Related papers: Reconfigurable Robots for Scaling Reef Restoration
Soft robotics has emerged as a transformative technology in Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, addressing challenges in navigating complex, hazardous environments that often limit traditional rigid robots. This paper critically examines…
Robot accidents are inevitable. Although rare, they have been happening since assembly-line robots were first introduced in the 1960s. But a new generation of social robots are now becoming commonplace. Often with sophisticated embedded…
This paper introduces an innovative methodology for object manipulation on the surface of water through the collaboration of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) connected to the object by tethers. We…
We present a scalable combined localization infrastructure deployment and task planning algorithm for underwater assembly. Infrastructure is autonomously modified to suit the needs of manipulation tasks based on an uncertainty model on the…
This paper investigates the use of a sampling-based approach, the RRT*, to reconfigure a 2D set of connected tiles in complex environments, where multiple obstacles might be present. Since the target application is automated building of…
We present an efficient, elastic 3D LiDAR reconstruction framework which can reconstruct up to maximum LiDAR ranges (60 m) at multiple frames per second, thus enabling robot exploration in large-scale environments. Our approach only…
Reconfigurable robot swarms are capable of connecting with each other to form complex structures. Current mechanical or magnetic connection mechanisms can be complicated to manufacture, consume high power, have a limited load-bearing…
We present a novel outdoor navigation algorithm to generate stable and efficient actions to navigate a robot to reach a goal. We use a multi-stage training pipeline and show that our approach produces policies that result in stable and…
Computing stabilizing and optimal control actions for legged locomotion in real time is difficult due to the nonlinear, hybrid, and high dimensional nature of these robots. The hybrid nature of the system introduces a combination of…
Despite a significant proportion of the Earth being covered in water, exploration of what lies below has been limited due to the challenges and difficulties inherent in the process. Current state of the art robots such as Remotely Operated…
We present an approach to enhance wheeled planetary rover dead-reckoning localization performance by leveraging the use of zero-type constraint equations in the navigation filter. Without external aiding, inertial navigation solutions…
The increasing complexity of natural disaster incidents demands innovative technological solutions to support first responders in their efforts. This paper introduces the TRIFFID system, a comprehensive technical framework that integrates…
Wheeled robot navigation has been widely used in urban environments, but little research has been conducted on its navigation in wild vegetation. External sensors (LiDAR, camera etc.) are often used to construct point cloud map of the…
Autonomous surface vessels (ASV) represent a promising technology to automate water-quality monitoring of lakes. In this work, we use satellite images as a coarse map and plan sampling routes for the robot. However, inconsistency between…
The effect of substrate topography on the settlement of coral larvae in wave-driven oscillatory flow is investigated using computational fluid dynamics coupled to a 2D agent-based simulation of individual larvae. Substrate topography…
Research on untethered micro-swimming robots is growing fast owing to their potential impact on minimally invasive medical procedures. Candidate propulsion mechanisms of robots are based on flagellar mechanisms of microorganisms such as…
Autonomous robots must navigate and operate in diverse environments, from terrestrial and aquatic settings to aerial and space domains. While Reinforcement Learning (RL) has shown promise in training policies for specific autonomous robots,…
Manipulation planning and control are relevant building blocks of a robotic system and their tight integration is a key factor to improve robot autonomy and allows robots to perform manipulation tasks of increasing complexity, such as those…
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are crucial in Search and Rescue (SAR) missions due to their ability to monitor vast maritime areas. However, small objects often remain difficult to detect from high altitudes due to low object-to-background…
The process of fish cage inspections, which is a necessary maintenance task at any fish farm, be it small scale or industrial, is a task that has the potential to be fully automated. Replacing trained divers who perform regular inspections…