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Previous humanoid robot research works treat the robot as a bipedal mobile manipulation platform, where only the feet and hands contact the environment. However, we humans use all body parts to interact with the world, e.g., we sit in…
This paper describes the Pogobot, an open-source platform specifically designed for research at the interface of swarm robotics and active matter. Pogobot features vibration-based or wheel-based locomotion, fast infrared communication, and…
This paper presents the design and performance of a screw-propelled redundant serpentine robot. This robot comprises serially linked, identical modules, each incorporating an Archimedes' screw for propulsion and a universal joint (U-Joint)…
Robotic assistance has significantly improved the outcomes of open microsurgery and rigid endoscopic surgery, however is yet to make an impact in flexible endoscopic neurosurgery. Some of the most common intracranial procedures for…
The object perception capabilities of humans are impressive, and this becomes even more evident when trying to develop solutions with a similar proficiency in autonomous robots. While there have been notable advancements in the technologies…
We present pyCub, an open-source physics-based simulation of the humanoid robot iCub, along with exercises to teach students the basics of humanoid robotics. Compared to existing iCub simulators (iCub SIM, iCub Gazebo), which require C++…
In this chapter we will highlight our experimental studies on natural human walking analysis and introduce a biologically inspired design for simple bipedal locomotion system of humanoid robots. Inspiration comes directly from human walking…
Nature is an inhabitant for enormous number of species. All the species do perform complex activities with simple and elegant rules for their survival. The property of emergence of collective behavior is remarkably supporting their…
Almost all robotic systems in use have hard shells, which is limiting in many ways their full potential of physical interaction with humans or their surrounding environment. Robots with soft-shell covers offer an alternative morphology…
This chapter is dedicated to the so-called cuspidal robots, i.e. those robots that can move from one inverse geometric solution to another without meeting a singular confuguration. This feature was discovered quite recently and has then…
Soft grippers are receiving growing attention due to their compliance-based interactive safety and dexterity. Hybrid gripper (soft actuators enhanced by rigid constraints) is a new trend in soft gripper design. With right structural…
This review explores biologically inspired learning as a model for intelligent robot control and sensing technology on the basis of specific examples. Hebbian synaptic learning is discussed as a functionally relevant model for machine…
Soft actuators have shown great advantages in compliance and morphology matched for manipulation of delicate objects and inspection in a confined space. There is an unmet need for a soft actuator that can provide torsional motion to e.g.…
In this paper, we present a full dynamical model of a four-winged micro ornithopter inspired by a dragonfly-type insect. The micro ornithopter is modeled as four articulated rigid body components (wings) connected to the main body via…
Tendon-driven musculoskeletal humanoids have many benefits in terms of the flexible spine, multiple degrees of freedom, and variable stiffness. At the same time, because of its body complexity, there are problems in controllability. First,…
We posit that embodied artificial intelligence is not only a computational, but also a materials problem. While the importance of material and structural properties in the control loop are well understood, materials can take an active role…
Robot hands that imitate the shape of the human body have been actively studied, and various materials and mechanisms have been proposed to imitate the human body. Although the use of soft materials is advantageous in that it can imitate…
Swarm intelligence and bio-inspired algorithms form a hot topic in the developments of new algorithms inspired by nature. These nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithms can be based on swarm intelligence, biological systems, physical and…
Human brains and bodies are not hardware running software: the hardware is the software. We reason that because the microscopic physics of artificial-intelligence hardware and of human biological "hardware" is distinct, neuromorphic…
Natural beings undergo a morphological development process of their bodies while they are learning and adapting to the environments they face from infancy to adulthood. In fact, this is the period where the most important learning…