Related papers: Exploiting Variable Impedance for Energy Efficient…
We present experimental results using a passive whole-body control approach for quadruped robots that achieves dynamic locomotion while compliantly balancing the robot's trunk. We formulate the motion tracking as a Quadratic Program (QP)…
The design of adaptive structures is one method to improve sustainability of buildings. Adaptive structures are able to adapt to different loading and environmental conditions or to changing requirements by either small or large shape…
This paper present a novel dual-speed actuator adapted to robotics. In many applications, robots have to bear large loads while moving slowly and also have to move quickly through the air with almost no load. This lead to conflicting…
Recent literature in the robotics community has focused on learning robot behaviors that abstract out lower-level details of robot control. To fully leverage the efficacy of such behaviors, it is necessary to select and sequence them to…
In recent years, the need for robots to transition from isolated industrial tasks to shared environments, including human-robot collaboration and teleoperation, has become increasingly evident. Building on the foundation of Fractal…
Wheeled-legged robots combine the energy efficiency of wheeled locomotion with the terrain adaptability of legged systems, making them promising platforms for agile mobility in complex and dynamic environments. However, enabling…
In this work we consider the problem of mobile robots that need to manipulate/transport an object via cables or robotic arms. We consider the scenario where the number of manipulating robots is redundant, i.e. a desired object configuration…
This paper presents a novel control strategy to herd groups of non-cooperative evaders by means of a team of robotic herders. In herding problems, the motion of the evaders is typically determined by strongly nonlinear and heterogeneous…
Soft robotic manipulators offer operational advantage due to their compliant and deformable structures. However, their inherently nonlinear dynamics presents substantial challenges. Traditional analytical methods often depend on simplifying…
We present a trajectory planning and control architecture for bipedal locomotion at a variety of speeds on a highly underactuated and compliant bipedal robot. A library of compliant walking trajectories are planned offline, and stored as…
Micro DC brushed motors are widely deployed in battery-powered biomedical systems, where limited energy budgets and variable physiological loading impose stringent efficiency and safety constraints. However, conventional actuation…
We describe a framework for changing-contact robot manipulation tasks that require the robot to make and break contacts with objects and surfaces. The discontinuous interaction dynamics of such tasks make it difficult to construct and use a…
Reinforcement learning (RL) has made significant strides in legged robot control, enabling locomotion across diverse terrains and complex loco-manipulation capabilities. However, the commonly used position or velocity tracking-based…
Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) provide the most intriguing opportunity to reduce energy consumption and travel delays. In this paper, we propose a two-level control architecture for CAVs to optimize (1) the vehicle's speed profile,…
Achieving versatile and explosive motion with robustness against dynamic uncertainties is a challenging task. Introducing parallel compliance in quadrupedal design is deemed to enhance locomotion performance, which, however, makes the…
Many biological functions require the dynamics to be necessarily driven out-of-equilibrium. In contrast, in various contexts, a nonequilibrium dynamics at fast timescales can be described by an effective equilibrium dynamics at a slower…
Legged manipulators extend robotic capabilities beyond static manipulation by integrating agile locomotion with versatile arm control. However, achieving precise manipulation while maintaining coordinated locomotion remains a major…
We present a novel approach to controlling the instantaneous velocity of a robot end-effector that is able to simultaneously maximise manipulability and avoid joint limits. It operates on non-redundant and redundant robots, which is…
Stability of power networks is an increasingly important topic because of the high penetration of renewable distributed generation units. This requires the development of advanced (typically model-based) techniques for the analysis and…
A hyper-redundant robotic arm is a manipulator with many degrees of freedom, capable of executing tasks in cluttered environments where robotic arms with fewer degrees of freedom are unable to operate. This paper introduces a new method for…