Related papers: A Lightweight, High-Extension, Planar 3-Degree-of-…
3D printing has enabled various applications using different forms of materials, such as filaments, sheets, and inks. Typically, during 3D printing, feedstocks are transformed into discrete building blocks and placed or deposited in a…
Robotic manipulators, traditionally designed with classical joint-link articulated structures, excel in industrial applications but face challenges in human-centered and general-purpose tasks requiring greater dexterity and adaptability. To…
Rigid multi-link robotic arms face a tradeoff between their overall reach distance (the workspace), and how compactly they can be collapsed (the storage volume). Increasing the workspace of a robot arm requires longer links, which adds…
Fully soft bistable mechanisms have shown extensive applications ranging from soft robotics, wearable devices, and medical tools, to energy harvesting. However, the lack of design and fabrication methods that are easy and potentially…
Soft robotics increasingly relies on smart materials and innovative structures, with bistable tape springs emerging as a promising option. These structures exhibit intriguing dynamic behaviors, such as oscillation, due to their inherent…
Manipulation of objects by exploiting their contact with the environment can enhance both the dexterity and payload capability of robotic manipulators. A common way to manipulate heavy objects beyond the payload capability of a robot is to…
We consider the problem of reorienting a rigid object with arbitrary known shape on a table using a two-finger pinch gripper. Reorienting problem is challenging because of its non-smoothness and high dimensionality. In this work, we focus…
There is a growing need for robots that can change their shape, size and mechanical properties to adapt to evolving tasks and environments. However, current shape-changing systems generally utilize bespoke, system-specific mechanisms that…
This paper presents a novel, modular, cable-driven soft robotic arm featuring multi-segment reconfigurability. The proposed architecture enables a stackable system with independent segment control, allowing scalable adaptation to diverse…
This paper focuses on the kinematic properties of a new three-degree-of-freedom hybrid manipulator. This manipulator is obtained by adding in series to a five-bar planar mechanism (similar to the one studied by Bajpai and Roth) a third…
ReachBot, a proposed robotic platform, employs extendable booms as limbs for mobility in challenging environments, such as martian caves. When attached to the environment, ReachBot acts as a parallel robot, with reconfiguration driven by…
Electrostatic actuators provide a promising approach to creating soft robotic sheets, due to their flexible form factor, modular integration, and fast response speed. However, their control requires kilo-Volt signals and understanding of…
Most aerial manipulators use serial rigid-link designs, which results in large forces when initiating contacts during manipulation and could cause flight stability difficulty. This limitation could potentially be improved by the compliance…
Robots are widely deployed in space environments because of their versatility and robustness. However, adverse gravity conditions and challenging terrain geometry expose the limitations of traditional robot designs, which are often forced…
Aerial manipulators extend the reach and manipulation capabilities of uncrewed multirotor aerial vehicles for inspection, agriculture, sampling, and delivery. Continuum arm aerial manipulation systems offer lightweight, dexterous, and…
This paper presents a combined task and motion planner for a robot arm to carry out 3D metal wire curving tasks by collaborating with a bending machine. We assume a collaborative robot that is safe to work in a human environment but has a…
Additive manufacturing strives to combine any combination of materials into three dimensional functional structures and devices, ultimately opening up the possibility of 3D printed machines. It remains difficult to actuate such devices,…
Exploration of various applications is the frontier of research on inflatable robots. We proposed an articulated robots consisting of multiple pneumatic bladder links connected by rolling contact joints called Hillberry joints. The bladder…
Non-prehensile planar manipulation, including pushing and press-and-slide, is critical for diverse robotic tasks, but notoriously challenging due to hybrid contact mechanics, under-actuation, and asymmetric friction limits that…
Cable/rope elements are pervasive in deformable-object manipulation, often serving as a deformable force-transmission medium whose routing and contact determine how wrenches are delivered. In cable-towed manipulation, transmission is…