Related papers: Steerable rolling of a 1-DoF robot using an intern…
We study the rolling motion of a small solid sphere on a surface patterned rubber substrate in an external field with and without a noise. In the absence of the noise, the ball does not move below a threshold force above which it…
Control of compliant mechanical systems is increasingly being researched for several applications including flexible link robots and ultra-precision positioning systems. The control problem in these systems is challenging, especially with…
Localization and navigation are two crucial issues for mobile robots. In this paper, we propose an approach for localization and navigation systems for a differential-drive robot based on monocular SLAM. The system is implemented on the…
Navigating rugged terrain and steep slopes is a challenge for mobile robots. Conventional legged and wheeled systems struggle with these environments due to limited traction and stability. Northeastern University's COBRA (Crater Observing…
Soft pneumatic legged robots show promise in their ability to traverse a range of different types of terrain, including natural unstructured terrain met in applications like precision agriculture. They can adapt their body morphology to the…
The deformable and continuum nature of soft robots promises versatility and adaptability. However, control of modular, multi-limbed soft robots for terrestrial locomotion is challenging due to the complex robot structure, actuator mechanics…
Continuum soft robots are inherently underactuated and subject to intrinsic input constraints, making dynamic control particularly challenging, especially in hybrid rigid-soft robots. While most existing methods focus on quasi-static…
We present the modeling, design, fabrication and feedback control of an earthworm-inspired soft robot capable of crawling on surfaces by actively manipulating the frictional force between its body and the surface. Earthworms are segmented…
Recently, several approaches have attempted to combine motion generation and control in one loop to equip robots with reactive behaviors, that cannot be achieved with traditional time-indexed tracking controllers. These approaches however…
Time-delayed control in a balancing problem may be a nonsmooth function for a variety of reasons. In this paper we study a simple model of the control of an inverted pendulum by either a connected movable cart or an applied torque for which…
Modular robots can be rearranged into a new design, perhaps each day, to handle a wide variety of tasks by forming a customized robot for each new task. However, reconfiguring just the mechanism is not sufficient: each design also requires…
Mobile robots have been widely used in various aspects of human life. When a robot moves between different positions in the working area to perform the task, controlling motion to follow a pre-defined path is the primary task of a mobile…
Designing a robot or structure that can fold itself into a target shape is a process that involves challenges originated from multiple sources. For example, the designer of rigid self-folding robots must consider foldability from geometric…
This paper explores the concept of external magnetic control for vine robots to enable their high curvature steering and navigation for use in endoluminal applications. Vine robots, inspired by natural growth and locomotion strategies,…
Soft materials have many important roles in animal locomotion and object manipulation. In robotic applications soft materials can store and release energy, absorb impacts, increase compliance and increase the range of possible shape…
Legged robot locomotion on a dynamic rigid surface (i.e., a rigid surface moving in the inertial frame) involves complex full-order dynamics that is high-dimensional, nonlinear, and time-varying. Towards deriving an analytically tractable…
This paper presents tracking control laws for two different objectives of a nonholonomic system - a spherical robot - using a geometric approach. The first control law addresses orientation tracking using a modified trace potential…
Wheeled robots are highly efficient in human living environments. However, conventional wheeled designs, limited by degrees of freedom, struggle to meet varying footprint needs and achieve omnidirectional mobility. This paper proposes a…
The single wheel, gyroscopically stabilized robot - Gyrover, is a dynamically stable but statically unstable, underactuated system. In this paper, based on the dynamic model of the robot, we investigate two classes of nonholonomic…
Robotic manipulation of deformable objects gains great attention due to its wide applications including medical surgery, home assistance, and automatic food preparation. The ability to deform soft objects remains a great challenge for…