Related papers: Friction modulation in limbless, three-dimensional…
Over the past few decades, oscillating flexible foils have been used to study the physics of organismal propulsion in different fluid environments. Here we extend this work to a study of flexible foils in a frictional environment. When the…
Reorientation (turning in plane) plays a critical role for all robots in any field application, especially those that in confined spaces. While important, reorientation remains a relatively unstudied problem for robots, including limbless…
Developing deterministic surfaces relies on controlling the structure of the rubbing interface so that not only the surface is of optimized topography, but also is able to self-adjust its tribological behaviour according to the evolution of…
Granular intrusions, such as dynamic impact or wheel locomotion, are complex multiphase phenomena where the grains exhibit solid-like and fluid-like characteristics together with an ejected gas-like phase. Despite decades of modeling…
Friction modulation allows for a range of different sensations and textures to be simulated on flat touchscreens, yet is largely unable to render fundamental tactile interactions such as path following or shape discrimination due to lack of…
Deterministic surfaces are constructs of which profile, topography and textures are integral to the function of the system they enclose. They are designed to yield a predetermined rubbing response. Developing such entities relies on…
Despite advances in a diversity of environments, snake robots are still far behind snakes in traversing complex 3-D terrain with large obstacles. This is due to a lack of understanding of how to control 3-D body bending to push against…
Frictional motion is harder to initiate than to sustain, as evident when pushing a heavy object. This disparity between static and kinetic friction drives instabilities and stick-slip dynamics in systems ranging from nanodevices and MEMS to…
Artificially evolving foraging behavior in simulated legged animals has proved to be a notoriously difficult task. Here, we co-evolve the morphology and controller for virtual organisms in a three-dimensional physically realistic…
The gaits of undulating animals arise from a complex interaction of their central nervous system, muscle, connective tissue, bone, and environment. As a simplifying assumption, many previous studies have often assumed that sufficient…
Robust disturbance rejection remains a longstanding challenge in humanoid locomotion, particularly on unstructured terrains where sensing is unreliable and model mismatch is pronounced. While perception information, such as height map,…
Frictional interfaces are abundant in natural and manmade systems and their dynamics still pose challenges of fundamental and technological importance. A recent extensive compilation of multiple-source experimental data has revealed that…
Robust humanoid locomotion requires accurate and globally consistent perception of the surrounding 3D environment. However, existing perception modules, mainly based on depth images or elevation maps, offer only partial and locally…
Scales engagement can contribute significantly to nonlinear bending behavior of elastic substrates with rigid biomimetic scales. In this letter, we investigate the role of friction in modulating the nonlinearity that arises due to…
Current control strategies for powered lower limb prostheses often lack awareness of the environment and the user's intended interactions with it. This limitation becomes particularly apparent in complex terrains. Obstacle negotiation, a…
Agile locomotion in complex 3D environments requires robust spatial awareness to safely avoid diverse obstacles such as aerial clutter, uneven terrain, and dynamic agents. Depth-based perception approaches often struggle with sensor noise,…
The spontaneous creation of disclinations is a defining characteristic of active nematics, which is rarely observed in equilibrium systems or other active matter systems. Thus, understanding the mechanics of disclinations is crucial for…
An overview of computer simulations of tribology is presented. The chapter begins with a brief overview of simulation techniques and the special requirements for simulations of tribological processes. Then simple one-dimensional models of…
A micromorphic computational homogenization framework has recently been developed to deal with materials showing long-range correlated interactions, i.e. displaying patterning modes. Typical examples of such materials are elastomeric…
The ability of animals to interact with complex dynamics is unmatched in robots. Especially important to the interaction performances is the online adaptation of body dynamics, which can be modeled as an impedance behaviour. However, the…