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Model predictive control is a powerful tool to generate complex motions for robots. However, it often requires solving non-convex problems online to produce rich behaviors, which is computationally expensive and not always practical in real…
We present FlexiTac, a low-cost, open-source, and scalable piezoresistive tactile sensing solution designed for robotic end-effectors. FlexiTac is a practical "plug-in" module consisting of (i) thin, flexible tactile sensor pads that…
Capacitive technology allows building sensors that are small, compact and have high sensitivity. For this reason it has been widely adopted in robotics. In a previous work we presented a compliant skin system based on capacitive technology…
Photovoltaic (PV) panels are becoming increasingly widespread in the domain of renewable energy, and thus, small efficiency gains can have massive effects. Anti-reflective and self-cleaning coatings enhance panel performance but degrade…
We present and implement a design for an automated system that fabricates multilayer photonic crystal structures. The device is constructed with low-cost materials. A polystyrene/cellulose acetate multilayer Bragg reflector was fabricated…
Soft robotics is an emerging field that yields promising results for tasks that require safe and robust interactions with the environment or with humans, such as grasping, manipulation, and human-robot interaction. Soft robots rely on…
The automation of composite sheet layup is essential to meet the increasing demand for composite materials in various industries. However, draping plans for the robotic layup of composite sheets are not robust. A plan that works well under…
This paper addresses the challenges of vision-based manipulation for autonomous cutting and unpacking of transparent plastic bags in industrial setups, aligning with the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Industry 4.0, driven by data, connectivity,…
Industrial robots become increasingly prevalent, resulting in a growing need for intuitive, comforting human-robot collaboration. We present a user-aware robotic system that adapts to operator behavior in real time while non-intrusively…
The paper describes an open source computer vision-based hardware structure and software algorithm, which analyzes layer-wise the 3-D printing processes, tracks printing errors, and generates appropriate printer actions to improve…
Collaborative robotic industrial cells are workspaces where robots collaborate with human operators. In this context, safety is paramount, and for that a complete perception of the space where the collaborative robot is inserted is…
Magnetic microrobots can be navigated by an external magnetic field to autonomously move within living organisms with complex and unstructured environments. Potential applications include drug delivery, diagnostics, and therapeutic…
Robotic dressing assistance has the potential to improve the quality of life for individuals with limited mobility. Existing solutions predominantly rely on rigid robotic manipulators, which have challenges in handling deformable garments…
Developing soft robots that can control their own life-cycle and degrade on-demand while maintaining hyper-elasticity is a significant research challenge. On-demand degradable soft robots, which conserve their original functionality during…
The automatic shape control of deformable objects is a challenging (and currently hot) manipulation problem due to their high-dimensional geometric features and complex physical properties. In this study, a new methodology to manipulate…
The increasing demand for accelerated scientific discovery, driven by global challenges, highlights the need for advanced AI-driven robotics. Deploying robotic chemists in human-centric labs is key for the next horizon of autonomous…
As mobile robot capabilities improve and deployment times increase, tools to analyze the growing volume of data are becoming necessary. Current state-of-the-art logging, playback, and exploration systems are insufficient for practitioners…
Mimicking the perceptual functions of human cutaneous mechanoreceptors, artificial skins or flexible pressure sensors can transduce tactile stimuli to quantitative electrical signals. Conventional methods to design such devices follow a…
When conducting autonomous scanning for the online reconstruction of unknown indoor environments, robots have to be competent at exploring scene structure and reconstructing objects with high quality. Our key observation is that different…
Robot perception under low light or high dynamic range is usually improved downstream - via more robust feature extraction, image enhancement, or closed-loop exposure control. However, all of these approaches are limited by the image…