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Very soft grain assemblies have unique shape-changing capabilities that allow them to be compressed far beyond the rigid jammed state by filling void spaces more effectively. However, accurately following the formation of these systems by…
This paper presents a serial chain hinge support, a rigid but flexible structure that improves the mechanical performance and robustness of soft-fingered grippers. Gravity can reduce the integrity of soft fingers in horizontal approach,…
Fixtures for constraining the movement of parts have been extensively investigated in robotics, since they are essential for using robots in automated manufacturing. This paper deals with the design and optimized synthesis of a special type…
A novel autonomous chunk-based aerial additive manufacturing framework is presented, supported with experimental demonstration advancing aerial 3D printing. An optimization-based decomposition algorithm transforms structures into…
Caging is a promising tool which allows a robot to manipulate an object without directly reasoning about the contact dynamics involved. Furthermore, caging also provides useful guarantees in terms of robustness to uncertainty, and often…
Precise and flexible cart-pushing is a challenging task for mobile robots. The motion constraints during cart-pushing and the robot's redundancy lead to complex motion planning problems, while variable payloads and disturbances present…
Sim-to-real transfer remains a significant challenge in soft robotics due to the unpredictability introduced by common manufacturing processes such as 3D printing and molding. These processes often result in deviations from simulated…
Design of robots at the small scale is a trial-and-error based process, which is costly and time-consuming. There are no good dynamic simulation tools to predict the motion or performance of a microrobot as it moves against a substrate. At…
Reconfigurable robot swarms are capable of connecting with each other to form complex structures. Current mechanical or magnetic connection mechanisms can be complicated to manufacture, consume high power, have a limited load-bearing…
3D printing techniques such as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) have enabled the fabrication of complex geometry quickly and cheaply. High stiffness parts are produced by filling the 2D polygons of consecutive layers with contour-parallel…
As wavefront quality demands tighten on space systems for applications such as astronomy and laser communication, mounting small optics such that the wavefront is undisturbed, positioning is adjustable and the design is producible, while…
Pneumatic soft robots are typically fabricated by molding, a manual fabrication process that requires skilled labor. Additive manufacturing has the potential to break this limitation and speed up the fabrication process but struggles with…
This paper proposes a real-time physically-based method for simulating vehicle deformation. Our system synthesizes vehicle deformation characteristics by considering a low-dimensional coupled vehicle body technique. We simulate the motion…
Internal fixation is a common orthopedic procedure in which a rigid screw is used to fix fragments of a fractured bone together and expedite the healing process. However, the rigidity of the screw, geometry of the fractured anatomy (e.g.…
In automated manufacturing, robots must reliably assemble parts of various geometries and low tolerances. Ideally, they plan the required motions autonomously. This poses a substantial challenge due to high-dimensional state spaces and…
Soft robots offer adaptability and safe interaction with complex environments. Rapid prototyping kits that allow soft robots to be assembled easily will allow different geometries to be explored quickly to suit different environments or to…
Conventional soft pneumatic actuators, typically based on hollow elastomeric chambers, often suffer from small structural support and require costly geometry-specific redesigns for multimodal functionality. Porous materials such as foam,…
Soft composite solids are made of inclusions dispersed within soft matrices. They are ubiquitous in nature and form the basis of many biological tissues. In the field of materials science, synthetic soft composites are promising candidates…
Robotic hands with soft surfaces can perform stable grasping, but the high friction of the soft surfaces makes it difficult to release objects, or to perform operations that require sliding. To solve this issue, we previously developed a…
In Gasket Assembly, a deformable gasket must be aligned and pressed into a narrow channel. This task is common for sealing surfaces in the manufacturing of automobiles, appliances, electronics, and other products. Gasket Assembly is a…