58 accepted papers
Learning from Demonstration (LfD) for contact-rich tasks faces a fundamental challenge: arbitrating between tracking a demonstrated trajectory and reproducing an interaction force. This paper introduces a novel one-shot LfD framework that resolves this conflict by leveraging the operator's grip forc…
Precise control of soft pneumatic actuators is impeded by significant nonlinearities, particularly large internal volume variations during actuation—a factor often overlooked in conventional modeling. This paper proposes an adaptive robust control (ARC) framework designed for high-performance, energ
Precise control of soft pneumatic actuators is impeded by significant nonlinearities, particularly large internal volume variations during actuation---a factor often overlooked in conventional modeling. This paper proposes an adaptive robust control (ARC) framework designed for high-performance, ene…
Modern robotic controllers are typically designed in simulation and subsequently deployed on real robots. However, discrepancies between simulated and actual actuator torque often lead to sim-to-real (sim2real) problems. Various actuator approaches have been proposed to address this problem, but whe…
Designing reward functions for reinforcement learning (RL)-based quadruped locomotion often requires extensive trial-and-error, limiting efficiency and interpretability. Lack of interpretability is particularly critical for large-scale hydraulic quadrupeds, where undetected unstable behaviors during
Modern manufacturing is rapidly shifting toward high-mix, low-volume (HMLV) production, which requires flexible and intuitive robot programming methods. However, conventional approaches such as teach pendants or external trackers remain complex and inefficient for non-expert users. This paper presen
In soft robotics, actuators using both positive and negative pressures are notable for their high payload-to-weight ratios and wide operating ranges, but they require separate power sources. A single-pump system generating dual pressures presents a promising solution, though addressing pressure fluc…
Reliably grasping unknown objects in logistics automation remains a major challenge. While most approaches rely on 3D CAD models or large-scale training, their applicability to novel items is limited. This paper proposes a plug-and-play geometric refinement module that can be appended to any existin…
Path planning in obstacle-dense environments is a challenging problem, particularly for robots with asymmetric rectangular footprints. To address this problem, we propose a novel collision-checking approach, called a Rotatable Area, which represents a range of heading angles where the robot can rota…
We present a method that enhances the safety and responsiveness of robotic manipulators through constrained Variable Admittance Control (VAC) combined with proximity perception. Recent studies have demonstrated that manipulators equipped with proximity sensors can avoid close obstacles in real-time.…
This study presents a design method for pneumatic soft actuators, guaranteeing precise actuator kinematics. Unlike conventional soft actuator designs, which rely on trial-and-error or heuristic modeling, our approach allows direct inverse derivation of uninflated actuator geometry from the desired p
With the growth of logistics automation, there is an increasing demand for advanced grippers. This study presents a gripper that integrates suction cups into the fingertips to overcome the limitations of traditional robotic gripping methods. Designed with a 5-degree-of-freedom structure, the gripper
This study introduces a novel algorithm that combines a custom-developed capacitive proximity sensor with LiDAR. This integration targets the limitations of using single-sensor systems for mobile robot perception. Our approach deals with the non-Gaussian distribution that arises during the nonlinear
A manipulator mounted on a mobility platform requires a design that simultaneously meets the demands for lightweight, compactness, and energy efficiency. A gravity compensator is an effective solution that mechanically offsets the gravity torque caused by the weight of the manipulator links, enablin
In soft robotics, actuators using both positive and negative pressures are notable for their high payload-to-weight ratios and wide operating ranges, but they require separate power sources. A single-pump system generating dual pressures presents a promising solution, though addressing pressure fluc
We present a method that enhances the safety and responsiveness of robotic manipulators by employing constrained Variable Admittance Control (VAC) in conjunction with proximity perception. Recent studies have shown that manipulators equipped with proximity sensors can effectively avoid nearby obstac
The significance of physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) with collaborative robots in the industry is growing steadily. Within this domain, an admittance controller is crucial for enabling robots to follow or assist human intentions. However, a persistent challenge with admittance controllers is…
Robotic grasping is one of the essential skills in robotics. From industrial to housework, robots are required to handle objects, enabling them to interact with their surroundings. Among the various tasks in robotic grasping, bin-picking is considered one of the most challenging because of the clutt
Effective and safe physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI) hinges on robot proximity and tactile perception. This paper introduces a triple-mode fusion sensor designed to enhance safe pHRI. The sensor combines electromagnetic field radiation sensors and an infrared Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor on a s
