John Gardner

Bio

John is a professor of mechanical & biomedical engineering at Boise State where his research and teaching focuses on the integration and control of energy systems.

John leads the Energy Efficiency Research Institute at Idaho’s Center for Advanced Energy Studies and is director of the regional Industrial Assessment Center. His career has spanned nearly 3 decades and has been at Boise State since 2000. He has published 2 textbooks and over 60 peer reviewed research papers and 3 patents.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University in 1981
• MS and Ph.D. (all in Mechanical Engineering) from Ohio State in 1983 and 1987, respectively

Research

Energy Storage and Grid Integration Technology for Renewable Energy

The main stumbling block for wind and solar generation technologies is the inherent intermittent nature of the resources. I head up a research team that’s aggressively attacking this issue through a combination of mechanical energy storage, wind power forecasting and demand side management of deferrable loads. Current partners include the Department of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration, Idaho Power and John Deere Renewable Energy.

Kinetic Energy Scavenging Devices

In conjunction with private industry partners, I’m working on the design of electro-mechanical oscillators to convert accelerations from locomotion to electrical power. Applications range from wildlife monitoring devices (where battery life is a significant limiting factor) to portable electronics and various mission-critical devices. The research makes use of a science-driven approach to modeling the fundamentals of energy conversion to ensure an optimized design.

Dolphin Propulsion

Many researchers have attempted to analyze, model and replicate the manner in which marine animals produce thrust, and hence, move through the water. I have chosen to focus my efforts on low speed, high-acceleration maneuvers which are required when an animal begins from rest. In conjunction with Professor Terrie Williams at the University of California at Santa Cruz, we have successfully tested our model using data from experiments run on Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins, which reside in Santa Cruz. Currently, this project is continuing under a joint arrangement with TenXsys, Inc. of Boise, Idaho.

Dynamic Modeling Research

Over the years, I have been involved in a large number of projects in which I have used my modeling techniques to develop computer simulations of complex systems. Most of these projects were funded by private industry or industry groups. These projects include railroad freight car dynamics, hydraulic cushioning devices used in freight cars, electrohydraulic servoactuator systems in high-tech manufacturing equipment and inertial navigation systems for mass transit.

Publications

Books:

• Shearer, L.J., Kulakowski, B.T., and J.F. Gardner, Dynamic Modeling and Control of Engineering Systems, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 1997.
• Gardner, J.F. Simulation of Machines Using Matlab and Simulink, Brooks Cole Publishing. 2001.

Book Chapters:

• R. Gaumond, J Gardner, A Snyder, W. Weiss, C. Kelley, D Trumble, “Artificial Hearts and Other Organs.” Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Vol. 1, John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 656-666, 1999.

Refereed Journal Articles:

