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There is a growing need for soft robotic platforms that perform gentle, precise handling of a wide variety of objects. Existing surface-based manipulation systems, however, lack the compliance and tactile feedback needed for delicate…
Soft continuum arms (SCAs) promise versatile manipulation through mechanical compliance, for assistive devices, agriculture, search applications, or surgery. However, the strong nonlinear coupling between materials, morphology, and…
Humans perceive the world by interacting with objects, which often happens in a dynamic way. For example, a human would shake a bottle to guess its content. However, it remains a challenge for robots to understand many dynamic signals…
Endowing robots with tactile capabilities opens up new possibilities for their interaction with the environment, including the ability to handle fragile and/or soft objects. In this work, we equip the robot gripper with low-cost…
Additive manufacturing is enabling soft robots with increasingly complex geometries, creating a demand for sensing solutions that remain compatible with single-material, one-step fabrication. Optical soft sensors are attractive for…
Due to their ability to move without sliding relative to their environment, soft growing robots are attractive for deploying distributed sensor networks in confined spaces. Sensing of the state of such robots would also add to their…
Developments in touch-sensitive textiles have enabled many novel interactive techniques and applications. Our digitally-knitted capacitive active sensors can be manufactured at scale with little human intervention. Their sensitive areas are…
Incorporating effective tactile sensing and mechanical compliance is key towards enabling robust and safe operation of robots in unknown, uncertain and cluttered environments. Towards realizing this goal, we present a lightweight,…
Robot skill acquisition processes driven by reinforcement learning often rely on simulations to efficiently generate large-scale interaction data. However, the absence of simulation models for tactile sensors has hindered the use of tactile…
Tactile sensing plays a fundamental role in enabling robots to navigate dynamic and unstructured environments, particularly in applications such as delicate object manipulation, surface exploration, and human-robot interaction. In this…
We live in a world of exploding complexity driven by technical evolution as well as highly volatile socio-economic environments. Managing complexity is a key issue in everyday decision making such as providing safe, sustainable, and…
Camera-based tactile sensors provide robots with a high-performance tactile sensing approach for environment perception and dexterous manipulation. However, achieving comprehensive environmental perception still requires cooperation with…
Dexterous manipulation of objects through fine control of physical contacts is essential for many important tasks of daily living. A fundamental ability underlying fine contact control is compliant control, \textit{i.e.}, controlling the…
Manipulation of thin materials is critical for many everyday tasks and remains a significant challenge for robots. While existing research has made strides in tasks like material smoothing and folding, many studies struggle with common…
Manipulating fragile objects in environments such as homes and factories requires stable and gentle grasping along with precise and safe placement. Compared to traditional rigid grippers, the use of soft grippers reduces the control…
We present a self-contained, soft robotic hand composed of soft pneumatic actuator modules that are equipped with strain and pressure sensing. We show how this data can be used to discern whether a grasp was successful. Co-locating sensing…
A robust grip is key to successful manipulation and joining of work pieces involved in any industrial assembly process. Stability of a grip depends on geometric and physical properties of the object as well as the gripper itself. Current…
Vertebrate animals benefit from a combination of rigidity for structural support and softness for adaptation. Similarly, integrating rigidity and softness can enhance the versatility of soft robotics. However, the challenges associated with…
Deformable object manipulation is a classical and challenging research area in robotics. Compared with rigid object manipulation, this problem is more complex due to the deformation properties including elastic, plastic, and elastoplastic…
This study presents a comparative framework for evaluating emotional engagement with textile soft robots and their augmented-reality (AR) counterparts. Four robotic sculptures were developed, each embodying nature-inspired dynamic behaviors…