Articles tagged with Robotic Locomotion
The NERVE Center has developed test methods and metrics for various robots, identifying limitations to improve systems. The center's success grew its research capabilities through partnerships with NIST and the U.S. Army.
Researchers have developed insect-sized jumping robots capable of navigating tight spaces, with a new study demonstrating two configurations that can successfully jump without manual intervention. The robots use a dynamic buckling cascade process to store and release elastic energy, allowing them to propel themselves upward.
Scientists successfully used lab-produced tissue samples to remotely control muscle-driven miniature robots with this innovative technology. The device allows researchers a new level of interaction and exploration in the field of biological robots.
A team of simple robots, nicknamed RAnts, use photormones to escape a corral and perform complex tasks. The research reveals how collective cooperation can arise from simple rules, applicable to solving problems like construction, search and rescue, and defense.
Researchers at NC State University have created an energy-efficient soft robot that can swim more than four times faster than previous models. The 'butterfly bots' use bistable wings for propulsion and achieve speeds of up to 3.74 body lengths per second.
Researchers at NC State University have developed a ring-shaped soft robot capable of crawling across surfaces when exposed to elevated temperatures or infrared light. The 'ringbots' are made of liquid crystal elastomers in the shape of looped ribbon, resembling a bracelet, and can pull a small payload across various environments.
The EMBUR robot uses a novel leg design to self-burrow vertically, emulating the Pacific mole crab's underground movements. This breakthrough has significant applications in agriculture, geotechnical engineering, marine data collection, and construction, while also advancing scientific understanding of burrowing animals.
A four-legged robot trained through artificial intelligence has mastered jumping to navigate the Moon's rugged terrain. The robot can collect samples and deploy scientific instruments, overcoming limitations of traditional rovers in loose soil and steep slopes.
Researchers at Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems created a robot dog named Morti that can walk smoothly within an hour. The robot uses a Bayesian optimization algorithm to learn from sensor data and adapts its virtual spinal cord, allowing it to optimize its walking pattern and minimize stumbling.
Researchers at Harvard University have developed inflatable actuators that can bend, twist, and move in complex ways using origami-inspired designs. The actuator's bistable origami blocks allow it to perform up to eight different motions with a single pressure source.
A new study takes inspiration from the 'waggle dance' of honeybees to devise a way for robots to communicate effectively in situations with unreliable network communications. Researchers designed a visual communication system using on-board cameras, allowing robots to interpret gestures and convey complex information.
Researchers from Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a single-material, single-stimuli microstructure that can outmaneuver even living cilia. These programmable structures could be used for soft robotics, biocompatible medical devices, and dynamic information encryption.
Researchers have developed microrobot collectives that can move in various formations, reconfiguring their behavior quickly and robustly. The systems use a combination of magnetic forces, fluid dynamics, and computation to achieve coordinated patterns of motion.
Researchers created BirdBot, a robotic leg inspired by the ostrich's anatomy, which achieves energy efficiency through a mechanical coupling of muscles and tendons. The robot leg requires fewer motors than other machines, making it suitable for large size applications.
Researchers create microparticles that can steer through biological fluids and deliver drugs to cancer cells. The swimmers use visible light as propulsion, even in salty liquids, and can release cargo on demand.
A new floating robotic film can hoover oil spills at sea or remove contaminants from drinking water, using a pulsing motion inspired by water striders. The film is powered by light and fueled by water, making it sustainable and reusable.
Researchers created a paper-like material that folds itself into new shapes in response to environmental humidity, with potential applications in self-folding envelopes and boxes. The material's ability to morph on demand could lead to the development of autonomous origami robots and other complex shapes.
A new algorithm provides accurate solutions that mimic natural human movement, reducing the risk of injury. The Pro-ISADE approach improves calculation speed while ensuring calculated joint angles are feasible for robotic use in daily activities like drinking water and brushing teeth.
