18 accepted papers
This letter presents a soft auxetic fingertip (SAF) that decouples shape adaptability from payload ability by separating rigid support from compliant conformity. A stiff outer frame carries loads while auxetic array provides passive conformity and enlarges the contact area, distal tips improve grasp
Video Capsule Endoscopy (VCE) is currently one of the most effective methods for detecting intestinal diseases. However, it is challenging to detect early-stage small nodules with this method because they lack obvious color or shape features. In this letter, we present a new origami capsule endoscop
Most mobile robots use wheels that perform well on even and structured ground, like in factories and warehouses. However, they face challenges traversing unstructured terrain such as stepped obstacles. This paper presents the design and testing of the PaTS-Wheel: a Passively-Transformable Single-par
Endotracheal intubation is a mandatory competency for most medical staff. This procedure involves opening the entrance of the patient's upper windpipe using a laryngoscope and then inserting a tube into the windpipe to supply Oxygen to the patient. This time critical intervention requires careful co…
Many animals can move in cluttered environments by conforming their body shape to geometric constraints in their surroundings such as narrow gaps. Most robots are rigid structures and do not possess these capabilities. Navigation around movable or compliant obstacles results in a loss of efficiency—
In this letter, we propose a novel design of a hybrid mobile robot with controllable stiffness and deformable shape. Compared to conventional mobile agents, our system can switch between rigid and compliant phases by solidifying or melting Field's metal in its structure and, thus, alter the shape th
Identifying terrain type is important for safely operating robots exploration in unstructured environments. In this letter, we firstly proposed a novel tapered whisker-based semi-supervised reservoir computing (TWSSRC) system for improving terrain classification and terrain property estimation for t
In this letter, we present for the first time the use of tapered whisker-based reservoir computing (TWRC) system mounted on a mobile robot for terrain classification and roughness estimation of unknown terrain. Hall effect sensors captured the oscillations at different locations along a tapered spri
Capsule endoscopy has gained a lot of attention in the medical field in the recent past as an effective way of investigating unusual symptoms experienced in places such as esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon. However, motion control of the capsule endoscope is challenging and often require
Medical percussion is a common manual examination procedure used by physicians to determine the state of underlying tissues from their acoustic responses. Although it has been used for centuries, there is a limited quantitative understanding of its dynamics, leading to subjectivity and a lack of det
A patient would contract surface muscles as a reaction called muscle guarding when experiencing discomfort and pain during physical palpation. This reaction carries important information about an affected location. Training physicians to regulate palpation forces to elicit just enough muscle tension…
This paper shows analytical and experimental evidence of using the vibration dynamics of a compliant whisker for accurate terrain classification during steady state motion of a mobile robot. A Hall effect sensor was used to measure whisker vibrations due to perturbations from the ground. Analytical…
This letter investigates the effect of biologically inspired angle-dependent damping profile in a robotic joint primarily on the magnitude and the variability of the peak collision force. Joints such as the knee that experience collision forces are known to have an angle-dependent damping profile. I
Physicians use pain expressions shown in a patient's face to regulate their palpation methods during physical examination. Training to interpret patients’ facial expressions with different genders and ethnicities still remains a challenge, taking novices a long time to learn through experience. This
A reliable, accurate, and yet simple dynamic model is important to analyze, design and control continuum manipulators. Such models should be fast, as simple as possible and user-friendly to be widely accepted by the ever-growing robotics research community. In this study, we introduce two new modeli…
A novel three axis force sensor, based on magnetic flux measurements, was used in the fingers of a gripper. The force sensor uses three Hall Effect sensors orthogonally placed at the base of a hemisphere made of silicon rubber. A neodymium permanent magnet was inside the hemisphere. When a force was…
The remarkable ability of goats to maintain stability during climbing cliffs or trees provides a valuable opportunity to understand some of the secrets of stable legged locomotion on unstructured terrains. This paper, for the first time, presents analytical and experimental explanations as to how th…
Materials and textures identification is a desired ability for robots. Developing such systems require tactile sensors that have enough sensitivity and spatial resolution, and the computational intelligence to meaningfully interpret sensor data. This paper introduces a texture classification algorit…