Related papers: Flexure-based Environmental Compliance for High-sp…

Multi-legged mobile robots possess high mobility performance in rough terrain environments, stemming from their high postural stability, joint flexibility, and the redundancy provided by multiple legs. In prior research on navigating…

We propose a control framework which can utilize tactile information by exploiting the complementarity structure of contact dynamics. Since many robotic tasks, like manipulation and locomotion, are fundamentally based in making and breaking…

Collaborative robots can relief human operators from excessive efforts during payload lifting activities. Modelling the human partner allows the design of safe and efficient collaborative strategies. In this paper, we present a control…

Highly constrained manipulation tasks continue to be challenging for autonomous robots as they require high levels of precision, typically less than 1mm, which is often incompatible with what can be achieved by traditional perception…

Machines that mimic humans have inspired scientists for centuries. Bio-inspired soft robotic hands are a good example of such an endeavor, featuring intrinsic material compliance and continuous motion to deal with uncertainty and adapt to…

Compliant mechanisms achieve motion through elastic deformation. In this work, we address the synthesis of a compliant cross-hinge mechanism capable of large angular strokes while approximating the behavior of an ideal revolute joint. To…

Designing an efficient and resilient human-robot collaboration strategy that not only upholds the safety and ergonomics of shared workspace but also enhances the performance and agility of collaborative setup presents significant challenges…

Soft robotic actuators can simplify the design of controllers when operating in contact-rich environments. Importantly, their passive compliance fundamentally alters contact mechanics by smoothing impacts and distributing forces over large…

Dexterous manipulation requires careful reasoning over extrinsic contacts. The prevalence of deforming tools in human environments, the use of deformable sensors, and the increasing number of soft robots yields a need for approaches that…

Soft robots are made of compliant materials that perform their tasks by deriving motion from elastic deformations. They are used in various applications, e.g., for handling fragile objects, navigating sensitive/complex environments, etc.,…

High-tech equipment critically relies on flexures for precise manipulation and measurement. Through elastic deformation, flexures offer extreme position repeatability within a limited range of motion in their degrees of freedom, while…

Ensuring safe and efficient operation of collaborative robots in human environments is challenging, especially in dynamic settings where both obstacle motion and tasks change over time. Current robot controllers typically assume full…

Robots operating in everyday environments must navigate and manipulate within densely cluttered spaces, where physical contact with surrounding objects is unavoidable. Traditional safety frameworks treat contact as unsafe, restricting…

Collaborative robots are increasingly deployed alongside humans in factories, hospitals, schools, and other domains to enhance teamwork and efficiency. Systems that seamlessly integrate humans and robots into cohesive teams for coordinated…

Stable locomotion in precipitous environments is an essential task for quadruped robots, requiring the ability to resist various external disturbances. Recent neural policies enhance robustness against disturbances by learning to resist…

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…

The ignition of flammable liquids and gases in offshore oil and gas environments is a major risk and can cause loss of life, serious injury, and significant damage to infrastructure. Power supplies that are used to provide regulated…

The paper focuses on the stiffness modeling of heavy industrial robots with gravity compensators. The main attention is paid to the identification of geometrical and elastostatic parameters and calibration accuracy. To reduce impact of the…

Collaborative robots should ideally use low torque actuators for passive safety reasons. However, some applications require these collaborative robots to reach deep into confined spaces while assisting a human operator in physically…

While many robotic tasks, like manipulation and locomotion, are fundamentally based in making and breaking contact with the environment, state-of-the-art control policies struggle to deal with the hybrid nature of multi-contact motion. Such…