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Aquatic locomotion is a classic fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problem of interest to biologists and engineers. Solving the fully coupled FSI equations for incompressible Navier-Stokes and finite elasticity is computationally expensive.…

Simulation modeling of robots, objects, and environments is the backbone for all model-based control and learning. It is leveraged broadly across dynamic programming and model-predictive control, as well as data generation for imitation,…

Robotics · Computer Science 2022-01-19 Fei Liu , Mingen Li , Jingpei Lu , Entong Su , Michael C. Yip

Underwater robots are widely deployed for ocean exploration and manipulation. Underactuated mechanisms are particularly advantageous in aquatic environments, as reducing actuator count lowers the risk of motor leakage while introducing…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-03-10 Chenrui Zhang , Yiyuan Zhang , Yunfei Ye , Junkai Chen , Haozhe Wang , Cecilia Laschi

Robot manipulation of rope-like objects is an interesting problem that has some critical applications, such as autonomous robotic suturing. Solving for and controlling rope is difficult due to the complexity of rope physics and the…

Robotics · Computer Science 2022-02-22 Fei Liu , Entong Su , Jingpei Lu , Mingen Li , Michael C. Yip

Simulators are an important tool in robotics that is used to develop robot software and generate synthetic data for machine learning algorithms. Faster simulation can result in better software validation and larger amounts of data. Previous…

Soft robotic systems are known for their flexibility and adaptability, but traditional physics-based models struggle to capture their complex, nonlinear behaviors. This study explores a data-driven approach to modeling the…

The computational design of soft underwater swimmers is challenging because of the high degrees of freedom in soft-body modeling. In this paper, we present a differentiable pipeline for co-designing a soft swimmer's geometry and controller.…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-05-07 Pingchuan Ma , Tao Du , John Z. Zhang , Kui Wu , Andrew Spielberg , Robert K. Katzschmann , Wojciech Matusik

The compliant nature of soft wearable robots makes them ideal for complex multiple degrees of freedom (DoF) joints, but also introduce additional structural nonlinearities. Intuitive control of these wearable robots requires robust sensing…

Robotics · Computer Science 2020-02-24 Rejin John Varghese , Anh Nguyen , Etienne Burdet , Guang-Zhong Yang , Benny P L Lo

Soft materials have many important roles in animal locomotion and object manipulation. In robotic applications soft materials can store and release energy, absorb impacts, increase compliance and increase the range of possible shape…

Robotics · Computer Science 2015-09-28 Vishesh Vikas , Paul Templeton , Barry Trimmer

Robotic fish have attracted growing attention in recent years owing to their biomimetic design and potential applications in environmental monitoring and biological surveys. Among robotic fish employing the Body-Caudal Fin (BCF) locomotion…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-03-04 Yita Wang , Chen Chen , Yicheng Chen , Jinjie Li , Yuichi Motegi , Kenji Ohkuma , Toshihiro Maki , Moju Zhao

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…

The morphology of a slender soft-robot can be modified by sensing its shape via sensors and exerting moments via actuators embedded along its body. The actuating moments required to morph these soft-robots to a desired shape are often…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-09-23 Vishnu Deo Mishra , S Ganga Prasath

Soft robots utilizing inflatable dielectric membranes can realize intricate functionalities through the application of non-mechanical fields. However, given the current limitations in simulations, including low computational efficiency and…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2024-05-21 Zhaowei Liu , Mingchao Liu , K. Jimmy Hsia , Xiaonan Huang , Weicheng Huang

Soft robots have many advantages over rigid robots thanks to their compliant and passive nature. However, it is generally challenging to model the dynamics of soft robots due to their high spatial dimensionality, making it difficult to use…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-09-26 Tom Z. Jiahao , Ryan Adolf , Cynthia Sung , M. Ani Hsieh

Soft robotics is advancing the use of flexible materials for adaptable robotic systems. Membrane-actuated soft robots address the limitations of traditional soft robots by using pressurized, extensible membranes to achieve stable, large…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-02-17 Mirroyal Ismayilov , Jeref Merlin , Christos Bergeles , Lukas Lindenroth

Magnetic-responsive composites that consist of soft matrix embedded with hard-magnetic particles have recently been demonstrated as robust soft active materials for fast-transforming actuation. However, the deformation of the functional…

Applied Physics · Physics 2019-09-12 Shuai Wu , Qiji Ze , Rundong Zhang , Nan Hu , Yang Cheng , Fengyuan Yang , Ruike Zhao

Soft robots offer more flexibility, compliance, and adaptability than traditional rigid robots. They are also typically lighter and cheaper to manufacture. However, their use in real-world applications is limited due to modeling challenges…

The deployment of complex soft robots in multiphysics environments requires advanced simulation frameworks that not only capture interactions between different types of material, but also translate accurately to real-world performance. Soft…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-03-09 Manuel Mekkattu , Mike Y. Michelis , Robert K. Katzschmann

Soft robots are challenging to model due in large part to the nonlinear properties of soft materials. Fortunately, this softness makes it possible to safely observe their behavior under random control inputs, making them amenable to…

Robotics · Computer Science 2019-05-03 Daniel Bruder , C. David Remy , Ram Vasudevan

When the dynamical data of a system only convey dynamic information over a limited operating range, the identification of models with good performance over a wider operating range is very unlikely. Nevertheless, models with such…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2020-09-07 Leandro Freitas , Bruno H. G. Barbosa , Luis A. Aguirre