Bradley E. Kratochvil
brad@kratochvil.name
http://brad.kratochvil.name
Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems
Tannenstrasse 3
CH-8092 Zürich
Switzerland
Education
- Secondary focus: Electrical engineering
Professional Experience
- Project lead on the MegaScout & COTS Scout platforms
- Key Skills: C++, MFC, Windows CE, PCB design, RF communication
- Assist with course planning regarding assignments and projects
- Key Skills: Handyboard, Interactive C , sensor troubleshooting
- Assist with course planning for the robotics senior design class
- Key Skills: Course development, Handyboard, Interactive C
- Promote and teach Microsoft technologies at the U of Nebraska
- Key Skills: Various Microsoft Technologies, lecture planning
- Design and implementation of GUI based lab configuration utility
- Key Skills: Visual Basic, SQL
- Support and manufacture of numerous electronic platforms for ellipsometry
- Key Skills: System troubleshooting & manufacture, manual writing
- Designed a multimedia program to help teach C++
- Key Skills: C++
Patents
- Application 09013746.4 - 2310: Magnetic manipulation and navigation system for a magnetic element
- WO 2009/003303: Wireless Resonant Magnetic Actuation for Untethered Microrobots (pdf)
Awards
Academic Publications
International Journals
D. R. Frutiger, B. E. Kratochvil, K. Vollmers, B. J. Nelson, "Small, fast, and under control: wireless resonant magnetic micro-agents", International Journal of Robotics Research, to appear 2009.
L. Zhang, J. J. Abbott, L. X. Dong, K. E. Peyer, B. E. Kratochvil, H. X. Zhang, C. Bergeles, B. J. Nelson, "Characterizing the Swimming Properties of Artificial Bacterial Flagella", Nano Letters, Vol. 9, No. 10, October 2009, pp. 3663-3667 (doi: 10.1021/nl901869j).
L. X. Dong, L. Zhang, B. E. Kratochvil, K. Shou, B. J. Nelson, "Dual-chirality Helical Nanobelts: Linear-to-rotary Motion Converters for Three-dimensional Microscopy", IEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems (JMEMS), Vol. 18, No. 5, October 2009, pp. 1047-1053.
B. E. Kratochvil, L. X. Dong, L. Zhang, B. J. Nelson, "Image-based 3D Reconstruction Using Helical Nanobelts for Localized Rotations", Journal of Microscopy, October 2009.
A. Subramanian, A. R. Alt, L. X. Dong, B. E. Kratochvil, C. R. Bolognesi, B. J. Nelson, "Electrostatic Actuation and Electromechanical Switching Behavior of One-Dimensional Nanostructures", ACS Nano, September 2009.
B. E. Kratochvil, L. X. Dong, B. J. Nelson, "Real-time Rigid-Body Visual Tracking in a Scanning Electron Microscope", International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 28, No. 4, March 2009, 498-511.
L. Zhang, J. J. Abbott, L. X. Dong, B. E. Kratochvil, D. J. Bell, B. J. Nelson, "Artificial Bacterial Flagella: Fabrication and Magnetic Control", Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 94, No. 6, February 2009.
K. Vollmers, D. R. Frutiger, B. E. Kratochvil, B. J. Nelson, "Wireless resonant magnetic microactuator for untethered mobile microrobots", Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 92, No. 14, 2008.
International Conferences
L. Zhang, J. J. Abbott, L. X. Dong, B. E. Kratochvil, H. X. Zhang, K. E. Peyer, B. J. Nelson, "Micromanipulation Using Artificial Bacterial Flagella", Proc. of IEEE/RSJ 2009 International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2009), St. Louis, MO, USA, October 2009.
L. Zhang, Y. Lu, L. X. Dong, R. Pei, J. Lou, B. E. Kratochvil, B. J. Nelson, "Noncontact Manipulation of Ni Nanowires Using a Rotating Magnetic Field", Proc. in the 9th IEEE Conf. on Nanotechnology (NANO2009), Genoa, Italy, July 2009.
B. E. Kratochvil, D. R. Frutiger, K. Vollmers, B. J. Nelson, "Visual Servoing and Characterization of Resonant Magnetic Actuators for Decoupled Locomotion of Multiple Untethered Mobile Microrobots", Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Kobe, Japan, May 2009.
D. R. Frutiger, B. E. Kratochvil, K. Vollmers, B. J. Nelson, "Magmites Wireless Resonant Magnetic Microrobots", Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Pasadena, CA, USA, Best video nomination finalist, May 2008.
