11 accepted papers
We present a scalable combined localization infrastructure deployment and task planning algorithm for underwater assembly. Infrastructure is autonomously modified to suit the needs of manipulation tasks based on an uncertainty model on the infrastructure’s positional accuracy. Our uncertainty model…
We present the first free-floating autonomous underwater construction system capable of using active bal-lasting to transport cement building blocks efficiently. It is the first free-floating autonomous construction robot to use a paired set of resources: compressed air for buoyancy and a battery fo…
This paper presents a first low-cost autonomous robotic system for underwater assembly of mortarless structures. The long-term goal is to enable the construction of large-scale underwater structures; such as retaining walls and artificial reefs. The approach follows the principle of co-design; the 2…
This paper explores a system for assembling structures by dropping block components into place. During and after assembly; the blocks are held together by geometric interlock; so that fasteners or mortar are only needed to bind the final block to one of its neighbors. Drop assembly is a promising st…
Discrete graphs are commonly used to approximately represent configuration spaces used in robot motion planning. This paper explores a representation in which the costs of crossing local regions of the configuration space are represented using piecewise linear regression (PLR). We explore a few simp…
This paper presents a method of computing free motions of a planar assembly of rigid bodies connected by loose joints. Joints are modeled using local distance constraints, which are then linearized with respect to configuration space velocities, yielding a linear programming formulation that allows…
This paper investigates the connection between the kinematics of robots arms and the shortest paths for mobile robots. Lagrange multipliers are used to show that the shortest paths are equivalent to arms in configurations that balance an external force, while applying equal torques and forces at eac…
This paper explores a problem of reconfiguration of a large set of agents using global control signals: right, left, up and down. A field of obstacles guides the reconfiguration by limiting motion in the various directions. This paper extends work by Becker et al. ([4], [5] and [7]), and shows there…
This paper explores the problem of building a structure of a desired shape, using re-usable interlocking blocks. Blocks are cubes; we make use of nine different types of cubes, each with different arrangements of male and female connectors on the six sides of the cube. The desired shape is specified…
This paper presents a fast tight-tolerance threading technique for string and rope. Instead of relying on simulations of these deformable objects to plan a path or compute control actions, we control the movement of the string with a virtual magnetic vector field emanating from the narrow openings w…
This paper presents a definition of convexity useful for describing local optimality in configuration spaces, proves that finding convex regions is relatively easy, and presents an algorithm for approximating the free configuration space using a set of such convex regions. The paper examines simple…