Related papers: Self-Sensing for Proprioception and Contact Detect…
Accurate human pose estimation is essential for effective Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). By observing a user's arm movements, robots can respond appropriately, whether it's providing assistance or avoiding collisions. While visual…
Many robots utilize commercial force/torque sensors to identify inertial properties of unknown objects. However, such sensors can be difficult to apply to small-sized robots due to their weight, size, and cost. In this paper, we propose a…
Artificial skin with the sense of touch can support robots to interact with the surrounding environment efficiently and accomplish complex tasks. Traditional multi-layered artificial skins require complex manufacturing processes which can…
Soft robotic fingers can improve adaptability in grasping and manipulation, compensating for geometric variation in object or environmental contact, but today lack force capacity and fine dexterity. Integrated tactile sensors can provide…
Soft robots can safely interact with environments because of their mechanical compliance. Self-collision is also employed in the modern design of soft robots to enhance their performance during different tasks. However, developing an…
Robots built from soft materials can alter their shape and size in a particular profile. This shape-changing ability could be extremely helpful for rescue robots and those operating in unknown terrains and environments. In changing shape,…
Perception algorithms that provide estimates of their uncertainty are crucial to the development of autonomous robots that can operate in challenging and uncontrolled environments. Such perception algorithms provide the means for having…
During in-hand manipulation, robots must be able to continuously estimate the pose of the object in order to generate appropriate control actions. The performance of algorithms for pose estimation hinges on the robot's sensors being able to…
Internal computational models of physical bodies are fundamental to the ability of robots and animals alike to plan and control their actions. These "self-models" allow robots to consider outcomes of multiple possible future actions,…
Whisker-like touch sensors offer unique advantages for short-range perception in environments where visual and long-range sensing are unreliable, such as confined, cluttered, or low-visibility settings. This paper presents a framework for…
Soft robots offer more flexibility, compliance, and adaptability than traditional rigid robots. They are also typically lighter and cheaper to manufacture. However, their use in real-world applications is limited due to modeling challenges…
Robot-to-human object handover is an essential skill for robot assistants, from serving drinks at home to passing surgical tools in the operating room. We expect robots to perform handover robustly -- to release the object only after a firm…
We develop a real-time state estimation system to recover the pose and contact formation of an object relative to its environment. In this paper, we focus on the application of inserting an object picked by a suction cup into a tight space,…
Soft robots have become increasingly popular for complex manipulation tasks requiring gentle and safe contact. However, their softness makes accurate control challenging, and high-fidelity sensing is a prerequisite to adequate control…
Legged robots constructed from soft materials are commonly claimed to demonstrate safer, more robust environmental interactions than their rigid counterparts. However, this motivating feature of soft robots requires more rigorous…
Robotic manipulation has made significant advancements, with systems demonstrating high precision and repeatability. However, this remarkable precision often fails to translate into efficient manipulation of thin deformable objects. Current…
Legged robot navigation in unstructured and slippery terrains depends heavily on the ability to accurately identify the quality of contact between the robot's feet and the ground. Contact state estimation is regarded as a challenging…
The integration of imitation and reinforcement learning has enabled remarkable advances in humanoid whole-body control, facilitating diverse human-like behaviors. However, research on environment-dependent motions remains limited. Existing…
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…
Compression of soft bodies is central to biology, materials science, and robotics, yet existing contact theories break down at large deformations. Here, we develop a general framework for soft-body compression by extending the method of…