13 accepted papers
Existing robots designed for locomotion in granular media typically excel at a single purpose—either surface travel or subsurface digging—while lacking the ability to perform both within the same platform. In contrast, nature offers various examples of burrowing organisms that exhibit multi-function
Flapping wing insects benefit from a compliant thorax that provides elastic energy exchange and resiliency to wing collisions. In this paper, we present a flapping wing robot that uses an underactuated compliant transmission inspired by the insect thorax. We developed a novel fabrication method that…
In this work we present the design of a swimming robot that is inspired by the body shape modulation of small microorganisms. Amoebas are small single celled organisms that locomote through deformation and shape change of their body. To achieve similar shape modulation for swimming propulsion in a r…
In most instances, flapping wing robots have emulated the “synchronous” actuation of insects in which the wingbeat timing is generated from a time-dependent, rhythmic signal. The internal dynamics of asynchronous insect flight muscle enable high-frequency, adaptive wingbeats with minimal direct neur…
In this letter, we present a design and fabrication framework for soft, underactuated grippers that utilize reconfigurable laminate layers for finger stiffness modulation. The grippers consist of internal flexoskeleton layers, which are hybrid soft-rigid structures composed of a flexible thermoplast
Recent studies on dynamic legged locomotion have focused on incorporating passive compliant elements into robot legs which can help with energy efficiency and stability, enabling them to work in wide range of environments. In this work, we present the design and testing of a soft robotic foot capabl
Underactuated designs of robot limbs can enable these systems to passively adapt their joint configuration in response to external forces. Passive adaptation and reconfiguration can be extremely beneficial in situations where manipulation or locomotion with complex substrates is required. A common d…
In this paper we present the design, fabrication, testing, and control of a 0.4 g milliscale robot employing a soft polymer flexure transmission for rapid ground movement. The robot was constructed through a combination of two methods: smart-composite-manufacturing (SCM) process to fabricate the act…
Soft-bodied organisms such as annelids may exploit body compliance using their hydrostatic skeletons and muscles to burrow in granular substrates. In this letter, we investigate the design of soft digging robots inspired by the bristled worm, (polychaetas). The behavior of soft structures in dry gra
Continuum robots that move through undulatory actuation must be composed of body materials that can enable flexible movement yet also provide resistive forces to the surrounding fluid, granular, or solid environments. This need for “f1exible-yet-stiff” materials is notably important in robot designs…
Onboard vision sensing is a current challenge in micro-scale robotics. Small flapping-wing robots such as the RoboBee present significant constraints on power, weight, and image quality for an onboard vision sensor. Here we report the integration of a 1 × 1 × 1.7 mm camera capable of video capture i…
Small, lightweight micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs) must rely on a limited number of actuators for flight stability and control. A method for six-degree of freedom control in a dual-actuator MAV has been previously proposed which employs stroke amplitude, bias, and split-cycle timing modulation. This co
Here we present a suite of theoretical, computational, and experimental studies culminating in the first aerial and aquatic capable insect-scale robot. We develop a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to model fluid-wing interaction in air and water. From CFD and a system dynamics analysis…