• Edinger, B., M. Frecker and J. Gardner. “Dynamic Modeling of an Innovative PiezoElectric Actuator for Minimally Invasive Surgery.” Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures. in press.
• Ebert-Uphoff, I., J.F. Gardner, W.R. Murray and R. Perez. “Preparing for the Next Century: The State of the Mechatronics Education.” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics. 5:2, June 2000, pp 226-227.
• Gardner, J.F. and S.A. Velinsky. “Kinematics of Mobile Manipulators and Implications for Design,” Journal of Robotic Systems, 17(6), June, 2000, pp 309-320.
• Gore, S.A., B.T. Kulakowski and J.F. Gardner. “Computer Modeling and Analysis of Performance of Road Simulators” Journal of Heavy Vehicle Dynamics, in press.
• Luecke, G.R. and J.F. Gardner. “Experimental Results for the Force Distribution in Cooperating Manipulator Systems Using Local Joint Control.” International Journal of Robotics Research, 13(6):471-480 (December 1994).
• Gardner, J.F., A. Brandt and G.R. Luecke. “Applications of Neural Networks for Coordinate Transformations in Robotics.” Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems: Theory and Applications, 8:361-373 (1993).
• Gardner, J.F., M. Ignatoski, U. Tasch, D.B. Geselowitz and A. Snyder. “An Empirically Based Aortic Pressure Observer for Use with Electro-Mechanical Circulatory Assist Devices.” ASME Journal of Biomedical Engineering, 115:187-194 (May 1993).
• Luecke, G.R. and J.F. Gardner. “Local Joint Control in Cooperating Manipulator Systems: Force Distribution and Global Stability.” Robotica, 11:111-118 (1993).
• Gardner, J.F. “Efficient Computation of Force Distributions for Walking Machines on Rough Terrain.” Robotica, 10:427-433 (1992).
• Gardner, J.F. “Force Distribution in Walking Machines Over Rough Terrain.” ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurements and Control, 113(4):754-758, (1991).
• Lau, S.W., J.F. Gardner, and D.B. Geselowitz. “Sensorless Position Control of a Brushless Motor in Circulatory Assist Devices.” Mechatronics, 1(3):277-292 (1991).
• Gardner, J.F., K. Srinivasan and K.J. Waldron. “Closed Loop Trajectory Control of Walking Machines with Actuator Dynamics.” Robotica 8:13-22 (1990)
• Kumar, V. and J.F. Gardner. “Kinematics of Redundantly Actuated Closed Chains.” IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 6(2):269-274 (1990)
• Gardner, J.F., K. Srinivasan and K.J. Waldron. “A New Method For Controlling Forces in Redundantly Actuated Closed Kinematic Chains.” Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control 112(3):423-426 (1990).

Refereed Conference Proceedings:

