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Recent advancements in whole-body control through deep reinforcement learning have enabled humanoid robots to achieve remarkable progress in real-world chal lenging locomotion skills. However, existing approaches often struggle with…
Non-prehensile manipulation such as pushing is typically subject to uncertain, non-smooth dynamics. However, modeling the uncertainty of the dynamics typically results in intractable belief dynamics, making data-efficient planning under…
We present a generalised architecture for reactive mobile manipulation while a robot's base is in motion toward the next objective in a high-level task. By performing tasks on-the-move, overall cycle time is reduced compared to methods…
We present a Sequential Mobile Manipulation Planning (SMMP) framework that can solve long-horizon multi-step mobile manipulation tasks with coordinated whole-body motion, even when interacting with articulated objects. By abstracting…
This paper is concerned with path-complete barrier functions which offer a graph-based methodology for verifying safety properties in switched systems. The path-complete framework leverages algebraic (barrier functions) as well as…
We consider a nonprehensile manipulation task in which a mobile manipulator must balance objects on its end effector without grasping them -- known as the waiter's problem -- and move to a desired location while avoiding static and dynamic…
A pushdown vector addition system with states (PVASS) extends the model of vector addition systems with a pushdown store. A PVASS is said to be \emph{bidirected} if every transition (pushing/popping a symbol or modifying a counter) has an…
A configuration of $n$ unit-cube-shaped \textit{modules} (or \textit{robots}) is a lattice-aligned placement of the $n$ modules so that their union is face-connected. The reconfiguration problem aims at finding a sequence of moves that…
We analyze the transition between pulled and pushed fronts both analytically and numerically from a model-independent perspective. Based on minimal conceptual assumptions, we show that pushed fronts bifurcate from a branch of pulled fronts…
Swarm User Interfaces allow dynamic arrangement of user environments through the use of multiple mobile robots, but their operational range is typically confined to a single plane due to constraints imposed by their two-wheel propulsion…
In this paper, we present a real-time whole-body planner for collision-free legged mobile manipulation. We enforce both self-collision and environment-collision avoidance as soft constraints within a Model Predictive Control (MPC) scheme…
Efficient tabletop rearrangement remains challenging due to collisions and the need for temporary buffering when target poses are obstructed. Prehensile pick-and-place provides precise control but often requires extra moves, whereas…
In environments where multiple robots must coordinate in a shared space, decentralized approaches allow for decoupled planning at the cost of global guarantees, while centralized approaches make the opposite trade-off. These solutions make…
Given a line segment $I=[0,L]$, the so-called barrier, and a set of $n$ sensors with varying ranges positioned on the line containing $I$, the barrier coverage problem is to move the sensors so that they cover $I$, while minimising the…
As robots move from the laboratory into the real world, motion planning will need to account for model uncertainty and risk. For robot motions involving intermittent contact, planning for uncertainty in contact is especially important, as…
In a recently launched research program for developing logic as a formal theory of (interactive) computability, several very interesting logics have been introduced and axiomatized. These fragments of the larger Computability Logic aim not…
As robot make their way out of factories into human environments, outer space, and beyond, they require the skill to manipulate their environment in multifarious, unforeseeable circumstances. With this regard, pushing is an essential motion…
The problem of searching a polygonal region for an unpredictably moving intruder by a set of stationary guards, each carrying an orientable laser, is known as the Searchlight Scheduling Problem. Determining the computational complexity of…
Complex manipulation tasks, such as rearrangement planning of numerous objects, are combinatorially hard problems. Existing algorithms either do not scale well or assume a great deal of prior knowledge about the environment, and few offer…
We consider pushdown systems that store, instead of a single word, a Mazurkiewicz trace on its stack. These systems are special cases of valence automata over graph monoids and subsume multi-stack systems. We identify a class of such…