Publications (29)
A Quadratic Programming Approach to Manipulation in Real-Time Using Modular Robots
Chao Liu, Mark Yim
Motion planning in high-dimensional space is a challenging task. In order to perform dexterous manipulation in an unstructured environment, a robot with many degrees of freedom is…
Design and Experiments with a Low-Cost Single-Motor Modular Aquatic Robot
Gedaliah Knizhnik, Mark Yim
We present a novel design for a low-cost robotic boat powered by a single actuator, useful for both modular and swarming applications. The boat uses the conservation of angular mom…
A Low-Cost, Highly Customizable Solution for Position Estimation in Modular Robots
Chao Liu, Tarik Tosun, Mark Yim
Accurate position sensing is important for state estimation and control in robotics. Reliable and accurate position sensors are usually expensive and difficult to customize. Incorp…
Online Multi-Robot Coordination and Cooperation with Task Precedence Relationships
Walker Gosrich, Saurav Agarwal, Kashish Garg +4
We propose a new formulation for the multi-robot task allocation problem that incorporates (a) complex precedence relationships between tasks, (b) efficient intra-task coordination…
SMORES-EP, a Modular Robot with Parallel Self-assembly
Chao Liu, Qian Lin, Hyun Kim +1
Self-assembly of modular robotic systems enables the construction of complex robotic configurations to adapt to different tasks. This paper presents a framework for SMORES types of…
Coverage Control in Multi-Robot Systems via Graph Neural Networks
Walker Gosrich, Siddharth Mayya, Rebecca Li +4
This paper develops a decentralized approach to mobile sensor coverage by a multi-robot system. We consider a scenario where a team of robots with limited sensing range must positi…
Docking and Undocking a Modular Underactuated Oscillating Swimming Robot
Gedaliah Knizhnik, Mark Yim
We describe a docking mechanism and strategy to allow modular self-assembly for the Modboat: an inexpensive underactuated oscillating swimming robot powered by a single motor. Beca…
Interdisciplinary Workshop on Mechanical Intelligence: Summary Report
Victoria A. Webster-Wood, Nicholas Gravish, Amir Alavi +37
This report provides a summary of the outcomes of the Interdisciplinary Workshop on Mechanical Intelligence held in 2024. Mechanical Intelligence (MI) represents the phenomenon tha…
Object Manipulation of the Variable Topology Truss system
Andrew Jang-Ho Bae, Myeongjin Choi, Haorui Li +2
This paper presents an object manipulation strategy for the Variable Topology Truss (VTT) system, a truss robot that comprises actuated truss members connected by passive spherical…
Perception-Informed Autonomous Environment Augmentation With Modular Robots
Tarik Tosun, Jonathan Daudelin, Gangyuan Jing +3
We present a system enabling a modular robot to autonomously build structures in order to accomplish high-level tasks. Building structures allows the robot to surmount large obstac…
Collective Control for Arbitrary Configurations of Docked Modboats
Gedaliah Knizhnik, Mark Yim
The Modboat is a low-cost, underactuated, modular robot capable of surface swimming, docking to other modules, and undocking from them using only a single motor and two passive fli…
Quori: A Community-Informed Design of a Socially Interactive Humanoid Robot
Andrew Specian, Ross Mead, Simon Kim +2
Hardware platforms for socially interactive robotics can be limited by cost or lack of functionality. This paper presents the overall system -- design, hardware, and software -- fo…
Continuous Sculpting: Persistent Swarm Shape Formation Adaptable to Local Environmental Changes
Andrew G. Curtis, Mark Yim, Michael Rubenstein
Despite their growing popularity, swarms of robots remain limited by the operating time of each individual. We present algorithms which allow a human to sculpt a swarm of robots in…
Multimodal Proximity and Visuotactile Sensing With a Selectively Transmissive Soft Membrane
Jessica Yin, Gregory M. Campbell, James Pikul +1
The most common sensing modalities found in a robot perception system are vision and touch, which together can provide global and highly localized data for manipulation. However, t…
Scout-Rover cooperation: online terrain strength mapping and traversal risk estimation for planetary-analog explorations
Shipeng Liu, J. Diego Caporale, Yifeng Zhang +17
