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Aiming to achieve both high functionality and flexibility in soft robot system, this paper presents a soft urethane sheet-like valve with an amplifier that can perform logical operations using only pneumatic signals. When the control…
The research aims to expand tactile feedback beyond vibrations to various modes of stimuli, such as indentation, vibration, among others. By incorporating soft material into the design of a novel tactile actuator, we can achieve…
Wire-harnessing tasks pose great challenges to be automated by the robot due to the complex dynamics and unpredictable behavior of the deformable wire. Traditional methods, often reliant on dual-robot arms or tactile sensing, face…
Springs are efficient in storing and returning elastic potential energy but are unable to hold the energy they store in the absence of an external load. Lockable springs use clutches to hold elastic potential energy in the absence of an…
There is increasing interest in control frameworks capable of moving robots from industrial cages to unstructured environments and coexisting with humans. Despite significant improvement in some specific applications (e.g., medical…
This paper presents a compact system, OpenPneu, to support the pneumatic actuation for multi-chambers on soft robots. Micro-pumps are employed in the system to generate airflow and therefore no extra input as compressed air is needed. Our…
Positive-negative pressure regulation is critical to soft robotic actuators, enabling large motion ranges and versatile actuation modes. However, it remains challenging due to complex nonlinearities, oscillations, and direction-dependent,…
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…
Soft pneumatic actuators (SPA) made from elastomeric materials can provide large strain and large force. The behavior of locally strain-restricted hyperelastic materials under inflation has been investigated thoroughly for shape…
Soft electrothermal actuators are of great interest in diverse application domains for their simplicity, compliance, and ease of control. However, the very nature of thermally induced mechanical actuation sets inherent operation…
Robotic systems operating in unstructured environments require the ability to switch between compliant and rigid states to perform diverse tasks such as adaptive grasping, high-force manipulation, shape holding, and navigation in…
To enhance the obstacle-crossing and endurance capabilities of vehicles operating in complex environments, this paper presents the design of a hybrid terrestrial/aerial coaxial tilt-rotor vehicle, TactV, which integrates advantages such as…
Dynamic induction control is a wind farm flow control strategy that utilises wind turbine thrust variations to accelerate breakdown of the aerodynamic wake and improve downstream turbine performance. However, when floating wind turbines are…
Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are ideal demand-side flexible resources to provide regulation services. However, finding the best hourly regulation capacity offers for HVAC systems in a power market ahead of time…
The properties and applications of auxetics have been widely explored in the past years. Through proper utilization of auxetic structures, designs with unprecedented mechanical and structural behaviors can be produced. Taking advantage of…
We use the principles of cavity optomechanics to design a resonant mechanical force sensor for atomic force microscopy. The sensor is based on a type of electromechanical coupling, dual to traditional capacitive coupling, whereby the motion…
Twisted and coiled polymer actuators (TCPAs) offer the advantages of large stroke and large specific work as compared to other actuators. There have been extensive experimental investigations towards understanding their actuation response,…
Mobile machines using a hydrostatic transmission is highly efficient under lower working-speed condition but less capable at higher transport velocities. To enhance overall efficiency, we have improved the powertrain design by combining a…
Soft grippers are receiving growing attention due to their compliance-based interactive safety and dexterity. Hybrid gripper (soft actuators enhanced by rigid constraints) is a new trend in soft gripper design. With right structural…
Multi-mode haptic feedback is essential to achieve high realism and immersion in virtual environments. This paper proposed a novel silicone fingertip actuator integrated with a hot thermal fabric finger sleeve to render pressure, vibration,…