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Interactive computational environments can help students explore algorithmic concepts through collaborative hands-on experimentation. However, static and instructor controlled demos in lectures limit engagement. Even when interactive…
This paper presents a system for enabling real-time synthesis of whole-body locomotion and manipulation policies for real-world legged robots. Motivated by recent advancements in robot simulation, we leverage the efficient parallelization…
When instructing robots, users want to flexibly express constraints, refer to arbitrary landmarks, and verify robot behavior, while robots must disambiguate instructions into specifications and ground instruction referents in the real…
Flying robots, such as quadrotor drones, offer new possibilities for human-robot interaction but often pose safety risks due to fast-spinning propellers, rigid structures, and noise. In contrast, lighter-than-air flapping-wing robots,…
Biped robots are inherently unstable because of their complex kinematics as well as dynamics. Despite the many research efforts in developing biped locomotion, the performance of biped locomotion is still far from the expectations. This…
This paper describes a new research project that aims to develop a social robot designed to help children cope with painful and distressing medical procedures in a clinical setting. While robots have previously been trialled for this task,…
Legged robots can have a unique role in manipulating objects in dynamic, human-centric, or otherwise inaccessible environments. Although most legged robotics research to date typically focuses on traversing these challenging environments,…
Learning to locomote to arbitrary goals on hardware remains a challenging problem for reinforcement learning. In this paper, we present a hierarchical learning framework that improves sample-efficiency and generalizability of locomotion…
Limbless creatures can crawl on flat surfaces by deforming their bodies and interacting with asperities on the ground, offering a biological blueprint for designing efficient limbless robots. Inspired by this natural locomotion, we present…
The human hand has an inherent ability to manipulate and re-orientate objects without external assistance. As a consequence, we are able to operate tools and perform an array of actions using just one hand, without having to continuously…
Fast grasping is critical for mobile robots in logistics, manufacturing, and service applications. Existing methods face fundamental challenges in impact stabilization under high-speed motion, real-time whole-body coordination, and…
Brachiation is a dynamic, coordinated swinging maneuver of body and arms used by monkeys and apes to move between branches. As a unique underactuated mode of locomotion, it is interesting to study from a robotics perspective since it can…
This work introduces a model-free reinforcement learning framework that enables various modes of motion (quadruped, tripod, or biped) and diverse tasks for legged robot locomotion. We employ a motion-style reward based on a relaxed…
Robotic manipulation is essential for the widespread adoption of robots in industrial and home settings and has long been a focus within the robotics community. Advances in artificial intelligence have introduced promising learning-based…
Miniature-legged robots are constrained by their onboard computation and control, thus motivating the need for simple, first-principles-based geometric models that connect \emph{periodic actuation or gaits} (a universal robot control…
This paper describes a Google Educator funded project devoted to the training of teachers (primary and secondary school) through an e-learning platform that will introduce them to educational robotics using Wolly, a social, educational and…
Developing robotic manipulation policies is iterative and hypothesis-driven: researchers test tactile sensing, gripper geometries, and sensor placements through real-world data collection and training. Yet even minor end-effector changes…
This article describes an exemplary robot exercise which was conducted in a class for mechatronics students. The goal of this exercise was to engage students in scientific thinking and reasoning, activities which do not always play an…
In this paper, we study a wheeled robot with a prismatic extension joint. This allows the robot to build up momentum to perform jumps over obstacles and to swing up to the upright position after the loss of balance. We propose a template…
Robotic surgery and novel surgical instrumentation present great potentials towards safer, more accurate and consistent minimally invasive surgery. However, their adoption is dependent to the access to training facilities and extensive…