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This work represents an initial benchmark of a large-scale soft robot performing physical, collaborative manipulation of a long, extended object with a human partner. The robot consists of a pneumatically-actuated, three-link continuum soft…
It is well recognized that the miniaturization of electromechanical devices will bring a revolution to humanity in the coming decades synonymous with the effects of miniaturizing electronic devices in those previous. An electromechanical…
Natural organisms utilize distributed actuation through their musculoskeletal systems to adapt their gait for traversing diverse terrains or to morph their bodies for varied tasks. A longstanding challenge in robotics is to emulate this…
Purpose of Review: This review provides an overview of the state of the art in bioinspired soft robotics with by examining advancements in actuation, functionality, modeling, and control. Recent Findings: Recent research into actuation…
Understanding and manipulating articulated objects, such as doors and drawers, is crucial for robots operating in human environments. We wish to develop a system that can learn to articulate novel objects with no prior interaction, after…
Interactable objects are ubiquitous in our daily lives. Recent advances in 3D generative models make it possible to automate the modeling of these objects, benefiting a range of applications from 3D printing to the creation of robot…
Knotting plastic bags is a common task in daily life, yet it is challenging for robots due to the bags' infinite degrees of freedom and complex physical dynamics. Existing methods often struggle in generalization to unseen bag instances or…
Physical visualizations (i.e., data representations by means of physical objects) have been used for many centuries in medical and anatomical education. Recently, 3D printing techniques started also to emerge. Still, other medical…
Physics simulators are widely used in robotics fields, from mechanical design to dynamic simulation, and controller design. This paper presents an open-source MATLAB/Simulink simulator for rigid-body articulated systems, including…
This paper presents an aerial platform capable of performing physically interactive tasks in unstructured environments with human-like dexterity under human supervision. This aerial platform consists of a humanoid torso attached to a…
Articulated object manipulation is a critical capability for robots to perform various tasks in real-world scenarios. Composed of multiple parts connected by joints, articulated objects are endowed with diverse functional mechanisms through…
Robotic manipulation policies are advancing rapidly, but their direct evaluation in the real world remains costly, time-consuming, and difficult to reproduce, particularly for tasks involving deformable objects. Simulation provides a…
Active soft bodies can affect their shape through an internal actuation mechanism that induces a deformation. Similar to recent work, this paper utilizes a differentiable, quasi-static, and physics-based simulation layer to optimize for…
We present FluxLab, a system comprising interactive tools for creating custom 3D-printable shape-changing devices with integrated deformation sensing. To achieve this, we propose a 3D printable nesting structure, consisting of a central SMA…
Inspired by the dexterous handling ability of an elephant's trunk, we propose a pneumatic actuator that generates diverse bending and extension motions in a flexible arm. The actuator consists of two flexible tubes. Each flexible tube is…
In this paper, we explore how techniques from soft robotics can help create a new form of robot expression. We present Sprout, a soft expressive robot that conveys its internal states by changing its body shape. Sprout can extend, bend,…
In applications that involve interactive curve and surface modeling, the intuitive manipulation of shapes is crucial. For instance, user interaction is facilitated if a geometrical object can be manipulated through control points that…
In equilibrium, the physical properties of matter are set by the interactions between the constituents. In contrast, the energy input of the individual components controls the behavior of synthetic or living active matter. Great progress…
Common disabilities like stroke and spinal cord injuries may cause loss of motor function in hands. They can be treated with robot assisted rehabilitation techniques, like continuously opening and closing the hand with help of a robot, in a…
Traditional robotic mechanisms contain a series of rigid links connected by rotational joints that provide powered motion, all of which is controlled by a central processor. By contrast, analogous mechanisms found in nature, such as octopus…