Related papers: Robophysical study of jumping dynamics on granular…
From serving a cup of coffee to positioning mechanical parts during assembly, stable object placement is a crucial skill for future robots. It becomes particularly challenging under geometric uncertainties, e.g., when the object pose or…
We study experimentally the motion of an intruder dragged into an amorphous monolayer of horizontally vibrated grains at high packing fractions. This motion exhibits two transitions. The first transition separates a continuous motion regime…
The ability of soft matter such as drops and bubbles to change shape dynamically during interaction can give rise to counter-intuitive behaviour that may be expected of rigid materials. Here we show that dimple formation on approach and the…
Traditional robots have rigid links and structures that limit their ability to interact with the dynamics of their immediate environment. For example, conventional robot manipulators with rigid links can only manipulate objects using…
Models for fluid deformable surfaces provide valid theories to describe the dynamics of thin fluidic sheets of soft materials. To use such models in morphogenesis and development requires to incorporate active forces. We consider active…
Robots can rapidly acquire new skills from demonstrations. However, during generalisation of skills or transitioning across fundamentally different skills, it is unclear whether the robot has the necessary knowledge to perform the task.…
A body immersed in a supersaturated fluid like carbonated water can accumulate a dynamic field of bubbles upon its surface. If the body is mobile, the attached bubbles can lift it upward against gravity, but a fluid-air interface can clean…
We present a multiscale simulation algorithm for amorphous materials, which we illustrate and validate in a canonical case of dense granular flow. Our algorithm is based on the recently proposed Spot Model, where particles in a dense random…
Experiments on the low-speed impact of solid objects into granular media have been used both to mimic geophysical events and to probe the unusual nature of the granular state of matter. Observations have been interpreted in terms of…
When a granular material is impacted by a sphere, its surface deforms like a liquid yet it preserves a circular crater like a solid. Although the mechanism of granular impact cratering by solid spheres is well explored, our knowledge on…
We simulate the granulation process of solid spherical particles in the presence of a viscous liquid in a horizontal rotating drum by using molecular dynamics simulations in three dimensions. The numerical approach accounts for the cohesive…
Non-cohesive granular media exhibit complex responses to sudden impact that often differ from those of ordinary solids and liquids. We investigate how this response is mediated by the presence of interstitial gas between the grains. Using…
An asymmetric two-link robot supported atop a flat platform by wheels that roll and pivot freely, but do not slip laterally, will develop forward momentum if the joint between the links is actuated internally. In particular, oscillations in…
Design of robots at the small scale is a trial-and-error based process, which is costly and time-consuming. There are no good dynamic simulation tools to predict the motion or performance of a microrobot as it moves against a substrate. At…
Cohesive granular materials are found in many natural and industrial environments, but experimental platforms for exploring the innate mechanical properties of these materials are often limited by the difficulty of adjusting cohesion…
Continuum soft robots are mechanical systems entirely made of continuously deformable elements. This design solution aims to bring robots closer to invertebrate animals and soft appendices of vertebrate animals (e.g., an elephant's trunk, a…
Impact dynamics is measured for spherical and cylindrical projectiles of many different densities dropped onto a variety non-cohesive granular media. The results are analyzed in terms of the material-dependent scaling of the inertial and…
The dynamic of contact formation between soft materials immersed in a fluid is accompanied by fluid drainage and elastic deformation. As a result, controlling the coupling between lubrication pressure and elasticity provides strategies to…
We have studied the splashing dynamics of water drops impacting granular layers. Depending on the drop kinetic energy, various shapes are observed for the resulting craters. Experimental parameters that have been considered are : the size…
Inspired by the observation of intricate and beautifully dynamic patterns generated by food coloring on clean glass slides, we have investigated the behavior of propylene glycol and water droplets on high energy surfaces. In this fluid…