Related papers: Adaptive Hierarchical Origami Metastructures
Mammals can generate autonomous behaviors in various complex environments through the coordination and interaction of activities at different levels of their central nervous system. In this paper, we propose a novel hierarchical learning…
Mechanical metamaterials -- structures with unusual properties that emerge from their internal architecture -- that are designed to undergo large deformations typically exploit large internal rotations, and therefore, necessitate the…
Inspired by the unique neurophysiology of the octopus, we propose a hierarchical framework that simplifies the coordination of multiple soft arms by decomposing control into high-level decision making, low-level motor activation, and local…
Transitions of multistability in structures have been exploited for various functions and applications, such as spectral gap tuning, impact energy trapping, and wave steering. However, a fundamental and comprehensive understanding of the…
Origami offers a versatile framework for designing morphable structures and soft robots by exploiting the geometry of folds. Tubular origami structures can act as continuum manipulators that balance flexibility and strength. However,…
Modular robotics holds immense potential for space exploration, where reliability, repairability, and reusability are critical for cost-effective missions. Coordination between heterogeneous units is paramount for precision tasks -- whether…
Biological systems, such as the octopus, exhibit masterful cross-scale manipulation by adaptively reconfiguring their entire form, a capability that remains elusive in robotics. Conventional soft grippers, while compliant, are mostly…
Thick origami structures are considered here as assemblies of polygonal panels hinged to each other along their edges according to a corresponding origami crease pattern. The determination of the internal actions caused by external loads in…
Rotational erection system (RES) represents an origami-based design method for generating a three-dimensional (3D) structure from a planar sheet without compression. Its rotational and translational kinematics is fully encoded in a form of…
Realizing a soft manipulator with biologically comparable flexibility and versatility often requires careful selection of materials and actuation, as well as attentive design of its structure, perception, and control. Here, we report a new…
Kirigami-inspired metamaterials are attracting increasing interest because of their ability to achieve extremely large strains and shape changes via out-of-plane buckling. While in flat kirigami sheets the ligaments buckle simultaneously as…
We introduce an additive approach for the design of a class of transformable structures based on two-bar linkages ("scissor mechanisms") joined at vertices to form a two dimensional lattice. Our discussion traces an underlying mathematical…
Evolutionary algorithms offer great promise for the automatic design of robot bodies, tailoring them to specific environments or tasks. Most research is done on simplified models or virtual robots in physics simulators, which do not capture…
Hierarchies allow feature sharing between objects at multiple levels of representation, can code exponential variability in a very compact way and enable fast inference. This makes them potentially suitable for learning and recognizing a…
Isoperimetric robots are large scale, untethered inflatable robots that can undergo large shape changes, but have only been demonstrated in one 3D shape -- an octahedron. These robots consist of independent triangles that can change shape…
This study starts from the counter-intuitive question of how we can render a conventional stiff, non-stretchable and even brittle material conformable so that it can fully wrap around a curved surface, such as a sphere, without failure.…
Robots operating in the real world will experience a range of different environments and tasks. It is essential for the robot to have the ability to adapt to its surroundings to work efficiently in changing conditions. Evolutionary robotics…
From the complex motions of robots to the oxygen binding of hemoglobin, the function of many mechanical systems depends on large, coordinated movements of their components. Such movements arise from a network of physical interactions in the…
Origami-inspired self-deployable structures offer lightweight, compact, and autonomous deployment capabilities, making them highly attractive for aerospace and defence applications, such as solar panels, antennas, and reflector systems.…
We present a multi-robot task and motion planning method that, when applied to the rearrangement of objects by manipulators, results in solution times up to three orders of magnitude faster than existing methods and successfully plans for…