Related papers: koboshi: A Base That Animates Everyday Objects
We present an open-source untethered quadrupedal soft robot platform for dynamic locomotion (e.g., high-speed running and backflipping). The robot is mostly soft (80 vol.%) while driven by four geared servo motors. The robot's soft body and…
Moving a module in a modular robot is a very complex and error-prone process. Unlike in swarm, in the modular robots we are targeting, the moving module must keep the connection to, at least, one other module. In order to miniaturize each…
One way to allow elderly people to stay longer in their homes is to use of service robots to support them with everyday tasks. With this goal, we design, develop and evaluate a low-cost mobile robot to communicate with elderly people. The…
In this paper we introduce a novel approach that enables users to interact with a mobile robot in a natural manner. The proposed interaction system does not require any specific infrastructure or device, but relies on commonly utilized…
We consider the problem of building an assistive robotic system that can help humans in daily household cleanup tasks. Creating such an autonomous system in real-world environments is inherently quite challenging, as a general solution may…
Understanding object and its context are very important for robots when dealing with objects for completion of a mission. In this paper, an Affordance-based Ontology (ABO) is proposed for easy robot dealing with substantive and…
The proliferation of robots in public spaces necessitates a deeper understanding of how these robots can interact with those they share the space with. In this paper, we present findings from video analysis of publicly deployed cleaning…
RoomShift is a room-scale dynamic haptic environment for virtual reality, using a small swarm of robots that can move furniture. RoomShift consists of nine shape-changing robots: Roombas with mechanical scissor lifts. These robots drive…
Numerous diseases and aging can cause degeneration of people's balance ability resulting in limited mobility and even high risks of fall. Robotic technologies can provide more intensive rehabilitation exercises or be used as assistive…
Pushing is a motion primitive useful to handle objects that are too large, too heavy, or too cluttered to be grasped. It is at the core of much of robotic manipulation, in particular when physical interaction is involved. It seems…
Origami-inspired robots with multiple advantages, such as being lightweight, requiring less assembly, and exhibiting exceptional deformability, have received substantial and sustained attention. However, the existing origami-inspired robots…
In this paper we present a study of a specific class of vibration-driven robots: the brushbots. In a bottom-up fashion, we start by deriving dynamic models of the brushes and we discuss the conditions under which these models can be…
A robot needs multiple interaction modes to robustly collaborate with a human in complicated industrial tasks. We develop a Coexistence-and-Cooperation (CoCo) human-robot collaboration system. Coexistence mode enables the robot to work with…
Essential to meaningful interaction is grounding at the symbolic, conversational, and societal levels. We present ongoing work with Anki's Cozmo toy robot as a research platform where we leverage the recent words-as-classifiers model of…
Recent research on mobile robots has focused on increasing their adaptability to unpredictable and unstructured environments using soft materials and structures. However, the determination of key design parameters and control over these…
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…
Recent advances in sensing, communication, interfaces, control, and robotics are expanding Human-Building Interaction (HBI) beyond adaptive building services and facades toward the physical actuation of architectural space. In parallel,…
Applications of mobile ground robots demand high speed and agility while navigating in complex indoor environments. These present an ongoing challenge in mobile robotics. A system with these specifications would be of great use for a wide…
This article describes an exemplary robot exercise which was conducted in a class for mechatronics students. The goal of this exercise was to engage students in scientific thinking and reasoning, activities which do not always play an…
A spherical robot has many practical advantages as the entire electronics are protected within a hull and can be carried easily by any Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). However, its use is limited due to finding mounts for sensors. Pendulum…