This letter presents a gripper comprising finger and suction with reconfigurable attributes. With the reconfiguration feature, the proposed gripper has a configuration suitable for different working environments of logistic order picking. The finger part of the gripper was configured with the parall
Random bin picking is a crucial task in logistic centers, which is driven by E-Commerce growth. In this letter, we present an end-to-end method for 6-DoF antipodal grasps from cluttered scenes. Our approach includes two main steps: finding Potential Grasp Areas (PGAs) from depth image of the bin and
This letter proposes a multi-degrees-of-freedom two-wheeled inverted pendulum robot (mD-TWIPR) for off-road transportation. A two-wheeled inverted pendulum robot (TWIPR), popularly known as a segway, has high mobility owing to its simple structure without steering or suspension. The proposed robot h
This letter introduces a “rigidable exosuit” inspired by bow mechanics, which can dynamically alter its frame rigidity based on the tension of the attached string. The exosuit affords posture assistance (rigid phase) or unrestricted movement (flexible phase) as required by tasks. In the flexible pha
Artificial muscles have been developed for various input power sources. Among them, thermally driven actuators can be easily actuated at a low voltage without an additional device using the Joule heating. Therefore, these actuators can be considered suitable for developing lightweight robots. Shape
Shape memory alloy actuators (SMA) are widely used in robots owing to their flexibility and light weight. However, there is a drawback in that SMAs need to be used as a bundle owing to their lower force density than the motor. In addition, SMAs require continuous current to maintain a contracted sta
This letter introduces a simultaneous positive and negative pressure controller for a pneumatic pump. For precise position or force control of the pneumatic soft actuator, the pressure from the source has to be regulated. When the positive and negative pressures are regulated, coupled dynamics cause
Twisted-coiled polymer actuators (TCAs) have been known for many interesting properties such as inherent compliance, high stroke, high power density. However, the current TCAs normally come along with traditional sensing methods such as encoders attached to the link, which limits the application of
This letter proposes a variable stiffness robotic hand driven by twisted-coiled polymer actuators (TCAs) connected in series with a servomotor. Unlike slow conventional TCA systems, the grasping motion of the proposed hand is realized by the servomotor, which improves the speed of actuation signific
Twisted-coiled polymer actuators (TCA) have many interesting properties that show potentials for making high performance bionic devices. This letter presents a long short term memory (LSTM) model to predict the behavior of an antagonistic joint driven by hybrid TCA bundles made from Spandex and nylo
This letter introduces a dual-type proximity sensor and a control strategy for a robot manipulator to realize safe human-robot interactions (HRI) by using the sensor. Safety is an essential condition for HRI in practical scenarios. To achieve this condition, information about the relationship betwee
Force/Torque(F/T) sensing technology enables a dexterous robot control such as direct teaching, master-slave system, and pick-and-place task. In general, 6-axis F/T sensor is attached to the end-effector of the robot manipulator to assist in utilizing advanced robot systems. However, in actual appli
Super-coiled polymer (SCP) artificial muscles have many interesting properties that show potentials for making high performance bionic devices. To realize human-like robotic devices from this type of actuator, it is important for the SCP driven mechanisms to achieve human-like performance, such as c…
As advanced robotic technologies such as human-robot interaction and automatic assembly processes have emerged, torque sensors have become an essential component for robots. However, commercial torque sensors are not suitable for robotic applications because of their large sizes, heavy weights, narr
The Elastic Inflatable Actuators (EIAs) has several advantages such as the inherent compliance due to the body comprised of a soft materials such as silicone. Among them, the soft fiber reinforced actuator is based on the principle that the expansion of enclosure and constraint of fiber pattern lead…
For more secure and delicate robotic surgery, force sensing ability is essential but it has still not been used in actual robot surgery. This is because the environmental factors that occur during actual operation affect the sensor and the sensor cannot give reliable force information. In this lette
This paper presents a flexible dual-type proximity sensor forrobotic applications such as human collaborative robots(HCRs) todetect the surroundings. The sensor consists of two parts; sensing transducer and a shielding layer. To amplify the sensing performance, a resonant frequency is formed by an i…
This paper introduces a force-controllable quadruped robot system consists of twelve Actuator Modules embedded a novel Capacitive-type Joint Torque Sensor (CJTS) which is accurate (0.05 Nm), robust to impact, and easy to manufacture at low cost. The Actuator Module with CJTS shows accurate joint tor…
In this paper, we present a novel framework for quadrupedal stair climbing, which considers force interaction with stairs. For stable and robust climbing, a key issue is to avoid falling down on the stairs. From this point of view, control to minimize rate of change of angular momentum about Center…
