IROS 2023 Papers

Soft-growing robots are emerging with numerous potential applications because of their superior capability of frictionless navigation. However, their success is hindered by their tendency to buckle under the tension required to retract them via inversion. In this paper, we propose a simple and scalable tubular backbone to facilitate retracting the robot body without buckling. With this backbone, compressive forces at the robot's tip are mitigated and a limit is placed on the effective length for retraction during the application of tension. We first present the selection of the backbone and the development of such a retractable soft-growing robot. Along with the characterization of the working principles behind this buckling-free mechanism, success was observed with the use of the backbone in retraction tests. The effects of different parameters such as robot body lengths, air pressures, curvatures, and retraction modes on the performance were also investigated. This backbone approach requires no bulky or in-situ mechatronic components inside the robot body and thus may be used in medical applications which appreciate simple, compact, and in-situ electronic-free designs.

Decentralized and autonomous control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) swarms is a key enabler for cooperative systems and infrastructure-less formation flights. However, UAVs often lack reliable heading angle measurements, especially in indoor scenarios, space, and GNSS-denied environments, posing an additional observability challenge on range-based relative localization. We tackle this problem by proposing a novel solution enhancing the classical tag-and-anchor trilateration. The proposed solution relies on Ultra-wideband range measurements and addresses the relative pose estimation between pairs of UAVs under relative motion. Furthermore, it does not require any explicit motion pattern or initialization procedure and leverages an approximate maximum-likelihood algorithm to recursively solve the relative localization problem with constant computational complexity. The method has been implemented and demonstrated through field experiments, where a swarm of nano-UAVs positioned themselves with respect to a leader in a nearly-static formation with an average error of 38.5 cm and a convergence time of 25 s. The achieved formation accuracy is similar to the one achieved by the state-of-the-art EKF-based leader-follower methods.

The use of serial robots for industrial and research purposes is often limited by a flawed positioning accuracy, caused by the differences between the robot nominal model, and the real one. Such an issue can be solved by means of kinematic calibration, which is usually a tedious and intricate task. In this paper, we propose a complete kinematic calibration procedure relying on established geometric modeling, measurements design and parameters identification methods, as well as multiple integration tools, to provide a high adaptability and a simplified handling. The overall process was bundled up in a ROS-based modular and user-friendly package, whose main objective is to offer a smooth and fully integrated framework for the kinematic calibration of serial robots. Our solution was successfully tested using a motion tracking device, and allowed to increase the overall positioning accuracy of two different serial robots by 75% in a matter of hours.

We report a new material and structure mapping (MSM) algorithm to assist robotic grasping and manipulation. Building on our new sensor development, the algorithm has four main components: 1) detection of time-of-flight (ToF) durations for the dual modalities of optoacoustic (OA) and pulse-echo ultrasound (US), 2) contour reconstruction by fusing OA and US signals, 3) local noise filtering by checking local consistency of material and structure label (MSL), and 4) medium boundary searching that identifies class boundaries through two-staged clustering and boundary establishment using support vector machine (SVM) hyperplanes. We have implemented our algorithm and tested it with multiple common household items. The experimental results have successfully validated our algorithm design which shows that the average error of contour reconstruction is 0.05 mm and the true positive rate of MSL is over 98%.

Surgical simulators have been under development for years, formerly intended for surgical training and recently applied for training machine learning models. These systems often employ computationally efficient methods such as mass-spring models or position-based dynamics that prioritize real-time execution over physical accuracy, while the use of the finite element method (FEM) has been limited due its computational cost. In consequence, there has been little improvement in the accuracy of the deformable models and the haptics, relying on hand-tuned stiffness parameters, and empirical solutions to estimate the contact forces. To solve these limitations, we propose to develop a new surgical simulator for laparoscopic cholecystectomy employing the extended position-based dynamics method in conjunction with FEM to compute physically based deformation and obtain accurate contact forces during the collision response. While dense organs like the liver are modeled using tetrahedrons and addressed the element inversion problem in FEM, we propose to simulate the gallbladder as a closed elastic membrane using two-dimensional FEM elements with volume preserving constraints to model the inner incompressible fluid. Because continuous position and contact force measurement on real materials to verify the simulation is challenging, we employ a bilateral robotic system equipped with Fiber Bragg Grating-based force sensors.

Drilling, grinding, and setting anchors on vertical walls are fundamental processes in everyday construction work. Manually doing these works is error-prone, potentially dangerous, and elaborate at height. Today, heavy mobile ground robots can perform automatic power tool work. However, aerial vehicles could be deployed in untraversable environments and reach inaccessible places. Existing drone designs do not provide the large forces, payload, and high precision required for using power tools. This work presents the first aerial robot design to perform versatile manipulation tasks on vertical concrete walls with continuous forces of up to 150 N. The platform combines a quadrotor with active suction cups for perching on walls and a lightweight, tiltable linear tool table. This combination minimizes weight using the propulsion system for flying, surface alignment, and feed during manipulation and allows precise positioning of the power tool. We evaluate our design in a concrete drilling application - a challenging construction process that requires high forces, accuracy, and precision. In 30 trials, our design can accurately pinpoint a target position despite perching imprecision. Nine visually guided drilling experiments demonstrate a drilling precision of 6 mm without further automation. Aside from drilling, we also demonstrate the versatility of the design by setting an anchor into concrete.

