10 accepted papers
This paper presents a first low-cost autonomous robotic system for underwater assembly of mortarless structures. The long-term goal is to enable the construction of large-scale underwater structures; such as retaining walls and artificial reefs. The approach follows the principle of co-design; the 2…
In this work; we analyze and present an algorithm to find shortest-paths for generic rigid bodies. We derived the necessary conditions for optimality using Lagrange multipliers; and compared it to the conditions derived from Pontraygin's Maximum Principle. We derived the equations of the necessary c…
Discrete graphs are commonly used to approximately represent configuration spaces used in robot motion planning. This paper explores a representation in which the costs of crossing local regions of the configuration space are represented using piecewise linear regression (PLR). We explore a few simp…
This paper presents a method of computing free motions of a planar assembly of rigid bodies connected by loose joints. Joints are modeled using local distance constraints, which are then linearized with respect to configuration space velocities, yielding a linear programming formulation that allows…
We present a new way of constructing sparse roadmaps using point clouds that approximates and measures the underlying topology of the Cfree space. The main advantage of the constructed roadmap is its homotopy equivalence to the η-offset of the Cfree space. Though only used to plan paths as a regular…
This paper investigates the connection between the kinematics of robots arms and the shortest paths for mobile robots. Lagrange multipliers are used to show that the shortest paths are equivalent to arms in configurations that balance an external force, while applying equal torques and forces at eac…
String stretched tightly along a sequence of fixed grasp points takes the shape of a polygonal arc. In this work, we investigate how many points are necessary and sufficient to grasp and tie arbitrary knots while maintaining tension, so that the string remains polygonal. This approach allows reasoni
Simply pulling on the ends of string is sufficient to tighten simple knots such as the overhand knot, but many knots used for decoration or binding need to be tightened at particular locations along the string. For example, a shoelace knot should have equally-sized bows, as should a decorative clove
This paper presents a fast tight-tolerance threading technique for string and rope. Instead of relying on simulations of these deformable objects to plan a path or compute control actions, we control the movement of the string with a virtual magnetic vector field emanating from the narrow openings w…
This paper presents a definition of convexity useful for describing local optimality in configuration spaces, proves that finding convex regions is relatively easy, and presents an algorithm for approximating the free configuration space using a set of such convex regions. The paper examines simple…