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Object insertion tasks are prone to failure under pose uncertainty and environmental variation, often requiring manual fine-tuning or controller retraining. We present a novel approach for robust and resilient object insertion using a…
During operation, aerial manipulation systems are affected by various disturbances. Among them is a gravitational torque caused by the weight of the robotic arm. Common propeller-based actuation is ineffective against such disturbances…
Environments with large terrain height variations present great challenges for legged robot locomotion. Drawing inspiration from fire ants' collective assembly behavior, we study strategies that can enable two ``connectable'' robots to…
The operation of drones in cluttered environments and over extended areas demands adaptive flight capabilities to meet the opposing aerodynamic requirements of agile and fast cruise flight. High agility and maneuverability are required to…
In this work we present a Four-Wheeled Independent Drive and Steering (4WIDS) robot named AGRO and a method of controlling its orientation while airborne using wheel reaction torques. This is the first documented use of independently…
Soft growing robots, commonly referred to as vine robots, have demonstrated remarkable ability to interact safely and robustly with unstructured and dynamic environments. It is therefore natural to exploit contact with the environment for…
This paper presents the concept of a tethered variable inertial attitude control mechanism for a modular jumping-limbed robot designed for planetary exploration in low-gravity environments. The system, named SPLITTER, comprises two sub-10…
We address a benchmark task in agile robotics: catching objects thrown at high-speed. This is a challenging task that involves tracking, intercepting, and cradling a thrown object with access only to visual observations of the object and…
Legged robots can outperform wheeled machines for most navigation tasks across unknown and rough terrains. For such tasks, visual feedback is a fundamental asset to provide robots with terrain-awareness. However, robust dynamic locomotion…
In this paper, we explore whether a robot can learn to hang arbitrary objects onto a diverse set of supporting items such as racks or hooks. Endowing robots with such an ability has applications in many domains such as domestic services,…
Accurate estimation of aerodynamic forces is essential for advancing the control, modeling, and design of flapping-wing aerial robots with dynamic morphing capabilities. In this paper, we investigate two distinct methodologies for force…
Seemingly in defiance of basic physics, cats consistently land on their feet after falling. In this paper, we design a controller that lands the Mini Cheetah quadruped robot on its feet as well. Specifically, we explore how trajectory…
Designing aerial robots for specialized tasks, from perching to payload delivery, requires tailoring their aerodynamic shape to specific mission requirements. For tasks involving wide flight envelopes, the usual sequential process of first…
Detecting and adapting to catastrophic failures in robotic systems requires a robot to learn its new dynamics quickly and safely to best accomplish its goals. To address this challenging problem, we propose probabilistically-safe, online…
Learning adaptable policies is crucial for robots to operate autonomously in our complex and quickly changing world. In this work, we present a new meta-learning method that allows robots to quickly adapt to changes in dynamics. In contrast…
The aim of this paper is to design a new type of grasping and perching unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), called Flexbee, which features a soft vector-propulsion nozzle (SVPN). Compared to previous UAVs, Flexbee integrates flight, grasping, and…
We propose a novel method for autonomous legged robot navigation in densely vegetated environments with a variety of pliable/traversable and non-pliable/untraversable vegetation. We present a novel few-shot learning classifier that can be…
This paper presents an agile Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) landing control by considering the effect of ship's oscillations and moving, and also disturbance (i.e., crosswind) is considered. The presented control system can make the…
In the last decade, a great effort has been employed in the study of Hybrid Unmanned Aerial Underwater Vehicles, robots that can easily fly and dive into the water with different levels of mechanical adaptation. However, most of this…
Legged robots are able to navigate complex terrains by continuously interacting with the environment through careful selection of contact sequences and timings. However, the combinatorial nature behind contact planning hinders the…