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Legged robots are typically in rigid contact with the environment at multiple locations, which add a degree of complexity to their control. We present a method to control the motion and a subset of the contact forces of a floating-base…
Motivated by the increasing need to hedge against load and generation uncertainty in the operation of power grids, we propose flexibility maximization during operation. We consider flexibility explicitly as the amount of uncertainty that…
Dynamic mechanism design is a challenging extension to ordinary mechanism design in which the mechanism designer must make a sequence of decisions over time in the face of possibly untruthful reports of participating agents. Optimizing…
This work addresses the problem of kinematic trajectory planning for mobile manipulators with non-holonomic constraints, and holonomic operational-space tracking constraints. We obtain whole-body trajectories and time-varying kinematic…
This paper investigates one of the most challenging tasks in dynamic manipulation -- catching large-momentum moving objects. Beyond the realm of quasi-static manipulation, dealing with highly dynamic objects can significantly improve the…
In this paper we study the optimal reinforcement of an elastic membrane, fixed at its boundary, by means of a network (connected onedimensional structure), that has to be found in a suitable admissible class. We show the existence of an…
Online selection of optimal waveforms for target tracking with active sensors has long been a problem of interest. Many conventional solutions utilize an estimation-theoretic interpretation, in which a waveform-specific Cram\'{e}r-Rao lower…
Magnetic soft continuum robots (MSCRs) have emerged as a promising technology for minimally invasive interventions, offering enhanced dexterity and remote-controlled navigation in confined lumens. Unlike conventional guidewires with…
Non-prehensile manipulation such as pushing is typically subject to uncertain, non-smooth dynamics. However, modeling the uncertainty of the dynamics typically results in intractable belief dynamics, making data-efficient planning under…
Cross-flow turbines, also known as vertical-axis turbines, have numerous features that make them attractive for wind and marine renewable energy. To maximize power output, the turbine blade kinematics may be controlled during the course of…
Tracking position and orientation independently affords more agile maneuver for over-actuated multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) while introducing undesired downwash effects; downwash flows generated by thrust generators may…
A design problem of finding an optimally stiff membrane structure by selecting one-dimensional fiber reinforcements is formulated and solved. The membrane model is derived in a novel manner from a particular three-dimensional linear elastic…
Adapting upper-limb impedance (i.e., stiffness, damping, inertia) is essential for humans interacting with dynamic environments for executing grasping or manipulation tasks. On the other hand, control methods designed for state-of-the-art…
The design of Wireless Networked Control System (WNCS) requires addressing critical interactions between control and communication systems with minimal complexity and communication overhead while providing ultra-high reliability. This paper…
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…
We consider a distribution logistics scenario where a shipping operator, managing a limited amount of resources, receives a stream of collection requests, issued by a set of customers along a booking time-horizon, that are referred to a…
Compliance in actuation has been exploited to generate highly dynamic maneuvers such as throwing that take advantage of the potential energy stored in joint springs. However, the energy storage and release could not be well-timed yet. On…
This paper presents a two-layer control framework for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) designed to handle uncertain nonlinear dynamics, including the mass matrix, previously assumed known. Unlike prior studies, this approach makes the…
Collaborative robots must simultaneously be safe enough to operate in close proximity to human operators and powerful enough to assist users in industrial tasks such as lifting heavy equipment. The requirement for safety necessitates that…
Hyper-redundant tendon-driven manipulators offer greater flexibility and compliance over traditional manipulators. A common way of controlling such manipulators relies on adjusting tendon lengths, which is an accessible control parameter.…