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The 'infinite' passive degrees of freedom of soft robotic arms render their control especially challenging. In this paper, we leverage a previously developed model, which drawing equivalence of the soft arm to a series of universal joints,…
Artificial muscle-driven modular soft robots exhibit significant potential for executing complex tasks. However, their broader applicability remains constrained by the lack of dynamic model-based control strategies tailored for…
Continuum robots are becoming increasingly popular for applications which require the robots to deform and change shape, while also being compliant. A cable-driven continuum robot is one of the most commonly used type. Typical cable driven…
In this work, we present a model-based optimal boundary control design for an aerial robotic system composed of a quadrotor carrying a flexible cable. The whole system is modeled by partial differential equations (PDEs) combined with…
We propose a mechanically simple and cheap design for a series elastic actuator with controllable stiffness. Such characteristics are necessary for animals for running, jumping, throwing, and manipulation, yet in robots, variable stiffness…
Multisection continuum arms offer complementary characteristics to those of traditional rigid-bodied robots. Inspired by biological appendages, such as elephant trunks and octopus arms, these robots trade rigidity for compliance, accuracy…
Finite element methods have been successfully used to develop physics-based models of soft robots that capture the nonlinear dynamic behavior induced by continuous deformation. These high-fidelity models are therefore ideal for designing…
Snapping beams enable rapid geometric transitions through nonlinear instability, offering an efficient means of generating motion in soft robotic systems. In this study, a tendon-driven mechanism consisting of spiral-based metabeams was…
In this paper, a reinforced soft robot prototype with a custom-designed actuator-space string encoder are created to investigate dynamic soft robotic trajectory tracking. The soft robot prototype embedded with the proposed adaptive…
Soft materials have many important roles in animal locomotion and object manipulation. In robotic applications soft materials can store and release energy, absorb impacts, increase compliance and increase the range of possible shape…
In this article, a biophysically realistic model of a soft octopus arm with internal musculature is presented. The modeling is motivated by experimental observations of sensorimotor control where an arm localizes and reaches a target. Major…
This paper presents design and experimental evaluations of an articulated robotic limb called Capler-Leg. The key element of Capler-Leg is its single-stage cable-pulley transmission combined with a high-gap radius motor. Our cable-pulley…
As soft continuum manipulators characterize terrific compliance and maneuverability in narrow unstructured space, low stiffness and limited dexterity are two obvious shortcomings in practical applications. To address the issues, a novel…
Haptic interfaces play a critical role in medical teleoperation by enabling surgeons to interact with remote environments through realistic force and motion feedback. Achieving high fidelity in such systems requires balancing the trade-offs…
Robotic arms built from stiffness-adjustable, continuously bending segments serially connected with revolute joints have the ability to change their mechanical architecture and workspace, thus allowing high flexibility and adaptation to…
Manipulation of deformable objects is a desired skill in making robots ubiquitous in manufacturing, service, healthcare, and security. Deformable objects are common in our daily lives, e.g., wires, clothes, bed sheets, etc., and are…
Dynamic control of a soft-body robot to deliver complex behaviors with low-dimensional actuation inputs is challenging. In this paper, we present a computational approach to automatically generate versatile, underactuated control policies…
We propose a hardware and software pipeline to fabricate flexible wearable sensors and use them to capture deformations without line of sight. Our first contribution is a low-cost fabrication pipeline to embed multiple aligned conductive…
Soft robots are made of compliant materials and perform tasks that are challenging for rigid robots. However, their continuum nature makes it difficult to develop model-based control strategies. This work presents a robust model-based…
Flying manipulators are aerial drones with attached rigid-bodied robotic arms and belong to the latest and most actively developed research areas in robotics. The rigid nature of these arms often lack compliance, flexibility, and smoothness…