André Guignard is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

initially educated as a

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their part ...

. He is the creator of the mechanic of the

Khepera Khepri ( Egyptian: ''ḫprj,'' also transliterated Khepera, Kheper, Khepra, Chepri) is a scarab-faced god in ancient Egyptian religion who represents the rising or morning sun. By extension, he can also represent creation and the renewal of life ...

, the S-bot and several other mobile robots. Working at the LAMI of the EPFL with Professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud, he designed and realised in 1977 the first modern

computer mouse A computer mouse (plural mice, sometimes mouses) is a hand-held pointing device that detects two-dimensional space, two-dimensional motion relative to a surface. This motion is typically translated into the motion of a pointer (user interface ...

, that started the successful

Logitech Logitech International S.A. ( ; often shortened to Logi) is a Swiss multinational manufacturer of computer peripherals and software, with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Newark, California. The company has offices throughout Europe ...

diversification. Born in 1942, he was enrolled at the EPFL in 1976 and made many research projects successful due to an exceptional mastering of how to conceive and build micromechanical systems. His interaction with students was always greatly appreciated. He retired in March 2007, but still helps part time with EPFL research projects.

The Swiss Mouse

Prototypes of an improved Engelbart mouse with an optical encoder were built at LAMI-EPFL in 1972, see EPFL mouse story but there was no need for a mouse when graphic screens were not available. The LAMI-EPFL developed several microprocessor driven graphic screens since 1974 and André Guignard designed in 1977 a reliable mechanism for measuring the ball movement with optical encoders. This was the first modern computer mouse using an optical encoder.Dépraz Mouse USB Adapter
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Robots

The Khepera

A student project for a 5 cm diameter robot was redesigned in 1993 by André Guignard,

Francesco Mondada Francesco Mondada (born 17 March 1967) is a Swiss professor in artificial intelligence and robotics. He got a Master's degree in Microengineering at the EPFL in 1991 and a PhD degree in 1997. He is one of the creators of the Khepera and directed ...

an
Edo. Franzi
After the first prototypes, the construction of this powerful small robot named Khepera from the scarab-looking Egyptian god Khepra was subcontracted t
Forelec
unti
K-Team SA
foundation in 1996. The Khepera was sold to a thousand of research labs and hold the cover of

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

in its issue o
August 31st, 2000
linked with the article of Michael J. B. Krieger, Jean-Bernard Billeter and Laurent Keller.

The Robota Doll

Th
Robota
research objective o
Prof Aude Billard
is to engage in complex interaction with humans. In 1999, Prof Aude Billard was in need of a doll with moving legs and head. André Guignard built the mechanics, and added in 200
moving eyes
with a camera inside in the 8 cm diameter head. He helped students to build multi-degrees of liberty arms and necks.

The S-bot (European project)

Th
swarm-bots
project was in need of a number of simpler, insect-like, robots (s-bots), built out of relatively cheap components, capable of self-assembling and self-organising to adapt to their environment. André Guignard interacted with Francesco Mondada and the other partners of the project and built 35 mechanically complex 15 cm in diameter s-bot robots that can grip each other to pass over an obstacle. The s-bot was ranked on position 39 in the list o

(fiction or real) by the

Wired magazine ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fr ...

in 2006.

Flying robot

Jean-Christophe Zuffereybr>PhD thesis
was on bio-inspired autonomous flying. The 2006 smaller plane of th
microflyer project
flies in a 7x7m space. Based on the 5g microCeline o
Didel
the 5 grams payload includes two linear cameras compacted by André Guignard and a tricky propeller gearbox in the middle of the fuselage, so the camera is in front. The propeller on top is a 0.2g anemometer measuring wind speed down to 0.1 m/s.

Snake and salamander robots

Prof. Auke Ijspeert
is concerned about the neural mechanisms of movement control in

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with ...

s. André Guignard developed and built for him all the mechanics of th
AmphiBot
snake robots, as well as those of th
Salamandra robotica
salamander robot. One of the major difficulties building these amphibious robots was indeed their waterproofing.

Robots made by students with the help of André Guignard

Image:Inchy1cc.jpg, Robots for the Nagoya contest Image:PiezoPec1cc.JPG, Another 1 cc robot with piezo motors Image:Mazerobot.jpg, Bidirectional robot for a maze contest Image:Pemex.jpg, Robot searching for antipersonel mines

References

External links

André Guignard at LAP-EPFL
(includes a list of recent publications) {{DEFAULTSORT:Guignard, Andre 1942 births Living people Swiss engineers Swiss roboticists