Scientists have discovered that geckos use their tails to recover from head-first crashes into rainforest trees, with implications for the design of agile robots. This versatile behavior allows geckos to stabilize themselves after impact and maintain control during gliding maneuvers.
Scientists develop robotic model of mantis shrimp strike, revealing geometric latching process behind ultra-fast movements. The device accelerates to 26 meters per second, equivalent to a car reaching 58 mph in four milliseconds.
University of Virginia researchers design a simple way to implement a tunable stiffness strategy in robots, enabling efficient swimming at varying speeds. The approach, inspired by the natural adaptability of fish, uses a programmable artificial tendon to adjust tail stiffness in real-time.
Researchers from UC Berkeley studied squirrels' ability to leap and land successfully to develop more agile robots. They found that squirrels assess their biomechanical abilities based on branch flexibility and gap distance, allowing them to adjust their strategies with minimal attempts.
Researchers designed acoustically driven microrobots capable of fast unidirectional locomotion and surface slipping. The robots' thrust forces were significantly stronger than those of microorganisms, enabling deployment in the human vascular system for medical purposes.
Scientists develop a soft snail robot that harnesses energy from a laser beam to crawl on horizontal surfaces and climb vertical walls. The robot's unique properties offer insights into micromechanics with smart materials, paving the way for future exploration in small-scale soft robotics.
A novel soft robot with color-changing capabilities has been developed by mimicking the chameleon's skin cells. The robot can sense its environment and exhibit dynamic color change in response. Its unique properties make it suitable for sensing, communication, and disguise in soft robotics.
Researchers developed soft actuator prototypes with tunable parameters, achieving larger deflections than other recent examples. The 3-D printed dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) can perform high bending motion without skeletal support.
The new version of WALK-MAN humanoid robot has a lighter upper body and new hands, reducing construction cost and improving performance. It can locate fires, activate extinguishers, and transmit images back to emergency teams for evaluation and guidance.
The researchers developed a new metric to measure vertical agility, which allowed them to rank animals by their jumping agility and identify the galago as an inspiration for design. Salto achieved 78% of the galago's vertical jumping agility, with a maximum jump height of roughly 1.008 meters.
Researchers used a custom-built robot, mathematical models and studies of amphibious fish to explore the critical evolutionary leap from water to land. They found that stabilizing the body with a tail provided substantial benefits for the first critical step out of an aqueous environment.
A new search-and-rescue robot, Scalybot 2, is designed to use less energy and navigate tight spaces like snakes. The robot replicates rectilinear locomotion, a efficient movement method that allows snakes to crawl through crevices with minimal energy expenditure.
The study, which compared two types of physical therapy, found that patients who received at-home strength and balance training made significant improvements in walking speed and mobility, with results lasting up to one year. The findings suggest that conventional wisdom about recovery being limited to six months may be incorrect.
The UCLA Neurology program played a key role in assessing stroke rehabilitation, finding that patients who received physical therapy at home improved their walking ability comparable to those treated in a clinic. Early locomotor training did not seem to matter, with all groups showing similar gains in walking speed and mobility.
Researchers at Oregon State University have made an important fundamental advance in robotics, achieving optimal approach with robotic mechanisms. This breakthrough aims to create robots that can walk and run effectively while using little energy, potentially leading to applications in military missions, prosthetic limbs, and wheelchai...
Dennis Hong, a Virginia Tech professor, has developed a robotic locomotion mechanism that mimics the motion of an amoeba. The Whole Skin Locomotion (WSL) mechanism enables robots to squeeze through narrow spaces and navigate challenging terrain with ease.
Researchers at USC have developed SuperBot, a modular and multifunctional robot system that can reconfigure into different configurations for various tasks. The system consists of Lego-like autonomous robotic modules with internal and external sensors, enabling flexible bending, docking, and continuous rotation.
Researchers at Tufts University are developing a flexible robot that can navigate through the human body and complex structures, inspired by the unique movement of caterpillars. The team is studying the nervous system control of caterpillar locomotion to replicate this movement and build soft-bodied robots.