For robots to operate in unstructured environments, they are required to interact with objects through contact. Those contacts may be used to push objects to the side, deform objects, or manipulate objects in-hand. This thesis addresses the problem of cont ...
Industrial robots have been programmed to optimize mass production by executing predefined trajectories with their high speed, precision, and repeatability over long production cycles. However, the rise of Industry 4.0 and the increasing demand for diverse ...
Bridging the performance gap between robotics and biological systems demands significant advancements across multiple domains, including mechanical design, control theory, modeling, and artificial intelligence. In this thesis, I will introduce innovative m ...
Compared with traditional in-pipe robots, tensegrity robots have exhibited many advantages such as light-weight, compliant, collapsible, low-cost, and rapidly manufacturable characteristics. However, published tensegrity in-pipe robots still have limited l ...
Photorealistic synthetic data and novel rendering techniques significantly advanced computer vision research. However, datasets focused on computer vision applications cannot be easily applied to robotics because they typically lack physics-related informa ...
Modular robotics link the reliability of a centralised system with the adaptivity of a decentralised system.
It is difficult for a robot with a fixed shape to be able to perform many different types of tasks.
As the task space grows, the number of functi ...
Given the patchy nature of gas plumes and the slow response of conventional gas sensors, the use of mobile robots for Gas Source Localization (GSL) tasks presents significant challenges. These aspects increase the difficulties in obtaining gas measurements ...
The rise of robotic body augmentation brings forth new developments that will transform robotics, human-machine interaction, and wearable electronics. Extra robotic limbs, although building upon restorative technologies, bring their own set of challenges i ...
Robots outside of the fenced factories have to deal with continuously changing environment, this requires fast and flexible modes of control. Planning methods or complex learning models can find optimal paths in complex surroundings, but they are computati ...
This paper builds up the skill of impact aware non prehensile manipulation through a hitting motion by allowing the robot arm to come in contact with the environment with parts other than its end effector. Hitting with other joints allows us to manipulate ...
Biohybrid systems in which robotic lures interact with animals have become compelling tools for probing and identifying the mechanisms underlying collective animal behavior. One key challenge lies in the transfer of social interaction models from simulatio ...
Planning multicontact motions in a receding horizon fashion requires a value function to guide the planning with respect to the future, e.g., building momentum to traverse large obstacles. Traditionally, the value function is approximated by computing traj ...
Harmful chemical compounds are released daily in warehouses, chemical plants and during environmental emergencies.
Their uncontrolled dispersion contributes to the pollution of the atmosphere and threatens human and animal lives.
When gas leaks occur, the ...
This doctoral thesis navigates the complex landscape of motion coordination and formation control within teams of rotary-wing Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). Prompted by the intricate demands of real-world applications such as search and rescue or surveillan ...
In various robotics applications, the selection of function approximation methods greatly influences the feasibility and computational efficiency of algorithms. Tensor Networks (TNs), also referred to as tensor decomposition techniques, present a versatile ...
Social insects, such as ants, termites, and honeybees, have evolved sophisticated societies where the collaborative efforts of "simple" individuals can lead to the emergence of complex dynamics. The reliance of each organism on the collective is so great t ...
Robotics is entering our daily lives. The discipline is increasingly crucial in fields such as agriculture, medicine, and rescue operations, impacting our food, health, and planet. At the same time, it is becoming evident that robotic research must embrace ...
Controlling complex tasks in robotic systems, such as circular motion for cleaning or following curvy lines, can be dealt with using nonlinear vector fields. This article introduces a novel approach called the rotational obstacle avoidance method (ROAM) fo ...
This article summarizes the recent advancements in the design, fabrication, and control of microrobotic devices for the diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders. With a focus on diverse actuation methods, we discuss how advancements in materials science ...
Implementing virtual fixtures in guiding tasks constrains the movement of the robot's end effector to specific curves within its workspace. However, incorporating guiding frameworks may encounter discontinuities when optimizing the reference target positio ...