11 accepted papers
Existing reinforcement learning (RL) methods struggle with complex dynamical systems that demand interactions at high frequencies or irregular time intervals. Continuous-time RL (CTRL) has emerged as a promising alternative by replacing discrete-time Bellman recursion with differentiable value funct…
Multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) has made significant progress in recent years, but most algorithms still rely on a discrete-time Markov Decision Process (MDP) with fixed decision intervals. This formulation is often ill-suited for complex multi-agent dynamics, particularly in high-frequenc…
It is difficult to guarantee an empty living environment to prevent unexpected contact between the object being manipulated by the robot and unplanned obstacles. In this paper, we propose a planar compliant contact control method for planar manipulation to cope with unexpected contact. We first use…
A two-wheeled vehicle has a compact structure and high mobility in crowded and complex environments, which has been widely used in urban logistics. The bicycle and self-balancing vehicle are the two main modes of the two-wheeled vehicle, and their combination allows for good balance-control stabilit…
The combination of a dexterous continuum robot and magnetic resonance imaging can potentially improve surgical precision and minimize brain manipulation in a minimally invasive neurosurgical procedure. In this work, a seven degree-of-freedom (DoF) continuum neurosurgical robot was developed. The mai…
A neurosurgical robot with 3-dimensional (3D) distal manipulation can increase instrument workspace for reaching peripheral regions of intracranial lesions to achieve complete lesion removal and minimal brain manipulation in a keyhole procedure. In this work, we designed a Nitinol-based symmetricall
The paper presents an MRI-compatible neurosurgical robotic system that is designed to operate the head-mounted meso-scale 6-degree-of-freedom (DoF) spring-based MINIR-II. The robotic system consists of an actuation module, a transmission module, and the robot module. The transmission module consist
In most cases of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), the operating surgeon must use a variety of catheters riding on a thin wire known as a `guidewire'. This guidewire must be manually navigated through a tortuous pathway of arteries to arrive at the diseased area. Automation of the guidewire therefo…
To treat atrial fibrillation (AFib), radiofrequency ablation is usually implemented with a cardiac catheter to block abnormal electrical signals from pulmonary veins. However, it is challenging to manipulate a passive catheter. In addition, the radiation exposure to patients under fluoroscopic guida
Batch-cell manipulation is a key technology in biological applications. Robotic manipulation has important significance to improve the operation success rate and reduce the technical threshold, but the problem of inefficiency still exists in batch-cell experiments. In this paper, an automated cell t…
Minimally invasive neurosurgical robotic procedure performed under real-time MRI can be achieved with a robot that is head-mounted and fits in a standard MRI bore. The design of a remotely-actuated cable-driven robotic system is presented in this work. A head mounted insertion module has been develo…