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Massimo Vespignani

4 accepted papers

2018

Design of SUPERball v2, a Compliant Tensegrity Robot for Absorbing Large Impacts

IROS 2018poster

In this paper, we present the system design and initial testing of SUPERball v2, a completely re-designed 2-meter spherical six-bar tensegrity robot designed to survive high-speed landings as well as locomote to desired locations. SUPERball v2 was designed to enable a host of new actuation and exper…

Cited by 113Source ↗Scholar ↗
2018

Steerable Locomotion Controller for Six-strut Icosahedral Tensegrity Robots

IROS 2018poster

This paper proposes a novel steerable locomotion controller for six-strut tensegrity robots. Tensegrity robots are lightweight and have many promising features such as robustness, shape-shifting capabilities, and deployability, making them good candidates for exploration and scouting of remote areas…

Cited by 31Source ↗Scholar ↗
2017

Deep reinforcement learning for tensegrity robot locomotion

ICRA 2017poster

Tensegrity robots, composed of rigid rods connected by elastic cables, have a number of unique properties that make them appealing for use as planetary exploration rovers. However, control of tensegrity robots remains a difficult problem due to their unusual structures and complex dynamics. In this…

Cited by 108Source ↗Scholar ↗
2015

Role of compliance on the locomotion of a reconfigurable modular snake robot

IROS 2015poster

This paper presents the results of a study on the effect of in-series compliance on the locomotion of a simulated 8-DoF Lola-OP™ Modular Snake Robot with added compliant elements. We explore whether there is an optimal stiffness for gait, terrain type, or several gaits and several terrains (i.e. a g…

Cited by 18Source ↗Scholar ↗