Related papers: Energy Dissipation by Metamorphic Micro-Robots in …
True microrobots, in contrast with externally controlled microparticles, must harvest or carry their own source of energy, as well as their own (preferably programmable) microcontroller of actuators for locomotion, using information…
Imitation learning offers a pathway for robots to perform repetitive tasks, allowing humans to focus on more engaging and meaningful activities. However, challenges arise from the need for extensive demonstrations and the disparity between…
The electroosmotic flow of non-Newtonian fluids in deformable microchannels is fundamentally important in the understanding of the hydrodynamics in physiological flows. The performance of these microchannels is governed by the load bearing…
Micro- and nano-scale systems driven by rapid changes in control parameters (control protocols) dissipate significant energy. In the fast-protocol limit, we find that protocols that minimize dissipation at fixed duration are universally…
Robotic materials are multi-robot systems formulated to leverage the low-order computation and actuation of the constituents to manipulate the high-order behavior of the entire material. We study the behaviors of ensembles composed of smart…
Natural selection has tuned many flying and swimming animals across different species to share the same narrow design space for optimal high-efficient and energy-saving locomotion, e.g., their dimensionless Strouhal numbers St that relate…
Robotic grasping under uncertainty remains a fundamental challenge due to its uncertain and contact-rich nature. Traditional rigid robotic hands, with limited degrees of freedom and compliance, rely on complex model-based and heavy feedback…
The four-wheeled Mecanum robot is widely used in various industries due to its maneuverability and strong load capacity, which is suitable for performing precise transportation tasks in a narrow environment, but while the Mecanum wheel…
We propose an energy-efficient controller to minimize the energy consumption of a mobile robot by dynamically manipulating the mechanical and computational actuators of the robot. The mobile robot performs real-time vision-based…
The dynamics and structure of nonequilibrium liquids, driven by non-conservative forces which can be either external or internal, generically hold the signature of the net dissipation of energy in the thermostat. Yet, disentangling…
In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a robust motion formation distributed control algorithm for a team of mobile robots. The primary task for the team is to form a geometric shape, which can be freely translated and…
We investigate the dynamics of a magnetoelastic robot with a dipolar magnetic head and a slender elastic body as it performs undulatory strokes and burrows through water-saturated granular beds. The robot is actuated by an oscillating…
We study the energetic efficiency of navigating microswimmers by explicitly taking into account the geometry of their body. We show that, as their shape transitions from prolate to oblate, non-steering microswimmers rotated by flow…
The progressive prevalence of robots in human-suited environments has given rise to a myriad of object manipulation techniques, in which dexterity plays a paramount role. It is well-established that humans exhibit extraordinary dexterity…
We present a systematic, quantitative assessment of the impact of pore size disorder and its interplay with flow rates and wettability on immiscible displacement of a viscous fluid. Pore-scale simulations and micromodel experiments show…
Hypothesis: A broad range of phenomena, such as emulsification and emulsion stability, foam formation or liquid evaporation, are closely related to the dynamics of adsorbing colloidal particles. Elucidation of the mechanisms implied is key…
Many organisms leverage an interplay between shape and activity to generate motion and adapt to their environment. Embedding such feedback into synthetic microrobots could eliminate the need for sensors, software, and actuators, yet current…
We propose a learning-based system for enabling quadrupedal robots to manipulate large, heavy objects using their whole body. Our system is based on a hierarchical control strategy that uses the deep latent variable embedding which captures…
Machine learning is now playing important role in robotic object manipulation. In addition, force control is necessary for manipulating various objects to achieve robustness against perturbations of configurations and stiffness. The…
Tailoring the design of robot bodies for control purposes is implicitly performed by engineers, however, a methodology or set of tools is largely absent and optimization of morphology (shape, material properties of robot bodies, etc.) is…