Related papers: Modular Robots: extending the capabilities of one …
Many current robot designs prioritize efficiency and one-size-fits-all solutions, oftentimes overlooking personalization, adaptability, and sustainability. To explore alternatives, we conducted two co-design workshops with 23 participants,…
We argue that hardware modularity plays a key role in the convergence of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). We introduce a new approach for building robots that leads to more adaptable and capable machines. We present the concept of…
The advantage of modular self-reconfigurable robot systems is their flexibility, but this advantage can only be realized if appropriate configurations (shapes) and behaviors (controlling programs) can be selected for a given task. In this…
This chapter is about the fundamentals of fabrication, control, and human-robot interaction of a new type of collaborative robotic manipulators, called malleable robots, which are based on adjustable architectures of varying stiffness for…
Modular robots have the potential to revolutionize automation, as one can optimize their composition for any given task. However, finding optimal compositions is non-trivial. In addition, different compositions require different base…
Nowadays, electric robots play big role in many fields as they can replace humans and/or decrease the amount of load on humans. There are several types of robots that are present in the daily life, some of them are fully controlled by…
Modularity is a general principle present in many fields. It offers attractive advantages, including, among others, ease of conceptualization, interpretability, scalability, module combinability, and module reusability. The deep learning…
How can we build generalist robot systems? Scale may not be enough due to the significant multimodality of robotics tasks, lack of easily accessible data and the challenges of deploying on physical hardware. Meanwhile, most deployed robotic…
In robotics, the concept of "dull, dirty, and dangerous" (DDD) work has been used to motivate where robots might be useful. In this paper, we conduct an empirical analysis of robotics publications between 1980 and 2024 that mention DDD, and…
Robotic systems are multi-dimensional entities, combining both hardware and software, that are heavily dependent on, and influenced by, interactions with the real world. They can be variously categorised as embedded, cyberphysical,…
Many prediction problems, such as those that arise in the context of robotics, have a simplifying underlying structure that, if known, could accelerate learning. In this paper, we present a strategy for learning a set of neural network…
In situ robotic automation in construction is challenging due to constantly changing environments, a shortage of robotic experts, and a lack of standardized frameworks bridging robotics and construction practices. This work proposes a…
Traditional aerial vehicles have limitations in their capabilities due to actuator constraints, such as motor saturation. The hardware components and their arrangement are designed to satisfy specific requirements and are difficult to…
Transfer learning has recently become the dominant paradigm of machine learning. Pre-trained models fine-tuned for downstream tasks achieve better performance with fewer labelled examples. Nonetheless, it remains unclear how to develop…
The theoretical ability of modular robots to reconfigure in response to complex tasks in a priori unknown environments has frequently been cited as an advantage and remains a major motivator for work in the field. We present a modular robot…
Industrial robots typically require very structured and predictable working environments, and explicit programming, in order to perform well. Therefore, expensive and time-consuming engineering work is a major obstruction when mediating…
This work presents an approach for robots to suitably carry out complex applications characterized by the presence of multiple additional constraints or subtasks (e.g. obstacle and self-collision avoidance) but subject to redundancy…
Soft robots, compared to rigid robots, possess inherent advantages, including higher degrees of freedom, compliance, and enhanced safety, which have contributed to their increasing application across various fields. Among these benefits,…
Social robots are becoming increasingly diverse in their design, behavior, and usage. In this chapter, we provide a broad-ranging overview of the main characteristics that arise when one considers social robots and their interactions with…
Robotics and automation have the potential to significantly improve quality of life for people with assistive needs and their carers. Adoption of such technologies at this point in time is far from widespread. This paper presents a novel…