Related papers: Tendon-Driven Reciprocating and Non-Reciprocating …
This MS thesis outlines my contributions to the closed loop control and system integration of two robotic platforms: 1) Aerobat, a flapping wing robot stabilized by air jets, and 2) Harpy, a bipedal robot equipped with dual thrusters. Both…
On-demand vibration mitigation in a mechanical system needs the suitable design of multiscale metastructures, involving complex unit cells. In this study, immersing in the world of patterns and examining the structural details of some…
There is a growing need for robots that can change their shape, size and mechanical properties to adapt to evolving tasks and environments. However, current shape-changing systems generally utilize bespoke, system-specific mechanisms that…
In neuromorphic computing, artificial synapses provide a multi-weight conductance state that is set based on inputs from neurons, analogous to the brain. Additional properties of the synapse beyond multiple weights can be needed, and can…
The inverse design of metasurfaces faces inherent challenges due to the nonlinear and highly complex relationship between geometric configurations and their electromagnetic behavior. Traditional optimization approaches often suffer from…
Animals run robustly in diverse terrain. This locomotion robustness is puzzling because axon conduction velocity is limited to a few ten meters per second. If reflex loops deliver sensory information with significant delays, one would…
Our current understanding of neuroplasticity paints a picture of a complex interconnected system of dependent processes which shape cortical structure so as to produce an efficient information processing system. Indeed, the cooperation of…
A hallmark of living systems is the ability to employ a common set of versatile building blocks that can self-organize into a multitude of different structures, in a way that can be controlled with minimal cost. This capability can only be…
Research on untethered micro-swimming robots is growing fast owing to their potential impact on minimally invasive medical procedures. Candidate propulsion mechanisms of robots are based on flagellar mechanisms of microorganisms such as…
Although strain-based models have been widely adopted in robotics, no comparison beyond the uniform bending test is commonly recognized to assess their performance. In addition, the increasing effort in prototyping continuum robots…
We study the snapping instability of a spherical elastic shell induced by a viscous flow, the umbrella flipping problem when life is at low Reynolds numbers. We combine precision desktop-scale experiments, fluid-structure simulations, shell…
The coupling between the spin degrees of freedom and macroscopic mechanical motions, including striction, shearing, and rotation, has attracted wide interest with applications in actuation, transduction, and information processing.…
Realizing active metasurfaces with substantial tunability is important for many applications but remains challenging due to difficulties in dynamically tuning light-matter interactions at subwavelength scales. Here, we introduce reversible…
Soft growing robots, commonly referred to as vine robots, have demonstrated remarkable ability to interact safely and robustly with unstructured and dynamic environments. It is therefore natural to exploit contact with the environment for…
Real-time proprioception is a challenging problem for soft robots, which have almost infinite degrees-of-freedom in body deformation. When multiple actuators are used, it becomes more difficult as deformation can also occur on actuators…
Designing materials or structures that can achieve asymmetric shape-shifting in response to symmetrically switching stimuli is a promising approach to enhance the locomotion performance of soft actuators/robots. Inspired by the geometry of…
Motion control of droplets has generated much attention for its applications to microfluidics, where precise control of small fluid volumes is an imperative requirement. Mechanical vibrations have been shown to be effective at inducing…
Stable dynamical systems are a flexible tool to plan robotic motions in real-time. In the robotic literature, dynamical system motions are typically planned without considering possible limitations in the robot's workspace. This work…
In a variety of biological situations, swimming cells have to move through complex fluids. Similarly, mucociliary clearance involves the transport of polymeric fluids by beating cilia. Here, we consider the extent to which complex fluids…
Recent theoretical works exploring the hydrodynamics of soft material in non-equilibrium situations are reviewed. We discuss the role of hydrodynamic interactions for three different systems: i) the deformation and orientation of…