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Continuum and soft robots can leverage complex actuator shapes to take on useful shapes while actuating only a few of their many degrees of freedom. Continuum robots that also grow increase the range of potential shapes that can be actuated…
Accurately modeling soft robots in simulation is computationally expensive and commonly falls short of representing the real world. This well-known discrepancy, known as the sim-to-real gap, can have several causes, such as coarsely…
Modeling and control of the human musculoskeletal system is important for understanding human motor functions, developing embodied intelligence, and optimizing human-robot interaction systems. However, current human musculoskeletal models…
We propose a mechanically simple and cheap design for a series elastic actuator with controllable stiffness. Such characteristics are necessary for animals for running, jumping, throwing, and manipulation, yet in robots, variable stiffness…
Aerial Manipulator Systems (AMS) have garnered significant interest for their utility in aerial operations. Nonetheless, challenges related to the manipulator's limited stiffness and the coupling disturbance with manipulator movement…
Robot hands that imitate the shape of the human body have been actively studied, and various materials and mechanisms have been proposed to imitate the human body. Although the use of soft materials is advantageous in that it can imitate…
High-speed and high-acceleration movements are inherently hard to control. Applying learning to the control of such motions on anthropomorphic robot arms can improve the accuracy of the control but might damage the system. The inherent…
Parallel robots based on Handed Shearing Auxetics (HSAs) can implement complex motions using standard electric motors while maintaining the complete softness of the structure, thanks to specifically designed architected metamaterials.…
We present self-organizing control principles for simulated robots actuated by synthetic muscles. Muscles correspond to linear motors exerting force only when contracting, but not when expanding, with joints being actuated by pairs of…
Traditional robotic mechanisms contain a series of rigid links connected by rotational joints that provide powered motion, all of which is controlled by a central processor. By contrast, analogous mechanisms found in nature, such as octopus…
In the development of active animate materials, electromechanical coupling is highly attractive to realize mechanoresponsive functionality. Piezoelectricity is the most utilized electromechanical phenomenon due to the wide availability of…
This work presents a novel Shape Memory Alloy spring actuated continuum robotic neck that derives inspiration from pennate muscle architecture. The proposed design has 2DOF, and experimental studies reveal that the designed joint can…
For a robot with redundant sensors and actuators distributed throughout its body, it is difficult to construct a controller or a neural network using all of them due to computational cost and complexity. Therefore, it is effective to…
Inspired by the necessity of morphological adaptation in animals, a growing body of work has attempted to expand robot training to encompass physical aspects of a robot's design. However, reinforcement learning methods capable of optimizing…
Human movement disorders or paralysis lead to the loss of control of muscle activation and thus motor control. Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is an established and safe technique for contracting muscles by stimulating the skin…
Aging populations and the rising prevalence of neurological and musculoskeletal disorders increase the demand for wearable mobility assistive devices that are effective, comfortable, and anatomically compatible. Many existing systems use…
Movement disorders impact muscle strength and mobility, and despite therapeutic efforts, many people with movement disorders have challenges functioning independently. Soft wearable robots, or exosuits, offer a promising solution for…
Living organisms intertwine soft (e.g., muscle) and hard (e.g., bones) materials, giving them an intrinsic flexibility and resiliency often lacking in conventional rigid robots. The emerging field of soft robotics seeks to harness these…
Can robots mold soft plastic materials by shaping depth images? The short answer is no: current day robots can't. In this article, we address the problem of shaping plastic material with an anthropomorphic arm/hand robot, which observes the…
Current anthropomorphic robotic hands mainly focus on improving their dexterity by devising new mechanical structures and actuation systems. However, most of them rely on a single structure/system (e.g., bone-only) and ignore the fact that…