Related papers: A Reconfigurable USAR Robot Designed for Traversin…
The tractor-trailer robot consists of a drivable tractor and one or more non-drivable trailers connected via hitches. Compared to typical car-like robots, the addition of trailers provides greater transportation capability. However, this…
We propose a vision-based architecture search algorithm for robot manipulation learning, which discovers interactions between low dimension action inputs and high dimensional visual inputs. Our approach automatically designs architectures…
Modular robotics research has long been preoccupied with perfecting the modules themselves -- their actuation methods, connectors, controls, communication, and fabrication. This inward focus results, in part, from the complexity of the task…
In this paper, we introduce the humanoid robot DRACO 3 by providing a high-level description of its design and control. This robot features proximal actuation and mechanical artifacts to provide a high range of hip, knee and ankle motion.…
Collapsing terrains, often present in search and rescue missions or planetary exploration, pose significant challenges for quadruped robots. This paper introduces a robust locomotion framework for safe navigation over unstable surfaces by…
Person-tracking robots have many applications, such as in security, elderly care, and socializing robots. Such a task is particularly challenging when the person is moving in a Uniform crowd. Also, despite significant progress of trackers…
We discuss online strategies for visibility-based searching for an object hidden behind a corner, using Kurt3D, a real autonomous mobile robot. This task is closely related to a number of well-studied problems. Our robot uses a…
In urban search and rescue (USAR) operations, communication between handlers and specially trained canines is crucial but often complicated by challenging environments and the specific behaviors canines are trained to exhibit when detecting…
For robots to become more versatile and expand their areas of application, their bodies need to be suitable for contact with the environment. When the human body comes into contact with the environment, it is possible for it to continue to…
Multi-robot systems are increasingly being used for critical applications such as rescuing injured people, delivering food and medicines, and monitoring key areas. These applications usually involve navigating at high speeds through…
Urban searches demand rapid, defensible decisions and sustained physical effort under high cognitive and situational load. Incident commanders must plan, coordinate, and document time-critical operations, while field searchers execute…
Robots are increasingly deployed in dynamic and crowded environments, such as urban areas and shopping malls, where efficient and robust navigation is crucial. Traditional risk-based motion planning algorithms face challenges in such…
In this paper, a novel deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based method is proposed to navigate the robot team through unknown complex environments, where the geometric centroid of the robot team aims to reach the goal position while avoiding…
Miniature locomotion robots with the ability to navigate confined environments show great promise for a wide range of tasks, including search and rescue operations. Soft miniature locomotion robots, as a burgeoning field, have attracted…
Recent developments of low cost off-the-shelf programmable components, their modularity, and also rapid prototyping made educational robotics flourish, as it is accessible in most schools today. They allow to illustrate and embody…
Autonomous terrain traversal of articulated tracked robots can reduce operator cognitive load to enhance task efficiency and facilitate extensive deployment. We present a novel hybrid trajectory optimization method aimed at generating…
We revisit the linear search problem where a robot, initially placed at the origin on an infinite line, tries to locate a stationary target placed at an unknown position on the line. Unlike previous studies, in which the robot travels along…
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder find robots easier to communicate with than humans. Thus, robots have been introduced in autism therapies. However, due to the environmental complexity, the used robots often have to be controlled…
Trajectory optimization with contact-rich behaviors has recently gained attention for generating diverse locomotion behaviors without pre-specified ground contact sequences. However, these approaches rely on precise models of robot dynamics…
We present an efficient, elastic 3D LiDAR reconstruction framework which can reconstruct up to maximum LiDAR ranges (60 m) at multiple frames per second, thus enabling robot exploration in large-scale environments. Our approach only…