8 accepted papers
The configuration spaces of parallel manipulators exhibit more nonlinearity than serial manipulators. Qualitatively, they can be seen to possess extra folds. Projection onto smaller spaces of engineering relevance, such as an output workspace or an input actuator space, these folds cast edges that e…
This paper reports on preliminary experimental results of recently proposed mechanism kinematics for a legged robot. The proposed kinematics creates a mapping from a series-elastic actuator to a foot motion that includes a pair of singularities within a fully rotatable kinematic circuit. Such a circ…
Kinematics is the first consideration in designing the mechanical structures that comprise robots. Of the many subcategories that exist under this umbrella, an often early design goal is to achieve some desired workspace. This goal applies to both single and multi-degree-of-freedom systems. Previous…
Polar linkages have two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) where one input joint angle controls the length of a radial segment while another controls its angle. Considering a theoretical planar robot model, this mapping between joint angles to output motions can be shown to be energetically advantageous over…
Legged robots primarily energize their center of mass through external contact during stance phase. This links their range of possible motions to actuator power limits applied during usually short periods of time. Enabling limb actuators to pump energy into the system during non-contact phases can g…
Recent work in the design of mechanical systems for terrestrial locomotion has indicated successful strategies for increasing the energetic performance of a robotic locomotor without upgrading its actuator system. We apply one such strategy, termed power modulation, in a new way: for the design of a…
Due to high impact forces and low duty cycles, monopedal jumping robots are particularly susceptible to failure from a slipping foot. Spines provide a solution to reduce slip, but there has been little research on how to effectively engage them into a surface with a dynamic jumping robot. Previous r…
New work in robotics targets the development of controllable agile motions such as leaping. In this work, we examine animal and robotic systems on the metric of jumping agility and find that animals can outperform the most agile robots by a factor of two. These specially adapted animals use a jumpin…