12 accepted papers
Reliable grasping and manipulation in daily tasks and unstructured environments require accurate contact modeling and grasp stability estimation. A key component is the coefficient of friction, which is variable and dependent on many factors. However, robotics applications often use Coulomb's model
Deployable structures provide adaptability and versatility for applications such as temporary architectures, space structures, and biomedical devices. Jamming is a mechanical phenomenon with which dramatic changes in stiffness can be achieved by increasing the frictional and kinematic coupling betwe…
In-hand manipulation is necessary, yet challenging for robotic hands as robots begin to interact with real-world objects and environments. The intentional incorporation of an active palm can lead to improved dexterity. In this work, we demonstrate how controlling the palm-object interaction enables
Exosuits can reduce metabolic demand and improve gait. Controllers explicitly derived from biological mechanisms that reflect the user's joint or muscle dynamics should in theory allow for individualized assistance and enable adaptation to changing gait. With the goal of developing an exosuit contro…
Flexures provide precise motion control without friction or wear. Variable impedance mechanisms enable adaptable and robust interactions with the environment. This paper combines the advantages of both approaches through layer jamming. Thin sheets of complaint material are encased in an airtight env…
This letter presents a quantitative method for analyzing the effect of sensor resolution on grasp stability prediction. Resolution limits for contact sensors are expressed as a range of contact locations and contact surface normals that cannot be disambiguated by the sensor. Grasp quality is assesse
Researchers have developed variable-impedance mechanisms to control the dynamic response of robotic systems and improve their adaptivity, robustness, and efficiency. However, these mechanisms have limitations in size, cost, and convenience, particularly for variable damping. We demonstrate that lami
Robotic cardiac catheterization using ultrasound (US) imaging catheters provides real time imaging from within the heart while reducing the difficulty in manually steering a four degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) catheter. Accurate robotic catheter navigation in the heart is challenging due to a variety of…
Cardiac catheterization with ultrasound (US) imaging catheters provides real time US imaging from within the heart, but manually navigating a four degree of freedom (DOF) imaging catheter is difficult and requires extensive training. Existing work has demonstrated robotic catheter steering in constr
Robotic manipulation in unstructured environments requires grasping a wide range of objects. Tactile sensing is presumed to provide essential information in this context, but there has been little work examining the tactile sensor signals produced during realistic manipulation tasks. This paper pres…
A system for actively changing the stiffness of a long, thin, flexible robotic manipulator has been designed for cardiologists to use in a range of diagnosis and treatment procedures. Low-stiffness manipulators, such as catheters, are ideal for steering through vasculature with low risk of tissue in…
This paper presents the design and control of a teleoperated robotic system for dexterous micromanipulation tasks at the meso-scale, specifically open microsurgery. Robotic open microsurgery is an unexplored yet potentially a high impact area of surgical robotics. Microsurgical operations, such as m…