Related papers: Improving Swimming Performance in Soft Robotic Fis…
Synthetic microswimmers offer models for cell motility and their tunability makes them promising candidates for biomedical applications. Here we measure the acoustic propulsion of bimetallic micro-rods that, when trapped at the nodal plane…
A remarkable variety of organisms use metachronal coordination (i.e., numerous neighboring appendages beating sequentially with a fixed phase lag) to swim or pump fluid. This coordination strategy is used by microorganisms to break symmetry…
Nature evolves creatures with a high complexity of morphological and behavioral intelligence, meanwhile computational methods lag in approaching that diversity and efficacy. Co-optimization of artificial creatures' morphology and control in…
Biological locomotion, observed in the flexible wings of birds and insects, bodies and fins of aquatic mammals and fishes, consists of their ability to morph the wings/fins. The morphing capability holds significance in the abilities of…
Autonomous robots can transform how we observe marine ecosystems, but close-range operation in reefs and other cluttered habitats remains difficult. Vehicles must maneuver safely near animals and fragile structures while coping with…
The one-to-one mapping of control inputs to actuator outputs results in elaborate routing architectures that limit how complex fluidic soft robot behaviours can currently become. Embodied intelligence can be used as a tool to counteract…
In this paper, we present an underactuated biomimetic underwater robot that is suitable for ecosystem monitoring in both marine and freshwater environments. We present an updated mechanical design for a fish-like robot and propose minimal…
This paper presents the design and experimental validation of a bio-inspired soft aquatic robot, the DilBot, which uses a bistable shape memory alloy-driven engine for pulse-jet locomotion. Drawing inspiration from the efficient swimming…
This paper presents a bio-inspired underwater whisker sensor for robust hydrodynamic disturbance detection and efficient signal analysis based on Physical Reservoir Computing (PRC). The design uses a tapered nylon spring with embedded…
Long-term monitoring and exploration of extreme environments, such as underwater storage facilities, is costly, labor-intensive, and hazardous. Automating this process with low-cost, collaborative robots can greatly improve efficiency.…
The Hair clip mechanism (HCM) is an in-plane prestressed bistable mechanism proposed in our previous research [1]~[5] to enhance the functionality of soft robotics. HCMs have several advantages, such as high rigidity, high mobility, good…
Soft robots achieve functionality through tight coupling among geometry, material composition, and actuation. As a result, effective design optimization requires these three aspects to be considered jointly rather than in isolation. This…
We propose reaching steps towards the real-time strain control of multiphysics, multiscale continuum soft robots. To study this problem fundamentally, we ground ourselves in a model-based control setting enabled by mathematically precise…
In this letter, an advanced stretchable optical waveguide sensor is implemented into a multidirectional PneuNet soft actuator to enhance dynamic state estimation through a NARX neural network. The stretchable waveguide featuring a…
In this paper, we explore how techniques from soft robotics can help create a new form of robot expression. We present Sprout, a soft expressive robot that conveys its internal states by changing its body shape. Sprout can extend, bend,…
We design and test an octopus-inspired flexible hull robot that demonstrates outstanding fast-starting performance. The robot is hyper-inflated with water, and then rapidly deflates to expel the fluid so as to power the escape maneuver.…
Motivated by the aim of understanding the effect of media heterogeneity on the swimming dynamics of flagellated bacteria, we study the rotation and swimming of rigid helices in dilute suspensions experimentally and theoretically. We first…
Magnetic-responsive composites that consist of soft matrix embedded with hard-magnetic particles have recently been demonstrated as robust soft active materials for fast-transforming actuation. However, the deformation of the functional…
Nature has always inspired scientists and engineers to understand the underlying mechanism leading to optimal design in bio-inspired dynamics. This study presents a computational framework for optimizing undulatory swimming profiles using a…
Fish often travel in highly organized schools. One of the most quoted functions of these configurations is energy savings. Here, we verified the hypothesis and explored the mechanism through series of experiments on "schooling" robotic…