Robot-aided exploration of planetary surfaces is essential for understanding geologic processes, yet many scientifically valuable regions, such as Martian dunes and lunar craters,…
Exploring environment exploitation for self-reconfiguration in modular robotics
Philippe Martin Wyder, Haorui Li, Andrew Bae +2
Modular robotics research has long been preoccupied with perfecting the modules themselves -- their actuation methods, connectors, controls, communication, and fabrication. This in…
A Single Motor Nano Aerial Vehicle with Novel Peer-to-Peer Communication and Sensing Mechanism
Jingxian Wang, Andrew G. Curtis, Mark Yim +1
Communication and position sensing are among the most important capabilities for swarm robots to interact with their peers and perform tasks collaboratively. However, the hardware…
Amplitude Control for Parallel Lattices of Docked Modboats
Gedaliah Knizhnik, Mark Yim
The Modboat is a low-cost, underactuated, modular robot capable of surface swimming. It is able to swim individually, dock to other Modboats, and undock from them using only a sing…
Accomplishing High-Level Tasks with Modular Robots
Gangyuan Jing, Tarik Tosun, Mark Yim +1
The advantage of modular self-reconfigurable robot systems is their flexibility, but this advantage can only be realized if appropriate configurations (shapes) and behaviors (contr…
Learning In-Hand Translation Using Tactile Skin With Shear and Normal Force Sensing
Jessica Yin, Haozhi Qi, Jitendra Malik +3
Recent progress in reinforcement learning (RL) and tactile sensing has significantly advanced dexterous manipulation. However, these methods often utilize simplified tactile signal…
Electroadhesive Clutches for Programmable Shape Morphing of Soft Actuators
Gregory M. Campbell, Jessica Yin, Yuyang Song +3
Soft robotic actuators are safe and adaptable devices with inherent compliance, which makes them attractive for manipulating delicate and complex objects. Researchers have integrat…
Active Learning Design: Modeling Force Output for Axisymmetric Soft Pneumatic Actuators
Gregory M. Campbell, Gentian Muhaxheri, Leonardo Ferreira Guilhoto +4
Soft pneumatic actuators (SPA) made from elastomeric materials can provide large strain and large force. The behavior of locally strain-restricted hyperelastic materials under infl…
Motion Planning for Variable Topology Trusses: Reconfiguration and Locomotion
Chao Liu, Sencheng Yu, Mark Yim
Truss robots are highly redundant parallel robotic systems that can be applied in a variety of scenarios. The variable topology truss (VTT) is a class of modular truss robots. As s…
Microscopic Robots That Sense, Think, Act, and Compute
Maya M. Lassiter, Jungho Lee, Kyle Skelil +7
While miniaturization has been a goal in robotics for nearly 40 years, roboticists have struggled to access sub-millimeter dimensions without making sacrifices to on-board informat…
Holonomic Control of Arbitrary Configurations of Docked Modboats
Zhijie Qiao, Gedaliah Knizhnik, Mark Yim
The Modboat is a low-cost, underactuated, modular robot capable of surface swimming, docking to other modules, and undocking from them using only a single motor and two passive fli…
Thrust Direction Control of an Underactuated Oscillating Swimming Robot
Gedaliah Knizhnik, Mark Yim
The Modboat is an autonomous surface robot that turns the oscillation of a single motor into a controlled paddling motion through passive flippers. Inertial control methods develop…
An Integrated System for Perception-Driven Autonomy with Modular Robots
Jonathan Daudelin, Gangyuan Jing, Tarik Tosun +3
The theoretical ability of modular robots to reconfigure in response to complex tasks in a priori unknown environments has frequently been cited as an advantage and remains a major…
Optimal Structure Synthesis for Environment Augmenting Robots
Tarik Tosun, Cynthia Sung, Colin McCloskey +1
Building structures can allow a robot to surmount large obstacles, expanding the set of areas it can reach. This paper presents a planning algorithm to automatically determine what…
Real-time Two-tape Control System in Vine robots
Hanmo Liu, Kayleen Smith, Zimu Yang +1
This paper focuses on how to make a growing Vine robot steer in different directions with a novel approach to real-time steering control by autonomously applying adhesive tape to i…