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Flexible sensors are increasingly employed in soft robotics and wearable devices to provide proprioception of freeform deformations.Although supervised learning can train shape predictors from sensor signals, prediction accuracy strongly…

Mechanical compliance is a key design parameter for dynamic contact-rich manipulation, affecting task success and safety robustness over contact geometry variation. Design of soft robotic structures, such as compliant fingers, requires…

This article takes a step to provide humanoid robots with adaptive morphology abilities. We present a systematic approach for enabling robotic covers to morph their shape, with an overall size fitting the anthropometric dimensions of a…

Many forms of programmable matter have been proposed for various tasks. We use an abstract model of self-organizing particle systems for programmable matter which could be used for a variety of applications, including smart paint and…

Active matter physics and swarm robotics have provided powerful tools for the study and control of ensembles driven by internal sources. At the macroscale, controlling swarms typically utilizes significant memory, processing power, and…

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…

We present a systematic, algebraically based, design methodology for efficient implementation of computer programs optimized over multiple levels of the processor/memory and network hierarchy. Using a common formalism to describe the…

Body posture influences human and robots performance in manipulation tasks, as appropriate poses facilitate motion or force exertion along different axes. In robotics, manipulability ellipsoids arise as a powerful descriptor to analyze,…

In contrast to most self-assembling synthetic materials, which undergo unbounded growth, many biological self-assembly processes are self-limited. That is, the assembled structures have one or more finite dimensions that are much larger…

A new approach is developed to integrate numerically the equations of motion for systems of interacting rigid polyatomic molecules. With the aid of a leapfrog framework, we directly involve principal angular velocities into the integration,…

In this study, we present a concept of morphing structure -- featuring an arch mounted on a compliant base -- that can be reconfigured via snap-through buckling and leverages bistability to retain its morphed shape. We show that…

In this paper, we present an algorithmic approach to design and construct planar truss structures based on symmetric lattices using modular elements. The method of assembly is similar to Leonardo grids as they both rely on the property of…

We prove a Pumping Lemma for the noncooperative abstract Tile Assembly Model, a model central to the theory of algorithmic self-assembly since the beginning of the field. This theory suggests, and our result proves, that small differences…

We present a new simulation technique to study systems of polymers functionalized by reactive sites that bind/unbind forming reversible linkages. Functionalized polymers feature self-assembly and responsive properties that are unmatched by…

This work deals with shape optimization of electric machines using isogeometric analysis. Isogeometric analysis is particularly well suited for shape optimization as it allows to easily modify the geometry without remeshing the domain. A…

This paper presents an overview of a design methodology for the optimal synthesis of hybrid mechanisms. Hybrid mechanisms have been defined as multi-degree of freedom systems where the input motions are supplied by different motor types. In…

This study presents a set of algorithms that deal with trajectory planning of rational single-loop mechanisms with one degree of freedom (DoF). Benefiting from a dual quaternion representation of a rational motion, a formula for direct…

In micro- and nano-scale systems, particles can be moved by using an external force like gravity or a magnetic field. In the presence of adhesive particles that can attach to each other, the challenge is to decide whether a shape is…

Optimization problems in engineering and applied mathematics are typically solved in an iterative fashion, by systematically adjusting the variables of interest until an adequate solution is found. The iterative algorithms that govern these…

In the self-assembly process which drives the formation of cellular membranes, micelles, and capsids, a collection of separated subunits spontaneously binds together to form functional and more ordered structures. In this work, we study the…