• Gardner, J.F. and M. Frecker. Modeling and Control of Miniature Inchworm Actuators. Proceedings of the 7th Mechatronics Forum International Conference: Mechatronics 2000, Atlanta, GA, September, 2000.
• Gardner, J.F. Two Projects in Mechatronics: Success and Failure. Proceedings of the 7th Mechatronics Forum International Conference: Mechatronics 2000, Atlanta, GA, September, 2000.
• Brauer, M.A., J.F. Gardner and B.T. Kulakowski. Control Algorithms for a Road Simulator in Durability Testing of Transit Buses. AVEC 2000: 5th International Conference on Advanced Vehicle Control. Ann Arbor, MI, August, 2000.
• Edinger, B., M. Frecker and J.F. Gardner. Dynamic Modeling of an Innovative Piezoelectric Actuator for Minimally Invasive Surgery. Proceedings of the 1999 IMECHE, Nashville, TN, Nov. 1999.
• Gardner, J.F., Lamancusa, J.S and Sommer, H.J. “Mechatronics II: Advanced Mechatronics for Mechanical Engineering Students” In Proceedings of Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics 1999, Atlanta, GA, Sept, 1999.
• Lamancusa, J. and J.F. Gardner. Product Dissection in Academia: Teaching Engineering the Way We Learned It. Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Education, Ostrova, Czech Republic, July, 1999.
• Rawhouser, M.A., J.F. Gardner, W.J. Weiss, A.J. Snyder, G. Rosenberg and S. Deutsch. “A Model to Study Volumetric Efficiency of Pusher-Plate Type Blood Pumps.” Poster presented at the 45th Annual Conference of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, San Diego, CA, June, 1999.
• Rawhouser, M.J. and Gardner, J.F. “A General Model to Study the Dynamics of Prosthetic Heart Valves.” Poster presented at the 44th Annual Conference of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, New York, NY, April, 1998.
• Brandt, A. and J.F. Gardner, “Constrained Navigation Algorithms for Strapdown Inertial Navigation Systems with a Reduced Set of Sensors”, Proceedings of the 1998 American Control Conference (invited session), Philadelphia, PA, June, 1998, pp.1848-1852.
• Gardner, J.F. and J. P. Cusumano, “Dynamic Models of Friction Wedge Dampers” Proceedings of the 1997 ASME/IEEE Joint Railroad Conference, Boston, MA pp 65-69 (March 1997).
• Gore, S.A., B.T. Kulakowski and J.F. Gardner. Computer Modeling and Analysis of Performance of a Road Simulator.” Proceedings of the Engineering Foundation Vehicle-Infrastructure Interaction IV Conference, San Diego, CA (June, 1997).
• Gardner, J.F., T.A. Waneiwski and D.B. Geselowitz. A Newton-Euler Model of Prosthetic Heart Valve Dynamics. Proceedings of the ASME International Congress and Exhibition,Advances in Bioengineering, San Francisco, CA, (November 1995.) pp 365-366.
• Gardner, J.F., B.T. Kulakowski, S.A. Gore and D.A. Streit. Modeling and Tuning of Heavy Vehicle Road Simulators. Proceedings of the ASME International Congress and Exibition, Fluid Power Systems and Technology, San Francisco, CA, (November 1995) pp 99-105.
• Gardner, J.F. and K.A. Hrnciar. Trajectory Control Using Neural Networks to Improve Desired Trajectory Input. Proceedings of the IASTED Conference on Robotics and Manufacturing, Cancun, Mexico, pp. 163-166, (June 1995).
• Ciervo, J.P., J.F. Gardner, R.P. Gaumond and D.B. Geselowitz. Characterization of Pressure Oscillations in the Penn State EVAD and Mock Circulatory System. Proceedings of the 1994 20th Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Springfield, MA pp. 20-22 (March 17-18, 1994).
• Luecke, G.R. and J.F. Gardner. Neural Networks for Local Joint Control in Cooperating Robotic Systems. ANNIE ‘92 Conference, St. Louis, MO, (October, 1992).
• Luecke, G.R. and J.F. Gardner. Experimental Results in Neural Network Control of Cooperating Manipulator Systems. Proceedings of the Japan-USA Joint Symposium on Flexible Automation, San Francisco, CA (July, 1992).
• Johnson, L., V. Kumar and J.F. Gardner. Optimization of Contact Forces in Multifingered and Multilegged Robots. Proceedings of the 2nd National Applied Mechanisms Conference, Cincinnati, OH, VIIC.2-1:8 (November, 1991).
• Rawhouser, M.A., J.F. Gardner and D.B. Geselowitz. Energy Losses in the Penn State Electric Ventricular Assist Device. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Orlando, FL Vol 13, No 5: 2090:2091 (November 1991).
• Gardner, J.F., A. Brandt and G.R. Luecke. Applications of Neural Networks for Trajectory Control of Robots. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Advanced Robotics, (sponsored by IEEE) Pisa, Italy, pp. 488-492 (1991)
• Gardner, J.F. Characteristics and Approximations of Optimal Force Distributions in Walking Machines on Rough Terrain. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Advanced Robotics, (sponsored by IEEE) Pisa, Italy, pp. 613-618 (1991).
• Kulakowski, B.T. and J.F. Gardner. Control Education in Mechanical Engineering Curriculum at Penn State. Proceedings of the IFAC Conference on Advances in Control Education, Boston, MA, pp. 20-22 (1991).
• Gardner, J.F. Force Distribution and Performance in Walking over Rough Terrain. Issues in the Modeling and Control of Biomechanical Systems, Proceedings of ASME Winter Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA pp 41-47 (1989).
• Kumar, V. and J.F. Gardner. Kinematics of Redundantly Actuated Closed Chains. Advanced Robotics: 1989
• Proceedings of The 4 th International Conference on Advanced Robotics, (sponsored by ASME) Columbus, OH, pp. 488-512 (1989).
• Gardner, J.F., V. Kumar and J.H. Ho. Kinematics and Control of Redundantly Actuated Closed Kinematic Chains. Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Scottsdale, AZ , pp 418-424, (1989).
• Gardner, J.F., K. Srinivasan and K.J. Waldron. A New Method For Controlling Forces in Redundantly Actuated Closed Kinematic Chains. Symposium on Robotics: Proceedings of the ASME Winter Annual Meeting, Chicago. IL pp. 315-324 (1988).
• Gardner, J.F. Control of Force Distribution to Improve Performance in Redundantly Actuated Closed Kinematic Chains. Proc. of USA-Japan Symposium on Flexible Automation, (sponsored by ASME) pp. 99-107 (1988).
• Perry, A., J.G. Gardner, and K.J. Waldron. Design and Testing of a High Performance Hydraulic Power System for a Legged Locomotion Application. Proc. of American Control Conference, pp. 730-736 (1985).
• Srinivasan, K., J.F. Gardner, and A. I. Merchant. The Use of Microcomputers in a Mechanical Engineering Controls Course. Proc. of ASME International Conference on Computers in Engineering, pp. 289-295 (1983).

