18 accepted papers
Impulse-driven limbless robots offer a promising platform for locomotion in environments where body deformation or complex actuation is undesirable. Prior work has shown that symmetric designs can achieve net displacement through temporally asymmetric internal actuation, yet such systems often exhib
Modeling environmental forces remains a critical challenge in the design and control of robots operating on granular terrain. In pushing locomotion, propulsion is generated by displacing a large number of particles; however, the resulting terrain deformation complicates accurate real-time force pred…
This study introduces a novel burrowing robot that achieves effective locomotion inside granular media through the synergistic integration of high-frequency vibration-induced environmental-phase-transition (EPT) and adaptive morphing. The robotic system employs three key innovations: 1) an asymmetri
This paper presents a Variable Morphing Multi-Body AUVs (VMMAUVs) concept, designed for underwater structure maintenance. This robot is capable of dynamically adjusting their structure to adapt to varying operational scenarios. The study explores two key stability mechanisms: buoyancy adjustment and
Soft robotics, including soft grippers and manipulators, are increasingly required to function more adaptively and securely in unknown environments. However, conventional soft pneumatic grippers often grasp and hold objects via the active bending of multiple fingers, making it challenging to grip an
Rescue robots require versatility and the capability to operate in various environments to carry out a diverse set of tasks effectively. The eccentric paddle (ePaddle) mechanism stands out for its high efficiency and adaptability. Generally, it is designed as a quadruped robot with a combined struct…
Enlightened by the creeping gait of natural snakes, snake-like robots swing joints side to side at similar tracks for generating propelling forces. However, it is not always essential to control all joints of a snake-like robot to realize the creeping gait. Therefore, in this paper, a creeping snake…
This paper mathematically conceives a novel walking support device that leverages passive dynamics and coupling effects. In this model, a passive human walker is flexibly connected to an active humanoid, where the coupling effect induces a stable walking gait of the human. To understand the key mech…
The goal of this paper is to develop an ultrasonic detection device that can be mounted on an underwater snake vehicle (USV) for underwater district heating pipe (DHP) detection in the future. Ultrasonic detection technology (UDT) is the detection means used, and the cavitation defects in polyuretha…
Undulation is the most common gait generated by legless creatures, which enables their robust and efficient locomotion in various environments. Such advantages inspired the control design of many kinds of locomotion robots. Despite their technical details, most of them realize the undulation gait vi…
Particular tasks performed in narrow and confined spaces require a capability of passing through a limited pathway. Consequently, previous research developed a snake-like robot that generates a 1-D rectilinear gait with an appropriate mechanical design. In contrast, a rigorous mathematical model and
This paper introduces a planar tensegrity robot that walks passively and cyclically on a gentle downhill, where its gait versatility can be strengthened by applying actuation forces on the connection cables. The novelty of this work is that we design the structure of this passive robot inspired by t…
Biological observations on tetrapods locomotion deduce that anti-phase synchronization (APS) between fore and rear parts is beneficial for achieving a high-speed walking. On the other hand, theoretical analysis and experimental studies on quadruped robots suggest that a flexible spine potentially im…
This Letter presents a robot walking control method, which we call “quasi-passive dynamic walking.” The method is targeted at underactuated legged robots and applied to obtain energy-efficient limit cycle gait on level ground. To achieve efficient locomotion, as well as to overcome the underactuatio
After occasional perturbation, it is crucial to spontaneously control the limit cycle walking so that it quickly returns to its closed orbit in phase space. Otherwise, its stability can not be sufficiently guaranteed if the speed of recovery is slow while successive perturbation is applied. The accu…
Towards achieving stable and high performance locomotion on a slippery ground, underactuated sliding locomotion robots have been proposed in our previous studies. Unlike walking robots stepping with legs, this legless robot generates sliding locomotion on a slippery road surface by means of its body
With the purpose of achieving stable and energy efficient locomotion on the slippery road surface, a sliding locomotion robot without joint torque but indirectly controlled by an active wobbling mass is recently proposed. In this paper, we deepen the analysis of the mechanism of the indirectly contr…
Precisely manipulating the center of mass (CoM) of the underactuated locomotion robot can't be easily achieved by common control mechanisms which apply only joint torques. A novel and indirect method has been recently introduced using an active wobbling mass attached to limit cycle walkers. The next…