22 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…
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…
This article presents ROGIBOT, an autonomous robot designed for high-speed unloading inside standard containers. Previous unloading robots have typically been limited to handling only box-shaped packages and a small number of items at a time. These limitations hinder their applicability in general l…
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
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
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…
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
In this letter, we propose a method of computationally efficient modeling of vacuum suction grippers. The model is better at predicting the load-carrying capability of a vacuum suction cup while being easy to simulate in a virtual environment. The contact geometry between the suction cup and the cur
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
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…