Related papers: Surface-based Manipulation Using Tunable Compliant…
Robotic Manipulation Surfaces (RMS) manipulate objects by deforming the surface on which they rest, offering safe, parallel handling of diverse and fragile items. However, existing designs face a fundamental tradeoff: achieving fine control…
Human skin provides a rich tactile sensing stream, localizing intentional and unintentional contact events over a large and contoured region. Replicating these tactile sensing capabilities for dexterous robotic manipulation systems remains…
Tactile sensing is crucial in robotics and wearable devices for safe perception and interaction with the environment. Optical tactile sensors have emerged as promising solutions, as they are immune to electromagnetic interference and have…
Model-based control faces fundamental challenges in partially-observable environments due to unmodeled obstacles. We propose an online learning and optimization method to identify and avoid unobserved obstacles online. Our method,…
This paper presents a magnet-based robotic skin that integrates a multilayer soft lattice with distributed Hall-effect sensor arrays and a tactile super-resolution model. External contact forces are converted to magnetic field changes by…
To enable robots to develop human-like fine manipulation, it is essential to understand how mechanical compliance, multi-modal sensing, and purposeful interaction jointly shape tactile perception. In this study, we use a dedicated modular…
Safety is one of the most fundamental aspects of robotics, especially when it comes to collaborative robots (cobots) that are expected to physically interact with humans. Although a large body of literature has focused on safety-related…
In this paper, we study integrated estimation and control of soft robots. A significant challenge in deploying closed loop controllers is reliable proprioception via integrated sensing in soft robots. Despite the considerable advances…
Soft sensors have continued growing interest in robotics, due to their ability to enable both passive conformal contact from the material properties and active contact data from the sensor properties. However, the same properties of…
This article describes a new way of controlling robots using soft tactile sensors: pose-based tactile servo (PBTS) control. The basic idea is to embed a tactile perception model for estimating the sensor pose within a servo control loop…
Whole-arm tactile feedback is crucial for robots to ensure safe physical interaction with their surroundings. This paper introduces CushSense, a fabric-based soft and stretchable tactile-sensing skin designed for physical human-robot…
Manipulation in confined and cluttered environments remains a significant challenge due to partial observability and complex configuration spaces. Effective manipulation in such environments requires an intelligent exploration strategy to…
Handling fragile objects remains a major challenge for robotic manipulation. Tactile sensing and soft robotics can improve delicate object handling, but typically involve high integration complexity or slow response times. We address these…
Legged locomotion benefits from embodied sensing, where perception emerges from the physical interaction between body and environment. We present a soft-surfaced, vision-based tactile foot sensor that endows a bipedal robot with a skin-like…
Flexible robots have advantages over rigid robots in their ability to conform physically to their environment and to form a wide variety of shapes. Sensing the force applied by or to flexible robots is useful for both navigation and…
Robotic hands with soft surfaces can perform stable grasping, but the high friction of the soft surfaces makes it difficult to release objects, or to perform operations that require sliding. To solve this issue, we previously developed a…
Robotics hand/grippers nowadays are not limited to manufacturing lines; instead, they are widely utilized in cluttered environments, such as restaurants, farms, and warehouses. In such scenarios, they need to deal with high uncertainty of…
Imitation learning offers a pathway for robots to perform repetitive tasks, allowing humans to focus on more engaging and meaningful activities. However, challenges arise from the need for extensive demonstrations and the disparity between…
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…
This paper introduces a new type of soft continuum robot, called SCoReS, which is capable of self-controlling continuously its curvature at the segment level; in contrast to previous designs which either require external forces or machine…