48 accepted papers
Robotic telemanipulation—the human-guided manipulation of remote objects—plays a pivotal role in several applications, from healthcare to operations in harsh environments. While visual feedback from cameras can provide valuable information to the human operator, haptic feedback is essential for acce…
Vision-based tactile sensors enable high-resolution tactile perception by capturing image-based contact data. However, their utility in tactile localization is limited by their inherently small and local sensing area, as well as their dependence on distinct object surface features. We propose TacTap…
Robotic telemanipulation is central in many applications, from healthcare to harsh environments. While visual feedback from cameras can provide valuable information to the human operator, haptic feedback offers insight into certain object properties - such as stiffness - that vision alone cannot pro
Endowing the curved surfaces of rounded vision-based tactile fingers is essential for dexterous robotic manipulation, as they offer more sufficient contact with the environment. However, current rounded designs are constrained by a low sensing frequency (30–60 Hz) and the need for recalibration when
Effective execution of long-horizon tasks with dexterous robotic hands remains a significant challenge in real-world problems. While learning from human demonstrations has shown encouraging results, they require extensive data collection for training. Hence, decomposing long-horizon tasks into reusa…
Soft growing vine robots show great potential for navigation and decontamination tasks in the nuclear industry. This paper introduces a novel hybrid continuum-eversion robot designed to address certain challenges in relation to navigating and operating within pipe networks and enclosed remote vessel…
Vision-based Tactile Sensors (VBTSs) show significant promise in that they can leverage image measurements to provide high-spatial-resolution human-like performance. However, current VBTS designs, typically confined to the fingertips of robotic grippers, prove somewhat inadequate, as many grasping a
Soft robotic gloves are designed to assist individuals with daily tasks that involve grasping. Such devices are however often hampered by an inability to generate enough force to enable them to perform the tasks for which they were designed. This study evaluates the grasping capabilities of a novel
Stretchable optical waveguides have been explored as a route to enhancing the sensing capabilities of soft actuators. Certain properties and qualities they possess recommend them for this task – their biological plausibility, compliance, low power consumption, and heightened responsiveness to extern…
Robotic grasping in cluttered and real-world human environments is a challenging task. It requires unique kinematic capabilities to deal with spatial constraints as well as compliance and softness to offer collision safety and safe manipulation of sensitive objects. To address this challenge, we pro…
In conjunction with huge recent progress in cam-era and computer vision technology, camera-based sensors have increasingly shown considerable promise in relation to tactile sensing. In comparison to competing technologies (be they resistive, capacitive or magnetic based), they offer super-high-resol…
One of the biggest problems with soft robots is precisely the fact that they are soft. Indeed the softer they are, the less force they can exert on the environment. Researchers have proposed a number of stiffening methods, but all of them have drawbacks, such as locking the shape of the device in a…
Soft grippers have a number of advantages over their conventional stiff-bodied counterparts; not only do they surpass them in ease of fabrication and safety but also, in many cases, require less complex control strategies - due to natural compliance and form-fitting plasticity. Pneumatically actuate…
GelSight sensors that estimate contact geometry and force by reconstructing the deformation of their soft elastomer from images would yield poor force measurements when the elastomer deforms uniformly or reaches deformation saturation. Here we present an L <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.or
Distributed sensor arrays capable of detecting multiple spatially distributed stimuli are considered an important element in the realisation of exteroceptive and proprioceptive soft robots. This paper expands upon the previously presented idea of decoupling the measurements of pressure and location…
Growing robots based on the eversion principle are known for their ability to extend rapidly, from within, along their longitudinal axis, and, in doing so, reach deep into hitherto inaccessible, remote spaces. Despite many advantages, vine robots also present significant challenges, one of which is…
In current designs soft robotic bending actuators, the need for high force capabilities is not adequately addressed. In this article, we present a new inflatable actuator that exploits textile manufacturing techniques, using an elastic band to improve both bend and force performance. At a pressure o
This work presents a method for tactile classification of materials for virtual reality (VR) based robot teleoperation. In our system, a human-operator uses a remotely controlled robot-manipulator with an optical fibre-based tactile and proximity sensor to scan surfaces of objects in a remote enviro…
This paper presents a novel approach for developing robotic grippers with variable stiffness hinges for dexterous grasps. This approach for the first time uses pneumatically actuated pouch actuators to fold and unfold morphable flaps of flexure hinges thus change stiffness of the hinge. By varying t…
Remote characterisation of the environment during physical robot-environment interaction is an important task commonly accomplished in telerobotics. This paper demonstrates how tactile and proximity sensing can be efficiently used to perform automatic crack detection. A custom-designed integrated ta…
Plant-inspired inflatable eversion robots with their tip growing behaviour have recently emerged. Because they extend from the tip, eversion robots are particularly suitable for applications that require reaching into remote places through narrow openings. Besides, they can vary their structural sti
In the last decade, soft robots have been at the forefront of a robotic revolution. Due to the flexibility of the soft materials employed, soft robots are equipped with a capability to execute new tasks in new application areas -beyond what can be achieved using classical rigid-link robots. Despite…
Thin and imperceptible soft skins that can detect internal deformations as well as external forces, can go a long way to address perception and control challenges in soft robots. However, decoupling proprioceptive and exteroceptive stimuli is a challenging task. In this paper, we present a silicone-…
In this letter, we propose benefiting from load readings at the base of a continuum appendage for real-time forward integration of Cosserat rod model with application in configuration and tip load estimation. The application of this method is successfully tested for stiffness imaging of a soft tissu
