Related papers: Rope through Loop Insertion for Robotic Knotting: …
In this note, I describe a formalism for treating knots as geometric spaces, and make an application to a simple statistical mechanics computation. The motivation for this study is the natural visual symmetry of the knot, and I describe how…
Recent trends in robot arm control have seen a shift towards end-to-end solutions, using deep reinforcement learning to learn a controller directly from raw sensor data, rather than relying on a hand-crafted, modular pipeline. However, the…
This article takes a step to provide humanoid robots with adaptive morphology abilities. We present a systematic approach for enabling robotic covers to morph their shape, with an overall size fitting the anthropometric dimensions of a…
Magnetic continuum robots (MCRs) enable minimally invasive navigation through tortuous anatomical channels, yet axially magnetized designs have largely been limited to bending-only motion. To expand deformation capabilities, this paper…
When humans perform complex insertion tasks such as pushing a cup into a cupboard, routing a cable, or putting a key in a lock, they wiggle the object and adapt the process through tactile feedback. A similar robotic approach has not been…
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…
Abrikosov Vortices have long been considered as means to encode classical information in low-temperature logic circuits (1) and memory devices (2-4). Although it is possible to control individual vortices using local probes (5-11),…
It is challenging for humans -- particularly those living with physical disabilities -- to control high-dimensional, dexterous robots. Prior work explores learning embedding functions that map a human's low-dimensional inputs (e.g., via a…
This work presents a novel tactile perception-based method, named T-NT, for performing the needle-threading task, an application of deformable linear object (DLO) manipulation. This task is divided into two main stages: Tail-end Finding and…
We present a framework for deformable object manipulation that interleaves planning and control, enabling complex manipulation tasks without relying on high-fidelity modeling or simulation. The key question we address is when should we use…
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…
Manipulating deformable linear objects (DLOs) is challenging due to their complex dynamics and the need for safe interaction in contact-rich environments. Most existing models focus on shape prediction alone and fail to account for contact…
Knot diagrams are among the most common visual tools in topology. Computer programs now make it possible to draw, manipulate and render them digitally, which proves to be useful in knot theory teaching and research. Still, an openly…
The ropelength of a knot is the quotient of its length by its thickness. We consider a family of energy functions for knots, depending on a power p, which approach ropelength as p increases. We describe a numerically computed trefoil knot…
Surgical knot tying is one of the most fundamental and important procedures in surgery, and a high-quality knot can significantly benefit the postoperative recovery of the patient. However, a longtime operation may easily cause fatigue to…
We propose KnotGym, an interactive environment for complex, spatial reasoning and manipulation. KnotGym includes goal-oriented rope manipulation tasks with varying levels of complexity, all requiring acting from pure image observations.…
Many existing models assume that magnetic flux ropes play a key role in solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). It is therefore important to develop efficient methods for constructing flux-rope configurations constrained by observed…
Untangling ropes, wires, and cables is a challenging task for robots due to the high-dimensional configuration space, visual homogeneity, self-occlusions, and complex dynamics. We consider dense (tight) knots that lack space between…
Endowing continuum robots with compliance while it is interacting with the internal environment of the human body is essential to prevent damage to the robot and the surrounding tissues. Compared with passive compliance, active compliance…
Control strategies for robotic needle steering in soft tissues must account for complex interactions between the needle and the tissue to achieve accurate needle tip positioning. Recent findings show faster robotic command rate can improve…