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General-purpose mobile manipulators have the potential to serve as a versatile form of assistive technology. However, their complexity creates challenges, including the risk of being too difficult to use. We present a proof-of-concept…
Agricultural robotics and automation are facing some challenges rooted in the high variability 9 of products, task complexity, crop quality requirement, and dense vegetation. Such a set of 10 challenges demands a more versatile and safe…
Grasping is the dominant approach for robot manipulation, but only a single object can be grasped at a time. Nonprehensile manipulation offers richer set of interactions, however state-of-the-art is limited to using the end-effector only.…
Robot-assisted dressing has the potential to significantly improve the lives of individuals with mobility impairments. To ensure an effective and comfortable dressing experience, the robot must be able to handle challenging deformable…
The progressive prevalence of robots in human-suited environments has given rise to a myriad of object manipulation techniques, in which dexterity plays a paramount role. It is well-established that humans exhibit extraordinary dexterity…
Humans throw and catch objects all the time. However, such a seemingly common skill introduces a lot of challenges for robots to achieve: The robots need to operate such dynamic actions at high-speed, collaborate precisely, and interact…
This paper provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art in selective harvesting robots (SHRs) and their potential for addressing the challenges of global food production. SHRs have the potential to increase productivity, reduce…
Despite the growth of physically assistive robotics (PAR) research over the last decade, nearly half of PAR user studies do not involve participants with the target disabilities. There are several reasons for this -- recruitment challenges,…
For successful object manipulation with robotic hands, it is important to ensure that the object remains in the grasp at all times. In addition to grasp constraints associated with slipping and singular hand configurations, excessive…
Robotic manipulation of fresh fruits and vegetables, including the grasping of multiple loose items, has a strong industrial need but it still is a challenging task for robotic manipulation. This paper outlines the distinctive manipulation…
Surgical robotics is a rising field in medical technology and advanced robotics. Robot assisted surgery, or robotic surgery, allows surgeons to perform complicated surgical tasks with more precision, automation, and flexibility than is…
Robotic assistance in minimally invasive surgery can greatly enhance surgical precision and reduce surgeon fatigue. This paper presents a focused investigation on the kinematic and ergonomic design principles for a laparoscopic surgical…
There are a large number of robotic platforms with two or more arms targeting surgical applications. Despite that, very few groups have employed such platforms for scientific exploration. Possible applications of a multi-arm platform in…
In this paper, we present asymmetric pivot manipulation for picking up rigid hollow objects to achieve a hole grasp. The pivot motion, executed by a position-controlled robotic arm, enables the gripper to effectively grasp hollow objects…
Soft robotic systems present a variety of new opportunities for solving complex problems. The use of soft robotic grippers, for example, can simplify the complexity in tasks such as the of grasping irregular and delicate objects. Adoption…
We consider the problem of reorienting a rigid object with arbitrary known shape on a table using a two-finger pinch gripper. Reorienting problem is challenging because of its non-smoothness and high dimensionality. In this work, we focus…
Robotic arms, integral in domestic care for individuals with motor impairments, enable them to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) independently, reducing dependence on human caregivers. These collaborative robots require users to…
Tactile sensing is of great importance during human hand usage such as object exploration, grasping and manipulation. Different types of tactile sensors have been designed during the past decades, which are mainly focused on either the…
Robotic surgery has reached a high level of maturity and has become an integral part of standard surgical care. However, existing surgeon consoles are bulky, take up valuable space in the operating room, make surgical team coordination…
Automating small-scale experiments in materials science presents challenges due to the heterogeneous nature of experimental setups. This study introduces the SCU-Hand (Soft Conical Universal Robot Hand), a novel end-effector designed to…