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No description available.

Soft optical sensing strategies are rapidly developing for soft robotic systems. In this thesis, a roughness tuning strategy for the fabrication of soft optical sensors to achieve the triple functionality of shape sensing combined with contact detection and force intensity recognition within a single multi-modal sensor is presented. The integration of these sensors into a fully soft robotic platform is demonstrated. The robot consists of a multi-directional bending module with integrated 3D shape sensing and a gripper with tip position monitoring along with contact force recognition and sensing. This robot is tested in a mock laparoscopic setup to prove the effectiveness to be implemented into minimally invasive medical robotic systems. / 2025-01-15T00:00:00Z

Multi-agent systems (MAS) are used as models for many natural and engineered systems, such as robotic teams and cell-cell interactions. Such systems exhibit time-varying spatial (spatio-temporal) behaviors. As the complexity of MAS increases, there is a need to express their behaviors in formal ways that are interpretable to humans and amenable to rigorous mathematical analysis. In this thesis, we propose using spatio-temporal (ST) logics to write up such expressions. In addition, we address two closely related challenges 1) inferring ST logic expressions from data (the inference problem) and 2) synthesizing system inputs such that the MAS outputs meet specific behavioral requirements given by ST logic expressions (the synthesis problem). We consider two distinct MAS types 1) patterning chemical and biological systems and 2) robotic teams. Overall, this thesis has three main parts. First, we develop ST logics that are (1) capable of describing emerging MAS behaviors and (2) equipped with qualitative and quantitative (robustness metric) semantics. The qualitative semantics address the question "are the requirements satisfied/violated?" while the quantitative semantics address the question "how well are the requirements satisfied/violated?" Second, we develop several techniques for inferring ST logics expressions from executions of patterning systems. The proposed techniques utilize unsupervised and supervised learning techniques to learn the structure and parameters of logical expressions. Third, we propose several methods to solve the synthesis problem when requirements are given by the ST logic formulae. We formulate the synthesis problems as optimization problems where the objective is to maximize the robustness metric, thus satisfying the requirements. We outline our approach for solving optimization problems and learning controllers using optimization and deep learning techniques. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithms and tools in simulated examples of patterning systems and robotic teams. We conclude with a discussion about the limitations and future research directions. / 2025-01-16T00:00:00Z

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes program. Includes bibliographic references.

Mechanical compliance will be an essential component for agile robots as they begin to leave the laboratory settings and join our world. The most crucial finding of this dissertation is showing how lessons learned from soft robotics can be adapted into traditional robotics to introduce compliance. Therefore, it presents practical knowledge on how to build soft bodied sensor and actuation modules: first example being soft-bodied curvature sensors. These sensors contain both standard electronic components soldered on flexible PCBs and hyperelastic materials that cover the electronics. They are built by curing multi-material composites inside hyper elastic materials. Then it shows, via precise sensing by using magnets and Hall-effect sensors, how closed-loop control of soft actuation modules can be achieved via proprioceptive feedback. Once curvature sensing idea is verified, the dissertation describes how the same sensing methodology, along with the same multi-material manufacturing technique can be utilized to construct soft bodied tri-axial force sensors. It shows experimentally that these sensors can be used by traditional robotic grippers to increase grasping quality. At this point, I observe that compliance is an important property that robots may utilize for different types of motions. One example being Raibert's 2D hopper mechanism. It uses its leg-spring to store energy while on the ground and release this energy before jumping. I observe that via soft material design, it would be possible to embed compliance directly into the linkage design itself. So I go over the design details of an extremely lightweight compliant five-bar mechanism design that can store energy when compressed via soft ligaments embedded in its joints. I experimentally show that the compliant leg design offers increased efficiency compared to a rigid counterpart. I also utilize the previously mentioned soft bodied force sensors for rapid contact detection (~5-10 Hz) in the hopper test platform. In the end, this thesis connects soft robotics with the traditional body of robotic knowledge in two aspects: a) I show that manufacturing techniques we use for soft bodied sensor/actuator designs can be utilized for creating soft ligaments that add strength and compliance to robot joints; and b) I demonstrate that soft bodied force sensing techniques can be used reliably for robotic contact detection.

Thesis (M.S. in Astronautical Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2006. / "September 2006." Thesis advisor: Romano, Marcello. Performed by Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-74). Also available online from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Dudley Knox Library site and the DTIC Online site.

No description available.

In the past few years, there has been a large push towards adapting traditional industrial manipulators to other, more consumer-centric applications [1]. These include not only house and elderly care, but also towards medical applications that manipulators may be especially suited for, such as rehabilitation of patients who have suffered neurological trauma [2]. Impeding this push are the strict safety requirements necessary to certify a manipulator for use. These requirements include low speed operation and preventing humans from entering the manipulator workspace [3]. These restrictions effectively prevent a manipulator from being used in many of these applications. Previous work done in manipulator safety research has focused on improving the system’s knowledge of its environment and controlling the manipulator’s motion to keep away from potential hazards. These methods are extremely important in terms of avoiding potential collisions but provide little insight into the situation that occurs once a hazard occurs and the manipulator is forced to react. In order to improve upon the ability to evaluate a manipulator’s overall safety, this report establishes a framework to evaluate the capacity of a manipulator to safely “halt” itself. Two sets of criteria are presented in this report. The first set seeks to quantify both the potential of the manipulator to avoid a collision during the stopping motion and the potential severity of the collision. The second set of criteria quantifies the effect of the stopping motion at the actuator level, allowing the operator to identify potential hardware faults and the capacity to which the actuators are performing. A framework for mapping the manipulator’s actuator parameters for the gear reduction ratio and the motor torque to the potential safety criteria performance is formulated to allow the manipulator designer to match task requirements to the manipulator design. Finally, an examination of the effects on operating parameters such as manipulator configuration, end-effector load, and operating speed is presented with a 6DOF industrial manipulator. This analysis showed that the operating speed of the manipulator is the most important determinant of the safety performance, with the distance traveled by the manipulator increasing by a factor of 15 for all configurations when the speed is increased only by a factor of four. Recommendations for the application of these criteria are presented to the reader as well. / text