Related papers: Soap-bubble Optimization of Gaits
Many robotic systems locomote using gaits - periodic changes of internal shape, whose mechanical interaction with the robot's environment generate characteristic net displacements. Prominent examples with two shape variables are the low…
Robotic adaptation to unanticipated operating conditions is crucial to achieving persistence and robustness in complex real world settings. For a wide range of cutting-edge robotic systems, such as micro- and nano-scale robots, soft robots,…
Inertia-dominated mechanical systems can achieve net displacement by 1) periodically changing their shape (known as kinematic gait) and 2) adjusting their inertia distribution to utilize the existing nonzero net momentum (known as momentum…
Elongate animals and robots use undulatory body waves to locomote through diverse environments. Geometric mechanics provides a framework to model and optimize such systems in highly damped environments, connecting a prescribed shape change…
Isolated mechanical systems -- e.g., those floating in space, in free-fall, or on a frictionless surface -- are able to achieve net rotation by cyclically changing their shape, even if they have no net angular momentum. Similarly, swimmers…
Robotic locomotion often relies on sequenced gaits to efficiently convert control input into desired motion. Despite extensive studies on gait optimization, achieving smooth and efficient gait transitions remains challenging. In this paper,…
A key problem in robotic locomotion is in finding optimal shape changes to effectively displace systems through the world. Variational techniques for gait optimization require estimates of body displacement per gait cycle; however, these…
Many forms of locomotion, both natural and artificial, are dominated by viscous friction in the sense that without power expenditure they quickly come to a standstill. From geometric mechanics, it is known that for swimming at the…
This paper presents a gait optimization and motion planning framework for a class of locomoting systems with mixed kinematic and dynamic properties. Using Lagrangian reduction and differential geometry, we derive a general dynamic model…
Recent advancements in soft actuators have enabled soft continuum swimming robots to achieve higher efficiency and more closely mimic the behaviors of real marine animals. However, optimizing the design and control of these soft continuum…
Bubbles have always captivated our curiosity with their aesthetics and complexities alike. While the act of blowing bubbles is familiar to everyone, the underlying physics of these fleeting spheres often eludes reasoning. In this letter, we…
The robotic locomotion community is interested in optimal gaits for control. Based on the optimization criterion, however, there could be a number of possible optimal gaits. For example, the optimal gait for maximizing displacement with…
Motion planning for locomotion systems typically requires translating high-level rigid-body tasks into low-level joint trajectories-a process that is straightforward for car-like robots with fixed, unbounded actuation inputs but more…
Topology optimization methods have widely been used in various industries, owing to their potential for providing promising design candidates for mechanical devices. However, their applications are usually limited to the objects which do…
The biomechanics of the human body gives subjects a high degree of freedom in how they can execute movement. Nevertheless, subjects exhibit regularity in their movement patterns. One way to account for this regularity is to suppose that…
Geometric motion planning offers effective and interpretable gait analysis and optimization tools for locomoting systems. However, due to the curse of dimensionality in coordinate optimization, a key component of geometric motion planning,…
The levels of agility and flight or swimming performance demonstrated by insects, birds, fish, and even some aquatic invertebrates, are often vastly superior to what even the most advanced human-engineered vehicles operating in the same…
It is often overlooked by roboticists when designing locomotion controllers for their legged machines, that energy consumption plays an important role in selecting the best gaits for locomotion at high speeds or over long distances. The…
We present new quantitative estimates for the radially symmetric configuration concerning Serrin's overdetermined problem for the torsional rigidity, Alexandrov's Soap Bubble Theorem, and other related problems. The new estimates improve on…
Human movements are physical processes combining the classical mechanics of the human body moving in space and the biomechanics of the muscles generating the forces acting on the body under sophisticated sensory-motor control. One way to…