Related papers: SoRoTop: a hitchhiker's guide to topology optimiza…
Recent advancements in soft actuators have enabled soft continuum swimming robots to achieve higher efficiency and more closely mimic the behaviors of real marine animals. However, optimizing the design and control of these soft continuum…
The robust topology optimization formulation that introduces the eroded and dilated versions of the design has gained increasing popularity in recent years, mainly because of its ability to produce designs satisfying a minimum length scale.…
The efficient optimization of actuated soft structures, particularly under complex nonlinear forces, remains a critical challenge in advancing robotics. Simulations of nonlinear structures, such as soft-bodied robots modeled using the…
Sim-to-real transfer remains a significant challenge in soft robotics due to the unpredictability introduced by common manufacturing processes such as 3D printing and molding. These processes often result in deviations from simulated…
Element-based topology optimization algorithms capable of generating smooth boundaries have drawn serious attention given the significance of accurate boundary information in engineering applications. The basic framework of a new…
Uncertainties in contact dynamics and object geometry remain significant barriers to robust robotic manipulation. Caging mitigates these uncertainties by constraining an object's mobility without requiring precise contact modeling. However,…
Ground robots navigating in complex, dynamic environments must compute collision-free trajectories to avoid obstacles safely and efficiently. Nonconvex optimization is a popular method to compute a trajectory in real-time. However, these…
We propose an efficient probabilistic method to solve a deterministic problem -- we present a randomized optimization approach that drastically reduces the enormous computational cost of optimizing designs under many load cases for both…
Robotic manipulation in complex, constrained spaces is vital for widespread applications but challenging, particularly when navigating narrow passages with elongated objects. Existing planning methods often fail in these low-clearance…
This paper presents a computationally efficient optimization algorithm for solving nonconvex optimal control problems that involve discrete logic constraints. Traditional solution methods for these constraints require binary variables and…
We aim to solve a topology optimization problem where the distribution of material in the design domain is represented by a density function. To obtain candidates for local minima, we want to solve the first order optimality system via…
This work provides a complete framework for the simulation, co-optimization, and sim-to-real transfer of the design and control of soft legged robots. The compliance of soft robots provides a form of "mechanical intelligence" -- the ability…
This paper presents a topology optimization framework for structural problems subjected to transient loading. The mechanical model assumes a linear elastic isotropic material, infinitesimal strains, and a dynamic response. The optimization…
This paper introduces a new algorithm for trajectory optimization, Decoupled Reduced-space and Adaptive Feasibility-repair Trajectory Optimization (DRAFTO). It first constructs a constrained objective that accounts for smoothness, safety,…
The traditional element-based topology optimization based on material penalization typically aims at a 0/1 design. Our numerical experiments reveal that the compliance of a smooth design is overestimated when material properties of boundary…
This study proposes the topology optimization method for moving rigid bodies subjected to forces from fluid flow, such as sails and turbines, with an unsteady time-dependent formulation. Unlike existing topology optimization frameworks in…
Generating overtaking trajectories in high-speed scenarios is typically addressed through hierarchical planning, which often suffers from local optima due to single initial solutions and low computational efficiency during numerical…
The paper presents a topology optimization approach that designs an optimal structure, called a self-supporting structure, which is ready to be fabricated via additive manufacturing without the usage of additional support structures. Such…
Soft robots achieve functionality through tight coupling among geometry, material composition, and actuation. As a result, effective design optimization requires these three aspects to be considered jointly rather than in isolation. This…
Fluid-structure interaction models are used to study how a material interacts with different fluids at different Reynolds numbers. Examining the same model not only for different fluids but also for different solids allows to optimize the…