Related papers: External Steering of Vine Robots via Magnetic Actu…
Despite a significant proportion of the Earth being covered in water, exploration of what lies below has been limited due to the challenges and difficulties inherent in the process. Current state of the art robots such as Remotely Operated…
Inflated-beam soft robots, such as tip-everting vine robots, can control curvature by contracting one beam side via pneumatic actuation. This work develops a general finite element modeling approach to characterize their bending. The model…
Precision agriculture is rapidly attracting research to efficiently introduce automation and robotics solutions to support agricultural activities. Robotic navigation in vineyards and orchards offers competitive advantages in autonomously…
Agricultural robots have the potential to increase production yields and reduce costs by performing repetitive and time-consuming tasks. However, for robots to be effective, they must be able to navigate autonomously in fields or orchards…
Shape change enables new capabilities for robots. One class of robots capable of dramatic shape change is soft growing "vine" robots. These robots usually feature global actuation methods for bending that limit them to simple,…
Vine-inspired robots achieve large workspace coverage through tip eversion, enabling safe navigation in confined and cluttered environments. However, their deployment in free space is fundamentally limited by low axial stiffness, poor…
The fields of soft and bio-inspired robotics promise to imbue synthetic systems with capabilities found in the natural world. However, many of these biological capabilities are yet to be realized. For example, vines in nature direct growth…
Pneumatically operated soft growing robots that extend via tip eversion are well-suited for navigation in confined spaces. Adding the ability to interact with the environment using sensors and tools attached to the robot tip would greatly…
Soft-growing robots (i.e., vine robots) are a promising class of soft robots that allow for navigation and growth in tightly confined environments. However, these robots remain challenging to model and control due to the complex interplay…
Mobile robots are increasingly utilized in agriculture to automate labor-intensive tasks such as weeding, sowing, harvesting and soil analysis. Recently, agricultural robots have been developed to detect and remove weeds using mechanical…
Magnetic soft robots have attracted growing interest due to their unique advantages in terms of untethered actuation and excellent controllability. However, finding the required magnetization patterns or magnetic fields to achieve the…
This paper presents a novel design and experimental investigation for a self-propelled capsule robot that can be used for painless colonoscopy during a retrograde progression from the patient's rectum. The steerable robot is driven forward…
Tip-extending soft robots that "grow" via pneumatic eversion of their body material have demonstrated applications in exploration of cluttered environments. During growth, the motion and force of the robot tip can be controlled in three…
Enhancing robot navigation efficiency is a crucial objective in modern robotics. Robots relying on external navigation systems are often susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and encounter environmental disturbances, resulting…
Soft, growing vine robots are well-suited for exploring cluttered, unknown environments, and are theorized to be performant during structural collapse incidents caused by earthquakes, fires, explosions, and material flaws. These vine robots…
There is a dramatic shortage of skilled labor for modern vineyards. The Vinum project is developing a mobile robotic solution to autonomously navigate through vineyards for winter grapevine pruning. This necessitates an autonomous…
Robotic magnetic manipulation offers a minimally invasive approach to gastrointestinal examinations through capsule endoscopy. However, controlling such systems using external permanent magnets (EPM) is challenging due to nonlinear magnetic…
Autonomous navigation is the foundation of agricultural robots. This paper focuses on developing an advanced autonomous navigation system for a rover operating within row-based crops. A position-agnostic system is proposed to address the…
Magnetic microrobots can be navigated by an external magnetic field to autonomously move within living organisms with complex and unstructured environments. Potential applications include drug delivery, diagnostics, and therapeutic…
Soft robots require directional control to navigate complex terrains. However, achieving such control often requires multiple actuators, which increases mechanical complexity, complicates control systems, and raises energy consumption.…