14 accepted papers
This paper presents Decoupled STAR (DSTAR), a novel reconfigurable robot fitted with a sprawling mechanism that allows the wheel rotation axes to vary relative to the body, and two independently activated four-bar extension mechanisms (FBEM). These mechanisms enable the robot to move its center of m
This paper presents Decoupled STAR (DSTAR), a novel reconfigurable robot fitted with a sprawling mechanism that allows the wheel rotation axes to vary relative to the body, and two independently activated four-bar extension mechanisms (FBEM). These mechanisms enable the robot to move its center of m…
This letter presents a novel semi-passive knee exoskeleton designed to provide running assistance. It incorporates an energy-efficient clutch mechanism activated by a mini servomotor which engages and disengages the spring that supports the leg during running. The exoskeleton extracts energy during
Modern manipulators are acclaimed for their precision but often struggle to operate in confined spaces. This limitation has driven the development of hyper-redundant and continuum robots. While these present unique advantages, they face challenges in, for instance, weight, mechanical complexity, mod
This letter presents Tail STAR (TSTAR), a novel reconfigurable robot with an active two-link tail. TSTAR is also fitted with a sprawling mechanism that lets it run either upright or inverted and change its height. The tail enables the robot to move its center of mass (COM) forwards or backwards and
This paper analyzes the crawling locomotion of a wave-like robot in curved tubes. We use an energy-based approach to determine the optimal crawling orientation of the robot that minimizes the surface energy while advancing. The results showed that the robot rotated its body along the roll direction
This letter presents a hybrid flying and climbing robot which we named FCSTAR. This new robot, an upgraded version of FSTAR, is designed for climbing over slopes and is fitted with a sprawling mechanism and propellers that allow it to both run and fly using the same motors. By using thrust reversal
This letter presents a minimally actuated Reconfigurable Continuous Track Robot (RCTR). The RCTR can change its geometry while advancing, thus enabling it to crawl and climb over different terrains and obstacles. The robot is fitted with a regular propulsion motor similar to a regular track and has
In this letter we present a minimally actuated overly redundant serial robot (MASR). The robot is composed of a planar arm comprised of ten passive rotational joints and a single mobile actuator that travels over the links to reach designated joints and rotate them. The joints remain locked, using a
This paper details the development, modeling and performance of AmphiSTAR, a novel high-speed amphibious robot. The palm size AmphiSTAR, which belongs to the family of STAR robots, is a "wheeled" robot fitted with propellers at its bottom that allow it to crawl on the ground and run (i.e. hover) on…
This paper presents Flying STAR (FSTAR) a reconfigurable hybrid flying quadcopter robot. FSTAR is the latest in the family of the STAR robots fitted with a sprawling mechanism and propellers allowing it to both run and fly using the same motors. The combined capabilities of running and flying allows…
In a recent study, we developed a minimally actuated wave-like robot and analyzed its kinematics. In this paper, we present the dynamic locomotion analysis of a miniature version of this wave robot. We examine different crawling environments, determine under which conditions it can advance, and eval…
This letter presents a highly reconfigurable wave robot named RSAW. RSAW is a reconfigurable version of our recently developed single actuator wave robot (SAW) that produces a continuous wave motion. The robot is composed of two waves attached to each other through an actuated universal (U) joint wh
This letter presents Rising STAR (RSTAR) a novel highly reconfigurable robot. RSTAR belongs to the family of the STAR robots with similar sprawling capabilities allowing it to run in a planar configuration, either upright or inverted and change its mechanics from the lateral to the sagittal planes.