generation just a little.”
The fellowship has already been awarded to a graduate student in robotics and autonomous systems with a focus on systems engineering. Sameerjeet Singh Chhabra says he’s grateful and anticipates the fellowship will have a profound impact on his career and life.
“This fellowship has come at a perfect time in my academic journey,” Chhabra says. “It’ll enable me to fully dedicate myself to my final semester without the burden of financial worry. Without it, I would have had to arrange funds from other sources just to make ends meet, which would have diverted my attention at such a critical moment. Having Dr. Davidson, a pioneer in the very field I am studying, believe in me is as important as the fellowship itself, and I am truly thankful for it.”
Are you interested in unlocking future engineers’ potential through higher education? Join other supporters who are paving the way for a brighter future and learn more about how ASU is Changing Futures.
