Related papers: Prototype Design and Efficiency Analysis of a Nove…
This paper presents a novel approach through the design and implementation of Cycloidal Quasi-Direct Drive actuators for legged robotics. The cycloidal gear mechanism, with its inherent high torque density and mechanical robustness, offers…
We design, build, and thoroughly test a new type of actuator dubbed viscoelastic liquid cooled actuator (VLCA) for robotic applications. VLCAs excel in the following five critical axes of performance: energy efficiency, torque density,…
This paper presents a 3-DOF hopping robot with a human-like lower-limb joint configuration and a flat foot, capable of performing dynamic and repetitive jumping motions. To achieve both high torque output and a large hollow shaft diameter…
Navigating an arbitrary-shaped ground robot safely in cluttered environments remains a challenging problem. The existing trajectory planners that account for the robot's physical geometry severely suffer from the intractable runtime. To…
High-performance actuators are crucial to enable mechanical versatility of lower-limb wearable robots, which are required to be lightweight, highly backdrivable, and with high bandwidth. State-of-the-art actuators, e.g., series elastic…
Tilt-rotor aerial robots are more dynamic and versatile than fixed-rotor platforms, since the thrust vector and body orientation are decoupled. However, the coordination of servos and propellers (the allocation problem) is not trivial,…
Triphibious robots capable of multi-domain motion and cross-domain transitions are promising to handle complex tasks across diverse environments. However, existing designs primarily focus on dual-mode platforms, and some designs suffer from…
To enhance the obstacle-crossing and endurance capabilities of vehicles operating in complex environments, this paper presents the design of a hybrid terrestrial/aerial coaxial tilt-rotor vehicle, TactV, which integrates advantages such as…
Traditional aerial vehicles are constrained to perform specific tasks due to their adhoc designs. Based on modularity, we propose a versatile robot, H-ModQuad, that can adapt to different tasks by increasing its load capacity and actuated…
Continuum and soft robots can leverage complex actuator shapes to take on useful shapes while actuating only a few of their many degrees of freedom. Continuum robots that also grow increase the range of potential shapes that can be actuated…
Wearable and legged robot designers face multiple challenges when choosing actuation. Traditional fully actuated designs using electric motors are multifunctional but oversized and inefficient for bearing conservative loads and for being…
Wearable robots are limited by their actuators performances because they must bear the weight of their own power system and energy source. This paper explores the idea of leveraging hybrid modes to meet multiple operating points with a…
This paper describes the control, and evaluation of a new human-scaled biped robot with liquid cooled viscoelastic actuators (VLCA). Based on the lessons learned from previous work from our team on VLCA [1], we present a new system design…
The optimal design of robotic actuators is a critical area of research, yet limited attention has been given to optimizing gearbox parameters and automating actuator CAD. This paper introduces COMPAct: Computational Optimization and…
Pneumatically-actuated anthropomorphic robots with high degrees of freedom (DOF) offer significant potential for physical human-robot interaction. However, precise control of pneumatic actuators is challenging due to their inherent…
We present a novel class of robots belonging to Constrained Collaborative Mobile Agents (CCMA) family which consists of ground mobile bases with non-holonomic constraints. Moreover, these mobile robots are constrained by closed-loop…
Robots built from soft materials can alter their shape and size in a particular profile. This shape-changing ability could be extremely helpful for rescue robots and those operating in unknown terrains and environments. In changing shape,…
Cycloidal propellers are known for their omnidirectional vectored thrust, enabling smooth transitions between hovering and forward flight, making them ideal for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and electric vertical take-off and landing…
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…
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…