Related papers: A crawling robot driven by a folded self-sustained…
Complexity, cost, and power requirements for the actuation of individual robots can play a large factor in limiting the size of robotic swarms. Here we present PCBot, a minimalist robot that can precisely move on an orbital shake table…
Friction is the essential mediator of terrestrial locomotion, yet in robotic systems it is almost always treated as a passive property fixed by surface materials and conditions. Here, we introduce ultrasonic lubrication as a method to…
Living organisms intertwine soft (e.g., muscle) and hard (e.g., bones) materials, giving them an intrinsic flexibility and resiliency often lacking in conventional rigid robots. The emerging field of soft robotics seeks to harness these…
This paper presents a novel design of an Omnidirectional bendable Omnicrawler module- CObRaSO. Along with the longitudinal crawling and sideways rolling motion, the performance of the OmniCrawler is further enhanced by the introduction of…
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…
Back injuries are the most prevalent work-related musculoskeletal disorders and represent a major cause of disability. Although innovations in wearable robots aim to alleviate this hazard, the majority of existing exoskeletons are obtrusive…
Collections of simple, self-propelled colloidal particles exhibit complex, emergent dynamical behavior, with promising applications in microrobotics. When confined within a deformable vesicle, self-propelled rods cluster and align,…
Legged robots have demonstrated remarkable agility on rigid, stationary ground, but their locomotion reliability remains limited in non-inertial environments, where the supporting ground moves, tilts, or accelerates. Such conditions arise…
Locomotion may be induced on three levels. On a classical level, actuators and limbs follow the sequence of open-loop top-down control signals they receive. Limbs may move alternatively on their own, which implies that interlimb…
This paper introduces a cube-based reconfigurable robot that utilizes an electromagnet-based actuation framework to reconfigure in three dimensions via pivoting. While a variety of actuation mechanisms for self-reconfigurable robots have…
The increasing demand for critical raw materials has revitalized interest in abandoned underground mines, which pose extreme challenges for conventional drilling machinery due to confined, unstructured, and infrastructure-less environments.…
Electro-thermally actuated origami provides a novel method for creating 3-D systems with advanced morphing and functional capabilities. However, it is currently difficult to simulate the multi-physical behavior of such systems because the…
The article studies the elastic and locomotive properties of Miura-ori-type paper origami. The mechanics of a single paper crease is studied experimentally, and its non-elastic properties turn out to be crucial. The entire origami…
This work introduces a concept of origami electronic membranes that leverages the design and fabrication of flexible electronics and the mechanical behavior of engineering origami to achieve unique multifunctional, shape-reconfigurable, and…
We present an innovative robotic device designed to provide controlled motion for studying active matter. Motion is driven by an internal vibrator powered by a small rechargeable battery. The system integrates acoustic and magnetic sensors…
This study starts from the counter-intuitive question of how we can render a conventional stiff, non-stretchable and even brittle material conformable so that it can fully wrap around a curved surface, such as a sphere, without failure.…
Molecular robotics is challenging, so it seems best to keep it simple. We consider an abstract molecular robotics model based on simple folding instructions that execute asynchronously. Turning Machines are a simple 1D to 2D folding model,…
Modular robotics enables the development of versatile and adaptive robotic systems with autonomous reconfiguration. This paper presents a modular robotic system in which each module has independent actuation, battery power, and control,…
Soft robots have the ability to adapt to their environment, which makes them suitable for use in disaster areas and agricultural fields, where their mobility is constrained by complex terrain. One of the main challenges in developing soft…
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…