Related papers: Self-propulsion of V-shape micro-robot
In hybrid force-velocity control, the robot can use velocity control in some directions to follow a trajectory, while performing force control in other directions to maintain contacts with the environment regardless of positional errors. We…
Design of robots at the small scale is a trial-and-error based process, which is costly and time-consuming. There are few dynamic simulation tools available to accurately predict the motion or performance of untethered microrobots as they…
As technological advances allow us to fabricate smaller autonomous self-propelled devices, it is clear that at some point directed propulsion could not come from pre-specified deterministic periodic deformation of the swimmer's body and we…
This paper introduces a new type of soft continuum robot, called SCoReS, which is capable of self-controlling continuously its curvature at the segment level; in contrast to previous designs which either require external forces or machine…
Autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) have the potential to be employed for surveillance and monitoring tasks. By perching and staring on one or multiple locations aerial robots can save energy while concurrently increasing their overall…
This paper deals with the in-depth kinematic analysis of a special spherical parallel wrist, called the Agile Eye. The Agile Eye is a three-legged spherical parallel robot with revolute joints in which all pairs of adjacent joint axes are…
Advanced robotic manipulation of deformable, volumetric objects remains one of the greatest challenges due to their pliancy, frailness, variability, and uncertainties during interaction. Motivated by these challenges, this article…
Monocular cameras coupled with inertial measurements generally give high performance visual inertial odometry. However, drift can be significant with long trajectories, especially when the environment is visually challenging. In this paper,…
Perching with winged Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has often been solved by means of complex control or intricate appendages. Here, we present a simple yet novel method that relies on passive wing morphing for crash-landing on trees and other…
Many model-based Visual Odometry (VO) algorithms have been proposed in the past decade, often restricted to the type of camera optics, or the underlying motion manifold observed. We envision robots to be able to learn and perform these…
This paper presents the kinematic analysis of the 3-PPPS parallel robot with an equi-lateral mobile platform and an equilateral-shaped base. Like the other 3-PPPS robots studied in the literature, it is proved that the parallel…
Vine robots extend their tubular bodies by everting material from the tip, enabling navigation in complex environments with a minimalist soft body. Despite their promise for field applications, especially in the urban search and rescue…
Microorganisms and synthetic microswimmers often encounter complex environments consisting of networks of obstacles embedded into viscous fluids. Such settings include biological media, such as mucus with filamentous networks, as well as…
Humans learn to imitate by observing others. However, robot imitation learning generally requires expert demonstrations in the first-person view (FPV). Collecting such FPV videos for every robot could be very expensive. Third-person…
A system of particles with motility variable in terms of a vision-type of perception is here investigated by a combination of Langevin dynamics simulations in two-dimensional systems and an analytical approach based on conservation law…
This paper presents a sampling-based motion planning algorithm for real-time and propellant-optimized autonomous spacecraft trajectory generation in near-circular orbits. Specifically, this paper leverages recent algorithmic advances in the…
In imitation and reinforcement learning, the cost of human supervision limits the amount of data that robots can be trained on. An aspirational goal is to construct self-improving robots: robots that can learn and improve on their own, from…
A mobility mechanism for robots to be used in tight spaces shared with people requires it to have a small footprint, to move omnidirectionally, as well as to be highly maneuverable. However, currently there exist few such mobility…
Inspired by the snap-through action of a steel hairclip, we propose a design method for in-plane prestressed mechanisms that exhibit biomimetic morphing and high locomotion performance. Compliant bistable flapping mechanisms are fabricated…
Internal computational models of physical bodies are fundamental to the ability of robots and animals alike to plan and control their actions. These "self-models" allow robots to consider outcomes of multiple possible future actions,…