B. E. Kratochvil, L. X. Dong, L. Zhang, J. J. Abbott, B. J. Nelson, "Nanohelices as Motion Converters", Proc. of 2008 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2008), Nice, France, September 2008.
D. R. Frutiger, B. E. Kratochvil, K. Vollmers, B. J. Nelson, "Small, fast, and under control: wireless resonant magnetic micro-agents", Proc. of the 11th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics 2008 (ISER), Athens, Greece, IFRR Student Fellowship Award, July 2008.
L. X. Dong, L. Zhang, B. E. Kratochvil, K. Shou, B. J. Nelson, "Dual-Chirality Helical Nanobelts: A Novel Linear-to-Rotary Motion Converter", Proc. of the 21st IEEE Int. Conf. on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS2008), Tucson, Arizona, USA, January 2008.
B. E. Kratochvil, L. X. Dong, L. Zhang, B. J. Nelson, "Automatic Nanorobotic Characterization of Anomolously Rolled-up SiGe/Si Helical Nanobelts through Vision-based Force Measurement", Proc. of the 3rd IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (IEEE CASE 2007), Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, September 2007.
B. E. Kratochvil, L. X. Dong, B. J. Nelson, "Real-time Rigid-body Visual Tracking in a Scanning Electron Microscope", Proc. of the 7th IEEE Conf. on Nanotechnology (IEEE-NANO2007), Hong Kong, China, August 2007.
M. Probst, K. Vollmers, B. E. Kratochvil, B. J. Nelson, "Design of an Advanced Microassembly System for the Automated Assembly of Bio-Microrobots", Proc. 5th International Workshop on Microfactories, October 2006.
B. E. Kratochvil, K. B. Yesin, V. Hess, B. J. Nelson, "Design of a Visually Guided 6 DOF Micromanipulator System for 3D Assembly of Hybrid MEMS", Proc. 4th Int. Workshop on Microfactories, October 2004.
B. E. Kratochvil, I. Burt, A. Drenner, D. Goerke, B. Jackson, C. McMillen, C. Olson, N. Papanikolopoulos, A. Pfeifer, S. A. Stoeter, K. Stubbs, D. Waletzko, "Heterogeneous Implementation of an Adaptive Robotic Sensing Team", Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, April 2003.
B. E. Kratochvil, I. Burt, T. Dahlin, A. Drenner, M. Gini, D. F. Hougen, C. McMillen, B. J. Nelson, N. Papanikolopoulos, P. E. Rybski, S. A. Stoeter, K. Stubbs, D. Waletzko, K. B. Yesin, "A New Generation of Scout Robots with Multiple Mobility Modes", Video proceedings of the IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Washington D.C., May 2002.
A. Drenner, I. Burt, B. E. Kratochvil, B. J. Nelson, N. Papanikolopoulos, K. B. Yesin, "Communication and Mobility Enhancements to the Scout Robot", Proc. of the IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, October 2002.
B. E. Kratochvil, I. Burt, T. Dahlin, A. Drenner, M. Gini, D. F. Hougen, C. McMillen, B. J. Nelson, N. Papanikolopoulos, P. E. Rybski, S. A. Stoeter, K. Stubbs, D. Waletzko, K. B. Yesin, "A New Generation of Scout Robots with Enhanced Sensing and Mobility", Video proceedings of the SPIE International Symposium on Aerospace/Defense Sensing, Simulation and Controls, Orlando, Florida, April 2002.
A. Drenner, I. Burt, T. Dahlin, B. E. Kratochvil, C. McMillen, B. J. Nelson, N. Papanikolopoulos, P. E. Rybski, D. Waletzko, K. B. Yesin, "Mobility Enhancements of the Scout Robot Platform", Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Washington D.C., May 2002.
Activities
- Student representative to the group that proposed and evaluated departmental course changes.
- Served in various offices:
- Vice Chairman, 2000 - 2001
- Chairman, 1998 - 2000
- Public Relations Chair, 1997 - 1998
- Organized student events such as meetings with Microsoft, IBM, and other companies
- Organized departmental events such as Student/Faculty Picnic, IBM tailgate party, CS Day
- Served in various offices:
- Recruitment Chairman, 1998
- Alumni Chair, 1998 - 1999
- Parliamentarian, 1999 - 2000
- Vice President of Pledge class, 1996 - 1997
- Assistant House Manager, 1997
- Acacia Leadership Academy, July 1997
- A weeklong academy aimed at developing leadership skills to students
Hobbies
Traveling, scuba diving, photography, hiking, camping, and building wooden model ships
Languages
English (native), Italian (A2), German(B1)