This study presents a new drone, called S-CLOUD, developed for safe and long flight time. It provides 3-axial (x, y, and z)translational motion and stable hovering for more than an hour after takeoff. S-CLOUD consists of two parts; soft blimp part and driving one. The soft blimp is a center-pierced…
This paper presents a 1-link robotic arm that is antagonistically driven by one pair of a high performance super-coiled polymer actuators with an embedded controller. The actuator which is made from Spandex and nylon fibers is low-cost, easy to fabricate and light-weight. Moreover, it can generate l…
This paper presents a fabric actuator consisting of ordinary polymer fibers, conductive fibers, and twisted and coiled soft actuators (TCAs). Previous studies have developed a Spandex TCA (STCA) that is driven at a lower temperature than the conventional Nylon TCA and exhibits greater actuation stra…
Force-sensing system represents one of the vital components of robotic systems for physical interaction performances. This system is facilitated by the force controllable actuators. However, to make a force controllable actuator, it is still a challenging subject for the majority of the robotic syst…
This paper presents a hexapod crawling robot which has bioinspired design and locomotion posture from the insects. The robot, called S-Hex II, is an upgraded version of the different printable monolithic hexapod robot which is named as S-Hex I. The S-Hex II is studied for the project of developing m…
From being soft, flexible and producing movement by contracting, soft linear actuators are said to have muscle-like properties. Due to these similarities, they are often called “artificial muscle actuator.” However, the strain produced by these actuators is generally insufficient to be utilized in a…
Intrinsic problems for legged robots are `low energy efficiency' and `slow speed'. In this paper, we introduce a possible solution achieved through biological observations and developed a robotic leg applying the proposed method. The proposed robotic leg, AiDIN-IV Leg (Artificial DIgitigrade for Nat…
In the physical human-robot interaction system, improving transparency performance which allows humans to move as if there is no robot is a challenging topic. In general physical human-robot interaction, the multiaxial force sensor is used to control the robot. However the signal measured from the f…
This paper demonstrates a new haptic display based on soft actuator and soft sensor. The device consists of an array rigid coupling actuator and an array tactile sensor which configured sensor located on the top of actuator. The actuator includes a frame with rigid coupling made by silicone and a di…
The concept of utilizing the Coandia effect to produce stable flight in saucer type Aerial Vehicles (AV) was first conceived in 1935 by Henri Marie Coanda. Coanda's proposed AV design remained a relatively unexplored curiosity for decades until the recent surge in popularity of small Unmanned Aerial…
In running, legged animals take advantages of their flexible bodies to increase their locomotion performance, resulting in superior mobility and fast motions. Previous works on quadruped robots mostly used the simplified model with massless legs. However, in reality, a leg consists of two or three s…
Various control strategies using trajectory planning, object recognition and learning are researched for avoiding obstacles when legged robot is walking. In this paper, designed trajectory by using Non Uniform Basis Spline (NUBS) curve and control strategy, by using proposed trajectory, to effective…
This paper presents a highly sensitive dual mode tactile and proximity sensor for robotic applications that uses Carbon Microcoils (CMCs). The sensor consists of multiple electrode layers printed on a Flexible Printed Circuit Board (FPCB) and a dielectric substrate into which the CMCs are dispersed.…
This paper presents a grasping force-feedback user interface (GFUI) which transfers the accurate kinesthetic force detected during robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) to a user, and allows the users to perform grasping motions with articulation and intuition. Using the GFUI, a developed…
This paper aims to develop novel surgical forceps integrated with a three-axis force sensor for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS). To detect accurate force sensing, a force sensing system is integrated to a gripper of a surgical instrument. At the gripper side, two possible locations…
Most legged animals exploit flexible body and supporting muscles to produce power for dynamic behaviors which results in fast locomotion and additional mobility. Previous works have focused on the symmetric flexible body with massless legs associated to the body. However, body bending in animals dur…
This paper presents a mechanism for the robot moving inside of pipelines. The mechanism is composed of the 2-2D differential gear mechanism, the active adhesion mechanism, and the rescue mechanism. The 2-2D differential gear mechanism is designed to be driven with single actuator at any elbow type p…
In this paper, a back-drivable joint mechanism for an in-pipe robot is presented. The joint mechanism consists of 2-pitch and 1-roll joint. The back-drivability of the joint mechanism is realized by using a ball-screw and a steel wire rope. When the in-pipe robot with the back-drivable joint mechani…
Aiming to apply soft actuators in driving a walking robot, the design, fabrication and locomotion of a bio-inspired printable hexapod robot are studied. The robot mimics the insect's design and walking posture by driving six legs with alternating tripod gait which provides its locomotive adaptabilit…