This letter proposes a sensor using conductive fabric that can detect proximity and contact by measuring the capacitance between the sensor and the surrounding environment. Due to the flexibility of the sensor used, it can be easily integrated with industrial robot arms to monitor proximity and cont
A reliable, accurate, and yet simple dynamic model is important to analyze, design and control continuum manipulators. Such models should be fast, as simple as possible and user-friendly to be widely accepted by the ever-growing robotics research community. In this study, we introduce two new modeli…
Many modern roboticists take inspiration from biology to create novel robotic structures, including those that are modeled after the octopus. This paper advances this trend by creating soft robots modeling the complex motion patterns of octopus tentacles employing a bio-mimetic approach. The propose…
To address the challenges with real-time accurate modeling of multisegment continuum manipulators in the presence of significant external and body loads, we introduce a novel series solution for variable-curvature Cosserat rod static and Lagrangian dynamic methods. By combining a modified Lagrange p
With a shift in current robotics application from known, well-defined environments toward unknown environments, the robot's ability to avoid unknown obstacles in real-time while relying on limited information about spatial constraints in its path becomes essential. Taking inspiration from the laws o
In this paper, we present a reactive robot navigation method for a non-holonomic mobile robot taking inspiration from the phenomena observed in magnetic fields. The algorithm is shown to be able to guide mobile robots in arbitrary-shaped convex environment without being trapped in local minima by ex…
The human hand is a complex structure. It is strong but precise. It consists of a very complex mechanical structure that enables the hand to adapt and efficiently handle objects of various shapes, weights and textures. Today's prosthetic devices, struggling to provide similar functions, become overl…
Soft robotic structures might play a major role in the 4th industrial revolution. Researchers have successfully demonstrated advantages of soft robotics over traditional robots made of rigid links and joints in several application areas including manufacturing, healthcare and surgical interventions.…
We present a three-dimensional (3-D)-printable thermoactive scale jamming interface as a new way to control a continuum manipulator dexterity by taking inspiration from the helical arrangement of fish scales. A highly articulated helical interface is 3-D-printed with thermoactive functionally graded
Nowadays, the field of industrial robotics focuses particularly on collaborative robots that are able to work closely together with a human worker in an inherently safe way. To detect and prevent harmful collisions, a number of solutions both from the actuation and sensing sides have been suggested.…
The complexity of soft continuum manipulators with hybrid and tuneable structures poses a challenging task to achieve an inverse kinematics model which is both precise and computationally efficient for control and optimization purposes. In this paper, a new method based on the principle of virtual w
This paper presents a methodology for the development of a multi-axis force/torque sensor based on optoelectronic technology. The advantages of using this sensing principle are the low manufacturing costs, the simple fabrication, and the immunity to electrical noise. The force/ torque sensor makes u…
This letter presents a strategy to represent data from a tactile array sensor and match it to an object's geometric features. Using that representation, a method is presented to localise a grasped object within a robot hand. The method consists of computing the covariance matrix in the tactile senso
Tactile data and kinesthetic cues are two important sensing sources in robot object recognition and are complementary to each other. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm named Iterative Closest Labeled Point (iCLAP) to recognize objects using both tactile and kinesthetic information. The iCLA…
Contact force play is a significant role in success of the cardiac ablation. However, it is still challenging to estimate contact force when a catheter is under large bending and multiple contacts. This paper develops a new multi-section static model of the tendon-driven catheters for both real-time…
In this paper, a potential-field-based real-time path planning algorithm for a multi-segment continuum manipulator is proposed. This planner is employed to enable a continuum-style manipulator to move autonomously in dynamic environments in real-time. The classic potential field method is modified t
In this paper, we present a novel pose estimation and obstacle avoidance approach for tendon-driven multi-segment continuum manipulators moving in dynamic environments. A novel multi-stage implementation of an Extended Kalman Filter is used to estimate the pose of every point along the manipulator's…
This work investigates the applicability of stiffness-based modelling in soft robotics manipulation. The methodology is introduced and applied to model a soft robotics manipulator as single 3d Timoshenko beam element. The model is then utilized to solve the forward kinematics problem for the manipul…
There is an emerging trend toward soft robotics due to its extended manipulation capabilities compared to traditionally rigid robot links, showing promise for an extended applicability to new areas. However, as a result of the inherent property of soft robotics being less rigid, the ability to contr
This paper proposes a novel Cosserat rod model based method to estimate contact forces based on the shape analysis of the catheter. We simplify the original Cosserat rod model to achieve real-time estimation of the force magnitude and directions applied to the catheter tip. The simplified model cont…
The absence of touch of sense is a widely known drawback of robotic minimally invasive surgery (MIS). This paper proposes a design of optic soft tactile arrays which is promising to be adapted for MIS. The proposed design consists of multiple soft material channels. Each channel is designed using th…
It is well known that tactile information can be used to enhance the quality of grasping. Therefore, new technological solutions for sensing in grasping are needed. This paper presents an optical based fingertip sensor that measures both interaction forces and proximity between fingertip and environ…
This paper presents a novel framework for integration of vision and tactile sensing by localizing tactile readings in a visual object map. Intuitively, there are some correspondences, e.g., prominent features, between visual and tactile object identification. To apply it in robotics, we propose to l…
This paper proposes a soft, inflatable manipulator that is antagonistically actuated by tendons and pneumatics. The combination of the two actuation mechanisms in this antagonistic robot structure is inspired by the octopus which uses its longitudinal and transversal muscles to steer, elongate, shri…