Related papers: Open Continuum Robotics -- One Actuation Module to…
Soft continuum robots achieve complex deformation through elastic equilibrium, making their reachable motions governed jointly by structural design and actuation-induced mechanics. This work develops a general formulation that integrates…
We present a planning and control framework for physics-based manipulation under uncertainty. The key idea is to interleave robust open-loop execution with closed-loop control. We derive robustness metrics through contraction theory. We use…
A key challenge in robotic manipulation in open domains is how to acquire diverse and generalizable skills for robots. Recent research in one-shot imitation learning has shown promise in transferring trained policies to new tasks based on…
Quadruped robots have emerged as an evolving technology that currently leverages simulators to develop a robust controller capable of functioning in the real-world without the need for further training. However, since it is impossible to…
Autonomous robot-assisted surgery demands reliable, high-precision platforms that strictly adhere to the safety and kinematic constraints of minimally invasive procedures. Existing research platforms, primarily based on the da Vinci…
Rigid-bodied robots often lack compliance needed to adapt to unstructured environments, while fully soft robots, though highly adaptable, struggle with scalability and load capacity. In nature, musculoskeletal systems balance strength and…
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…
Recent advances in large-scale machine learning have produced high-capacity foundation models capable of adapting to a broad array of downstream tasks. While such models hold great promise for robotics, the prevailing paradigm still…
Smart factories that allow flexible production of highly individualized goods require flexible robots, usable in efficient assembly lines. Compliant robots can work safely in shared environments with domain experts, who have to program such…
Humans use all of their senses to accomplish different tasks in everyday activities. In contrast, existing work on robotic manipulation mostly relies on one, or occasionally two modalities, such as vision and touch. In this work, we…
This paper introduces the Omnidirectional Tractable Three Module Robot for traversing inside complex pipe networks. The robot consists of three omnidirectional modules fixed 120{\deg} apart circumferentially which can rotate about their…
In this paper, we develop estimation and control methods for quickly reacting to collisions between omnidirectional mobile platforms and their environment. To enable the full-body detection of external forces, we use torque sensors located…
Three challenges limit the progress of robot learning research: robots are expensive (few labs can participate), everyone uses different robots (findings do not generalize across labs), and we lack internet-scale robotics data. We take on…
Despite a slow neuromuscular system, humans easily outperform modern robot technology, especially in physical contact tasks. How is this possible? Biological evidence indicates that motor control of biological systems is achieved by a…
A key component of any robot is the interface between robotics middleware software and physical motors. New robots often use arbitrary, messy mixtures of closed and open motor drivers and error-prone physical mountings, wiring, and…
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,…
Formal verification of robotic tasks requires a simple yet conformant model of the used robot. We present the first work on generating reachset conformant models for robotic contact tasks considering hybrid (mixed continuous and discrete)…
This paper introduces the Omnidirectional Tractable Three Module Robot for traversing inside complex pipe networks. The robot consists of three omnidirectional modules fixed 120{\deg} apart circumferentially which can rotate about their own…
The vision of creating entirely-soft robots capable of performing complex tasks will be accomplished only when the controllers required for autonomous operation can be fully implemented on soft components. Despite recent advances in…
Continuum robots, characterized by their high flexibility and infinite degrees of freedom (DoFs), have gained prominence in applications such as minimally invasive surgery and hazardous environment exploration. However, the intrinsic…