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The manual design of soft robots and their controllers is notoriously challenging, but it could be augmented---or, in some cases, entirely replaced---by automated design tools. Machine learning algorithms can automatically propose, test,…
Soft robots have garnered significant attention due to their promising applications across various domains. A hallmark of these systems is their bilayer structure, where strain mismatch caused by differential expansion between layers…
A rising wave of technologies and instruments are enabling more labs and clinics to make a variety of measurements related to tissue viscoelastic properties. These instruments include elastography imaging scanners, rheological shear…
Virtual garment simulation has become increasingly important with applications in garment design and virtual try-on. However, reproducing garments faithfully remains a cumbersome process. We propose an end-to-end method for estimating…
Surgical action automation has progressed rapidly toward achieving surgeon-like dexterous control, driven primarily by advances in learning from demonstration and vision-language-action models. While these have demonstrated success in…
Accurate simulation of soft mechanisms under dynamic actuation is critical for the design of soft robots. We address this gap with our differentiable simulation tool by learning the material parameters of our soft robotic fish. On the…
A computer model can be used for predicting an output only after specifying the values of some unknown physical constants known as calibration parameters. The unknown calibration parameters can be estimated from real data by conducting…
In the context of surgery, robots can provide substantial assistance by performing small, repetitive tasks such as suturing, needle exchange, and tissue retraction, thereby enabling surgeons to concentrate on more complex aspects of the…
The plasticity of amorphous solids undergoing shear is characterized by quasi-localized rearrangements of particles. While many models of plasticity exist, the precise relationship between plastic dynamics and the structure of a particle's…
Haptic sensation is an important modality for interacting with the real world. This paper proposes a general framework of inferring haptic forces on the surface of a 3D structure from internal deformations using a small number of physical…
Molecular dynamics simulations of a three dimensional relativistic gas with a soft potential are conducted with different interactions and particle masses. For all cases the velocity distribution agrees numerically with the J\"uttner…
Confinement of filamentary objects is ubiquitous in numerous biological, medical, and engineering scenarios. Quantitatively determining the mechanical interaction between flexible filaments and surface confinement is particularly…
Integrated photoelasticity is investigated for a soft material subjected to a three-dimensional stress state. In the experiment, a solid sphere is pressed against a gelatin gel (Young's modulus is about 4.2 kPa) that deforms up to 4.5 mm…
In this paper, we study integrated estimation and control of soft robots. A significant challenge in deploying closed loop controllers is reliable proprioception via integrated sensing in soft robots. Despite the considerable advances…
Real-time simulation of elastic structures is essential in many applications, from computer-guided surgical interventions to interactive design in mechanical engineering. The Finite Element Method is often used as the numerical method of…
Human-robot co-manipulation of soft materials, such as fabrics, composites, and sheets of paper/cardboard, is a challenging operation that presents several relevant industrial applications. Estimating the deformation state of the…
We address the challenge of reliable and accurate proprioception in soft robots, specifically those with tight packaging constraints and relying only on internally embedded sensors. While various sensing approaches with single sensors have…
To touch and be touched are vital to human development, well being, and relationships. However, to those who have lost their arms and hands due to accident or war, touching becomes a serious concern that often leads to psychosocial issues…
Soft tissue simulation in virtual environments is becoming increasingly important for medical applications. However, the high deformability of soft tissue poses significant challenges. Existing methods rely on segmentation, meshing and…
During thermal heating surgical procedures such as electrosurgery, thermal ablative treatment and hyperthermia, soft tissue deformation due to tool-tissue interaction and patients' motion can affect the distribution of induced thermal…