Other:

• Bogue, B., and J.F. Gardner. “Toy-Making Class: A Tool to Attract Women to Mechanical Engineering”, Presented at the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. Charlotte, NC, June, 1999.
• Rawhouser, M., J.F. Gardner, W.J. Weiss, A.J. Snyder, G. Rosenberg and S. Deutsch. A Model to Study Volumetric Efficiency of Pusher-Plate Type Blood Pumps. Poster at the 45th Annual American Society of Artificial Internal Organs Conference. San Diego, CA, June, 1999.
• Gu, M., R. Gaumond, A. Snyder and J.F. Gardner. Aortic Pressure with Asynchronous Ventricular Assist. Proceedings of the 25th IEEE Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference, April, 1999.
• Baker, J.M., J.F. Gardner, R.P. Gaumond, D.B. Geselowitz and A.J. Snyder. Relations Between Geometry and Pump Efficiency in a Positive Displacement Blood Pump with Cylindrical Blood Chambers and Brushless DC Motor” Proceedings of the 24th IEEE Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference, April, 1998, Hershey, PA
• pp112-114.
• Rawhouser, M.A., J.F. Gardner, W.J. Weiss, A.J. Snyder, J.. Reibson and G. Rosenberg. “A General Model to Study the Dynamics of Prosthetic Heart Valves”, Proceedings of the 24th IEEE Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference, April, 1998, Hershey, PA
• pp115-119.
• Gardner, J.F. and J.L. Metevier, “Dynamic Modeling of Tilting Disc Heart Valves” in 1996 Biomedical Engineering Society Meeting, University Park, PA (October, 1996). Abstract also published in Annals of Bioengineering, 24:S1, p S-3.
• Kelly, C.N., R.P. Gaumond, J.F. Gardner, A.J. Snyder and D.B. Geselowitz. Noninvasive Control of the Penn State Total Artificial Heart: A Computer Simulation. Proceedings of the 1995 Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Bar Harbor, ME, (July 1995).
• Surve, S.N., G. Wu and J.F. Gardner. Modeling of the Pacinian Corpuscle Feedback Loop and Its Influence on Postural Stability. Proceedings of the 1995 Northeast Bioengineering Conference, Bar Harbor, ME, (July 1995).
• Weiss, W.J., G. Rosenberg, A. Snyder, R. Nazarian, S. Ford, J. Marlotte, W.S. Pierce, W. Pae, D.B. Geselowitz, J. Tabell, R. Gaumond, J. Gardner., Progress in the Development of the Penn State Implantable Total Artificial Heart System. Proceedings of the Cardiovascular Science and Technology Conference, Bethesda, MD, (December, 1991).
• Gardner, J.F. and J. S. Lamancusa. Microcomputer Interfacing for Mechanical Engineers: A Success Story. Proceedings of ASME 1989 Mechanical Engineering Department Heads Conference, (March, 1989).
• Goulart, B.L. and J.F. Gardner. Design and Implementation of a Microprocessor-Driven Overhead Trickle Irrigation System for Evaporative Cooling and Chemical Injection. Proceedings of the 62nd Cumberland Shenandoah Fruit Workers Group, 6 pages (1987).
• Gardner, J.F., J.A. Dworak, K. Srinivasan, and K.J. Waldron. Design and Testing of a Digitally Controlled Hydraulic Actuation System for a Walking Vehicle Leg Mechanism. Proc. of 8th Applied Mechanisms Conference, pp. 2-1:2-7 (1983). Paper awarded “Best Paper in Robotics” award at conference.