Related papers: Reconstruction of Backbone Curves for Snake Robots
A configuration of $n$ unit-cube-shaped \textit{modules} (or \textit{robots}) is a lattice-aligned placement of the $n$ modules so that their union is face-connected. The reconfiguration problem aims at finding a sequence of moves that…
This thesis presents a unified modeling and simulation framework for analyzing sidewinding and tumbling locomotion of the COBRA snake robot across rigid, compliant, and granular terrains. A contact-implicit formulation is used to model…
Trajectory planning in robotics is understood as generating a sequence of joint configurations that will lead a robotic agent, or its manipulator, from an initial state to the desired final state, thus completing a manipulation task while…
This paper presents a bio-inspired central pattern generator (CPG)-type architecture for learning optimal maneuvering control of periodic locomotory gaits. The architecture is presented here with the aid of a snake robot model problem…
Autonomous mobile robots (e.g., warehouse logistics robots) often need to traverse complex, obstacle-rich, and changing environments to reach multiple fixed goals (e.g., warehouse shelves). Traditional motion planners need to calculate the…
Although robotic manipulators are used in an ever-growing range of applications, robot manufacturers typically follow a ``one-fits-all'' philosophy, employing identical manipulators in various settings. This often leads to suboptimal…
Legged robot locomotion requires the planning of stable reference trajectories, especially while traversing uneven terrain. The proposed trajectory optimization framework is capable of generating dynamically stable base and footstep…
Continuum arms, such as trunk and tentacle robots, lie between the two extremities of rigid and soft robots and promise to capture the best of both worlds in terms of manipulability, dexterity, and compliance. This paper proposes a new…
Soft robots require directional control to navigate complex terrains. However, achieving such control often requires multiple actuators, which increases mechanical complexity, complicates control systems, and raises energy consumption.…
We develop a numerical scheme to determine which planar snake motions are optimal for locomotory efficiency, across a wide range of frictional parameter space. For a large coefficient of transverse friction, we find that retrograde…
This paper presents a soft earthworm robot that is capable of both efficient locomotion and obstacle avoidance. The robot is designed to replicate the unique locomotion mechanisms of earthworms, which enable them to move through narrow and…
The inverse kinematics (IK) problem of continuum robots has been investigated in depth in the past decades. Under the constant-curvature bending assumption, closed-form IK solution has been obtained for continuum robots with variable…
Legged robot research is presently focused on bipedal or quadrupedal robots, despite capabilities to build robots with many more legs to potentially improve locomotion performance. This imbalance is not necessarily due to hardware…
This study presents a systematic enumeration of spherical ($SO(3)$) type parallel robots' variants using an analytical velocity-level approach. These robots are known for their ability to perform arbitrary rotations around a fixed point,…
Intelligent control of soft robots is challenging due to the nonlinear and difficult-to-model dynamics. One promising model-free approach for soft robot control is reinforcement learning (RL). However, model-free RL methods tend to be…
In nature, a variety of limbless locomotion patterns flourish from the small or basic life form (Escherichia coli, the amoeba, etc.) to the large or intelligent creatures (e.g., slugs, starfishes, earthworms, octopuses, jellyfishes, and…
Self-modeling enables robots to build task-agnostic models of their morphology and kinematics based on data that can be automatically collected, with minimal human intervention and prior information, thereby enhancing machine intelligence.…
A cable-driven soft-bodied robot with redundancy can conduct the trajectory tracking task and in the meanwhile fulfill some extra constraints, such as tracking through an end-effector in designated orientation, or get rid of the evitable…
Internal computational models of physical bodies are fundamental to the ability of robots and animals alike to plan and control their actions. These "self-models" allow robots to consider outcomes of multiple possible future actions,…
We introduce MotioNet, a deep neural network that directly reconstructs the motion of a 3D human skeleton from monocular video.While previous methods rely on either rigging or inverse kinematics (IK) to associate a consistent skeleton with…