Related papers: On ideal dynamic climbing ropes
This paper studies the time-optimal path tracking problem for a team of cooperating robotic manipulators carrying an object. Considering the problem for rigidly grasped objects, we show that it can be cast as a convex optimization problem…
We study a dynamic optimal transport problem on a network. Despite the cost for transport along the edges, an additional cost, scaled with a parameter $\kappa$, has to be paid for interchanging mass between edges and vertices. We show…
Aerial transportation robots using suspended cables have emerged as versatile platforms for disaster response and rescue operations. To maximize the capabilities of these systems, robots need to aggressively fly through tightly constrained…
Cabling tasks (pulling, clipping, and plug insertion) are today mostly manual work, limiting the cost-effectiveness of electrification. Feasibility for the robotic grasping and insertion of plugs, as well as the manipulation of cables, have…
We introduce a Task-Level Iterative Learning Control method for dynamic manipulation of ropes. We demonstrate this method on a non-planar rope manipulation task called the flying knot. Using a single human demonstration and a simplified…
Pull-in (or electro-mechanical) instability occurs when a drastic decrease in the thickness of a dielectric elastomer results in electrical breakdown, which limits the applications of dielectric devices. Here we derive the criteria for…
We present a mathematical model for optimizing breakaway strategies in competitive cycling, balancing power expenditure, aerodynamic drag, and crashing. Our framework incorporates probabilistic crash dynamics, allowing a cyclist's risk…
In this paper we study the optimal reinforcement of an elastic membrane, fixed at its boundary, by means of a network (connected onedimensional structure), that has to be found in a suitable admissible class. We show the existence of an…
We are concerned with a variant of the isoperimetric problem, which in our setting arises in a geometrically nonlinear two-well problem in elasticity. More precisely, we investigate the optimal scaling of the energy of an elastic inclusion…
Picking up, laying down, colliding, rolling, and peeling are partial-contact interactions involving moving discontinuities. We examine the balances of momentum and energy across a moving discontinuity in a string, with allowance for…
In legged locomotion, the relationship between different gait behaviors and energy consumption must consider the full-body dynamics and the robot control as a whole, which cannot be captured by simple models. This work studies the robot…
Tracking climbers' activity to improve services and make the best use of their infrastructure is a concern for climbing gyms. Each climbing session must be analyzed from beginning till lowering of the climber. Therefore, spotting the…
For a general optimal control problem for dynamical systems with hybrid dynamics, we study the dependency of the optimal cost and of the value function on the initial conditions, parameters, and perturbations. We show that upper and lower…
We propose and develop an electrical and mechanical system model of a single-axis linear-motion kinetic energy harvester for impulsive excitation that allows its generated load power to be numerically optimised as a function of design…
Rotating the clamped ends of a buckled elastica induces a snap-through instability. Predicting the limit point and determining the equilibria at the start and end of the snap are routine computations in the quasi-static setting. The…
The (axis-parallel) stabbing number of a given set of line segments is the maximum number of segments that can be intersected by any one (axis-parallel) line. This paper deals with finding perfect matchings, spanning trees, or…
Dynamic locomotion in rough terrain requires accurate foot placement, collision avoidance, and planning of the underactuated dynamics of the system. Reliably optimizing for such motions and interactions in the presence of imperfect and…
We investigate optimal reachability and grasping problems for a planar soft manipulator, from both a theoretical and numerical point of view. The underlying control model describes the evolution of the symmetry axis of the device, which is…
A computer model can be used for predicting an output only after specifying the values of some unknown physical constants known as calibration parameters. The unknown calibration parameters can be estimated from real data by conducting…
This work is focused on the doubly nonlinear equation, whose solutions represent the bending motion of an extensible, elastic bridge suspended by continuously distributed cables which are flexible and elastic with stiffness k^2. When the…