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Model Predictive Control (MPC) schemes have proven their efficiency in controlling high degree-of-freedom (DoF) complex robotic systems. However, they come at a high computational cost and an update rate of about tens of hertz. This…
Assistive robots offer agency to humans with severe motor impairments. Often, these users control high-DoF robots through low-dimensional interfaces, such as using a 1-D sip-and-puff interface to operate a 6-DoF robotic arm. This mismatch…
The development of a generic and effective force model for semi-automatic or manual virtual assembly with haptic support is not a trivial task, especially when the assembly constraints involve complex features of arbitrary shape. The…
Haptic feedback is an important component of creating an immersive mixed reality experience. Traditionally, haptic forces are rendered in response to the user's interactions with the virtual environment. In this work, we explore the idea of…
Collaborative robots are expected to be able to work alongside humans and in some cases directly replace existing human workers, thus effectively responding to rapid assembly line changes. Current methods for programming contact-rich tasks,…
Wearable robots are limited by their actuators performances because they must bear the weight of their own power system and energy source. This paper explores the idea of leveraging hybrid modes to meet multiple operating points with a…
This article presents a collaborative research effort aimed at developing a novel six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) motion platform for the empirical characterization of hydrodynamic forces crucial for the control and stability of surface and…
Multi-degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic manipulators exhibit strongly nonlinear, high-dimensional, and coupled dynamics, posing significant challenges for controller design. To address these issues, this work proposes a unified hybrid control…
The compliant structure of soft robotic systems enables a variety of novel capabilities in comparison to traditional rigid-bodied robots. A subclass of soft fluid-driven actuators known as fiber reinforced elastomeric enclosures (FREEs) is…
Haptic interfaces that can simultaneously modulate multiple physical properties remain a fundamental challenge in human-robot interaction. Existing systems typically allow the rendering of either geometric features or mechanical properties,…
This paper proposes a new type of actuator at millimeter scale, which is based on Simplified Electro-Permanent (SEP) magnets. The new actuator can achieve connection and smooth motion by controlling the polarity of SEP magnets. Analyses…
Developing robotic manipulation policies is iterative and hypothesis-driven: researchers test tactile sensing, gripper geometries, and sensor placements through real-world data collection and training. Yet even minor end-effector changes…
This paper presents the first decentralized method to enable real-world 6-DoF manipulation of a cable-suspended load using a team of Micro-Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Our method leverages multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) to train an…
Low-cost autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) have the potential to help humans by simplifying and speeding up complex tasks that require their interaction with the environment, such as construction, package delivery, and search and…
This paper presents an adaptive haptic shared control framework wherein a driver and an automation system are physically connected through a motorized steering wheel. The automation system is modeled as an intelligent agent that is not only…
Cells sense the geometry and stiffness of their adhesive environment by active contractility. For strong adhesion to flat substrates, two-dimensional contractile network models can be used to understand how force is distributed throughout…
We present the coordinate-free dynamics of three different quadrotor systems : (a) single quadrotor with a point-mass payload suspended through a flexible cable; (b) multiple quadrotors with a shared point-mass payload suspended through…
Actin networks, acting as an engine pushing against an external load, are fundamentally important to cell motility. A measure of the effectiveness of an engine is the velocity the engine is able to produce at a given force, the…
This paper introduces a unique force control and adaptation algorithm for a lightweight and low-complexity five-fingered robotic hand, namely an Integrated-Finger Robotic Hand (IFRH). The force control and adaptation algorithm is intuitive…
Robotic systems operating in unstructured environments require the ability to switch between compliant and rigid states to perform diverse tasks such as adaptive grasping, high-force manipulation, shape holding, and navigation in…