Related papers: Biological Organisms as End Effectors
This study proposed a novel robotic gripper that can achieve grasping and infinite wrist twisting motions using a single actuator. The gripper is equipped with a differential gear mechanism that allows switching between the grasping and…
The automatic design of embodied agents (e.g. robots) has existed for 31 years and is experiencing a renaissance of interest in the literature. To date however, the field has remained narrowly focused on two kinds of anatomically simple…
Evolutionary robot systems are usually affected by the properties of the environment indirectly through selection. In this paper, we present and investigate a system where the environment also has a direct effect: through regulation. We…
This paper introduces a novel and general method to address the problem of using a general-purpose robot manipulator with a parallel gripper to wrap a deformable linear object (DLO), called a rope, around a rigid object, called a rod,…
In the 80's, biomechanicians were asked to work on Computer Aided Surgery applications since orthopaedic surgeons were looking for numerical tools able to predict risks of fractures. More recently, biomechanicians started to address soft…
Swarm Robotics is an emerging field of adapting the phenomenon of natural swarms to robotics. It is a study of robots that are aimed to mimic natural swarms, like ants and birds, to form a system that is scalable, flexible, and robust.…
Often robots are seen as a means to an end to fulfill a logical objective task. Android robots, on the other hand, provide new possibilities to fulfill emotional tasks and could therefore be integrated into assistive scenarios. We explored…
In industry assembly lines, parts feeding machines are widely employed as the prologue of the whole procedure. They play the role of sorting the parts randomly placed in bins to the state with specified pose. With the help of the parts…
Generative Pre-Trained Transformers (GPTs) are hyped to revolutionize robotics. Here we question their utility. GPTs for autonomous robotics demand enormous and costly compute, excessive training times and (often) offboard wireless control.…
Unlike human beings that can employ the entire surface of their limbs as a means to establish contact with their environment, robots are typically programmed to interact with their environments via their end-effectors, in a collision-free…
The presence of faulty or underactuated manipulators can disrupt the end-effector formation keeping of a team of manipulators. Based on two-link planar manipulators, we investigate this end-effector formation keeping problem for mixed…
End-user programming (EUP) tools must balance user control with the robot's ability to plan and act autonomously. Many existing task-oriented EUP tools enforce a specific level of control, e.g., by requiring that users hand-craft detailed…
Ants are highly capable of grasping objects in clutter, and we have recently observed that this involves substantial use of their forelegs. The forelegs, more specifically the tarsi, have high friction microstructures (setal pads), are…
Mixed microbial communities, usually composed of various bacterial and fungal species, are fundamental in a plethora of environments, from soil to human gut and skin. Their evolution is a paradigmatic example of intertwined dynamics, where…
Understanding computational capabilities of simple biological circuits, such as the regulatory circuits of single-cell organisms, remains an active area of research. Recent theoretical work has shown that a simple regulatory architecture…
Key to our project flora robotica is the idea of creating a bio-hybrid system of tightly coupled natural plants and distributed robots to grow architectural artifacts and spaces. Our motivation with this ground research project is to lay a…
Rigidity is an emergent property of materials - it is not a feature of individual components that comprise the structure, but instead arises from interactions between many constituent parts. Recently, it has been recognized that…
Optimal motion planning along prescribed paths can be solved with several techniques, but most of them do not take into account the wrenches exerted by the end-effector when in contact with the environment. When a dynamic model of the…
The accumulation of litter is increasing in many places and is consequently becoming a problem that must be dealt with. In this paper, we present a manipulator robotic system to collect litter in outdoor environments. This system has three…
Robots built from soft materials will inherently apply lower environmental forces than their rigid counterparts, and therefore may be more suitable in sensitive settings with unintended contact. However, these robots' applied forces result…