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Surgical robot simulation platform plays a crucial role in enhancing training efficiency and advancing research on robot learning. Much effort have been made by scholars on developing open-sourced surgical robot simulators to facilitate…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-02-05 Zhenya Yang , Yonghao Long , Kai Chen , Wang Wei , Qi Dou

Soft robots are made of compliant materials and perform tasks that are challenging for rigid robots. However, their continuum nature makes it difficult to develop model-based control strategies. This work presents a robust model-based…

Accurate simulation of brain deformation is a key component for developing realistic, interactive neurosurgical simulators, as complex nonlinear deformations must be captured to ensure realistic tool-tissue interactions. However,…

Legged locomotion is a highly promising but under-researched subfield within the field of soft robotics. The compliant limbs of soft-limbed robots offer numerous benefits, including the ability to regulate impacts, tolerate falls, and…

This study presents an innovative approach to optimal gait control for a soft quadruped robot enabled by four Compressible Tendon-driven Soft Actuators (CTSAs). Improving our previous studies of using model-free reinforcement learning for…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-05-08 Xuezhi Niu , Kaige Tan , Lei Feng

The dynamical properties of tensegrity robots give them appealing ruggedness and adaptability, but present major challenges with respect to locomotion control. Due to high-dimensionality and complex contact responses, data-driven approaches…

Robotics · Computer Science 2018-10-01 David Surovik , Kun Wang , Kostas E. Bekris

Legged robots have the potential to traverse complex terrain and access confined spaces beyond the reach of traditional platforms thanks to their ability to carefully select footholds and flexibly adapt their body posture while walking.…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-03-04 Takahiro Miki , Joonho Lee , Lorenz Wellhausen , Marco Hutter

Robot feet are crucial for maintaining dynamic stability and propelling the body during walking, especially on uneven terrains. Traditionally, robot feet were mostly designed as flat and stiff pieces of metal, which meets its limitations…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-06-13 Cristina Piazza , Cosimo Della Santina , Giorgio Grioli , Antonio Bicchi , Manuel G. Catalano

In recent years, artificial feet based on soft robotics and under-actuation principles emerged to improve mobility on challenging terrains. This paper presents the application of the MuJoCo physics engine to realize a digital twin of an…

Quadruped robots are designed to achieve agile and robust locomotion by drawing inspiration from legged animals. However, most existing control methods for quadruped robots lack a key capacity observed in animals: the ability to exhibit…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-03-10 Aoqian Zhang , Zixuan Zhuang , Chunzheng Wang , Shuzhi Sam Ge , Fan Shi , Cheng Xiang

Soft-growing robots (i.e., vine robots) are a promising class of soft robots that allow for navigation and growth in tightly confined environments. However, these robots remain challenging to model and control due to the complex interplay…

Biped robots usually adopt feet with a rigid structure that simplifies walking on flat grounds and yet hinders ground adaptation in unstructured environments, thus jeopardizing stability. We recently explored in the SoftFoot the idea of…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-04-28 Anna Pace , Giorgio Grioli , Alice Ghezzi , Antonio Bicchi , Manuel G. Catalano

Soft robotic snakes made of compliant materials can continuously deform their bodies and, therefore, mimic the biological snakes' flexible and agile locomotion gaits better than their rigid-bodied counterparts. Without wheel support, to…

Developing natural and diverse locomotion controllers for quadruped robots that can adapt to complex terrains while preserving motion style remains a significant challenge. Existing imitation-based methods face a fundamental optimization…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-04-21 Zhiquan Wang , Yunyu Liu , Dipam Patel , Ayush Kumar , Aniket Bera , Bedrich Benes

Inspired by the vertebrate branch of the animal kingdom, articulated soft robots are robotic systems embedding elastic elements into a classic rigid (skeleton-like) structure. Leveraging on their bodies elasticity, soft robots promise to…

Robotics · Computer Science 2023-09-06 Cosimo Della Santina , Dominic Lakatos , Antonio Bicchi , Alin Albu-Schäffer

Limbless creatures can crawl on flat surfaces by deforming their bodies and interacting with asperities on the ground, offering a biological blueprint for designing efficient limbless robots. Inspired by this natural locomotion, we present…

This work explores the potential of using differentiable simulation for learning quadruped locomotion. Differentiable simulation promises fast convergence and stable training by computing low-variance first-order gradients using robot…

Robotics · Computer Science 2024-10-16 Yunlong Song , Sangbae Kim , Davide Scaramuzza

Reinforcement learning has emerged as a promising methodology for training robot controllers. However, most results have been limited to simulation due to the need for a large number of samples and the lack of automated-yet-safe data…

Robotics · Computer Science 2018-03-29 Kendall Lowrey , Svetoslav Kolev , Jeremy Dao , Aravind Rajeswaran , Emanuel Todorov

Soft robotics has advanced rapidly, yet its control methods remain fragmented: different morphologies and actuation schemes still require task-specific controllers, hindering theoretical integration and large-scale deployment. A generic…

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…

Robotics · Computer Science 2021-08-04 Zhichao Liu , Konstantinos Karydis