Abstract: Modular designs in soft robots enable repair and reconfiguration, making soft modular robots suitable for applications where resilience, flexibility, and adaptability are critical. This paper introduces a modular soft robot (MSR) based on origami actuator modules that are manufactured from reversible polymers, e.g., self-healing polymers. This work highlights … [Read more...] about Reconfigurable Modular Soft Actuator Using Origami Structures With Self-Healing Materials: Several Technological Opportunities for Robotic Applications
Three-dimensional displays
Museum Touring Through an Augmented Reality-Enhanced Robotic Assistant: Improving Learnability and Memory Retention
Abstract: While museums traditionally cater to visual perception, some are adopting novel approaches to aid visitors with impairments. In recent years, robot-based tour guides have become a popular museum attraction. Instead of traditional guides, special-purpose robots assist people and allow for more engaging multimodal touring. While promising, such robotics guides tend … [Read more...] about Museum Touring Through an Augmented Reality-Enhanced Robotic Assistant: Improving Learnability and Memory Retention
From Patient-Specific Digital Twin to Real-World Phantom: Autonomous Right Heart Catheterization
Abstract: Right heart catheterization (RHC) is a critical procedure for diagnosing and managing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as heart failure, congenital heart disease, pulmonary edema, and pulmonary hypertension. However, currently prevalent manual RHC procedures require continuous communication of clinicians between the main control room and the operating room, … [Read more...] about From Patient-Specific Digital Twin to Real-World Phantom: Autonomous Right Heart Catheterization
Leveraging Embodied Mechanical Intelligence for Learning Decluttering Tasks: Gripper Design Boosts Learning
Abstract: In this work, we investigate how a state-of-the-art grasp planner based on deep reinforcement learning performs when applied to a soft–rigid gripper in a decluttering task. The gripper, called Soft ScoopGripper (SSG), is endowed with a rigid scoop-shaped part that facilitates the interaction with the environment and with objects. We hypothesize that the clever … [Read more...] about Leveraging Embodied Mechanical Intelligence for Learning Decluttering Tasks: Gripper Design Boosts Learning
Towards Fully Integrated Autonomous Excavation: Autonomous Excavator for Precise Earth Cutting and Onboard Landscape Inspection
Autonomous excavator systems can alleviate the issues caused by the shortage of skilled labor forces and increasing labor costs. For autonomous excavation, real-time landscape estimation, excavation path generation, control, and precise landscape inspection are all essential. In this article, we propose and experimentally validate an integrated autonomous excavator system … [Read more...] about Towards Fully Integrated Autonomous Excavation: Autonomous Excavator for Precise Earth Cutting and Onboard Landscape Inspection