In this paper, we present a novel rolling, jumping robot. The robot consists of a driven pendulum mounted to a wheel in a compact, lightweight, 3D printed design. We show that by driving the pendulum to shift the robot's weight distribution, the robot is able to obtain significant rolling speed, achieve jumps of up to 2.5 body lengths vertically, and clear horizontal distances of over 6 body lengths. The robot's dynamic model is derived and simulation results indicate that it is consistent with the rolling motion and jumping observed on the robot. The ability to both roll and jump effectively using a minimalistic design makes this robot unique and could inspire the use of similar mechanisms on robots intended for applications in which agile locomotion on unstructured terrain is necessary, such as disaster response or planetary exploration.

Obstacle avoidance (OA) and joint-limit avoidance (JLA) are essential for redundant manipulators to ensure safe and reliable robotic operations. One solution to OA and JLA is to incorporate the involved constraints into a quadratic programming (QP), by solving which OA and JLA can be achieved. There exist a few non-iterative solvers such as zeroing neural networks (ZNNs), which can solve each sampled QP problem using only one iteration, yet no solution is suitable for OA and JLA due to the absence of some derivative information. To tackle these issues, this paper proposes a novel solution with a non-iterative neural controller termed NCP-ZNN for joint-constrained redundant manipulators. Unlike iterative methods, the neural controller involving derivative information proposed in this paper possesses some positive features including non-iterative computing and convergence with time. In this paper, the reestablished OA-JLA scheme is first introduced. Then, the design details of the neural controller are presented. After that, some comparative simulations based on a PA10 robot and an experiment based on a Franka Emika Panda robot are conducted, demonstrating that the proposed neural controller is more competent in OA and JLA.

This paper introduces a way to systematically investigate the effect of compliant prismatic spines in quadrupedal robot locomotion. We develop a novel spring-loaded lockable spine module, together with a new Spinal Compliance-Integrated Quadruped (SCIQ) platform for both empirical and numerical research. Individual spine tests reveal beneficial spinal characteristics like a degressive spring, and validate the efficacy of a proposed compact locking/unlocking mechanism for the spine. Benchmark vertical jumping and landing tests with our robot show comparable jumping performance between the rigid and compliant spines. An observed advantage of the compliant spine module is that it can alleviate more challenging landing conditions by absorbing impact energy and dissipating the remainder via feet slipping through much in cat-like stretching fashion.

Exoskeleton robots are capable of safe torque-controlled interactions with a wearer while moving their limbs through predefined trajectories. However, affecting and assisting the wearer's movements while incorporating their inputs (effort and movements) effectively during an interaction re-mains an open problem due to the complex and variable nature of human motion. In this paper, we present a control algorithm that leverages task-specific movement behaviors to control robot torques during unstructured interactions by implementing a force field that imposes a desired joint angle coordination behavior. This control law, built by using principal component analysis (PCA), is implemented and tested with the Harmony exoskeleton. We show that the proposed control law is versatile enough to allow for the imposition of different coordination behaviors with varying levels of impedance stiffness. We also test the feasibility of our method for unstructured human-robot interaction. Specifically, we demonstrate that participants in a human-subject experiment are able to effectively perform reaching tasks while the exoskeleton imposes the desired joint coordination under different movement speeds and interaction modes. Survey results further suggest that the proposed control law may offer a reduction in cognitive or motor effort. This control law opens up the possibility of using the exoskeleton for training the participating in accomplishing complex multi-joint motor tasks while maintaining postural coordination.

Operating in narrow spaces is an important challenge in the development of robots. Redundant manipulators are one way to solve this problem, but their mechanism design and control method still have much room for improvement. In this paper, we propose a coiled cable-conduit-driven hyper-redundant manipulator (C-CDHRM) with great slenderness and flexibility. In terms of mechanism design, it considers both compactness and operability. By imitating the structure and behavior of a constricting snake, it can be uncoiled sequentially from a coiled storage state, led by the head. In terms of control methods, we propose a multi-layer control system that can make remote operations more accurate and reliable. On the one hand, guiding, segmenting, and following the path overcome the planning ambiguity caused by redundancy. On the other hand, conduit transmission modeling and cable length correction overcome the nonlinear mapping of cable-driven joints and were verified in experiments. Through tests, the mobile integrated system composed of C-CDHRM has an excellent performance in operation precision and accuracy, ensuring safety and accessibility in narrow spaces. Finally, in field experiments, the inspection and cleaning of various types of electrical equipment have been successfully completed, showing excellent application prospects.

The Spring-Loaded Inverted Pendulum (SLIP) is one of the simplest models of robot locomotion. SLIP is commonly used to predict the center of mass motion and derive simple control laws for stable locomotion. However, the SLIP model is not integrable, which means that no closed-form relation can be derived to understand how the design and control parameters of the SLIP model affect stable locomotion. There exist a number of different analytical approximations to the SLIP model when considering small step lengths and symmetric steps. In this paper, we present a novel approximation to the SLIP model without relying on the small step length and the symmetric step assumption. The model was found to accurately predict the stability of the SLIP model for large and asymmetric steps and was used to design a controller to stabilize the SLIP model in a couple of steps.

Pushing objects into a target configuration is an important skill for robots. When there are obstacles in the scenario, the movement range of the objects will be limited, and objects are easily lost due to obscured by obstacles, which complicates the pushing task. This paper proposes a push path planning algorithm SDP-RRT (Single and Double Push - Rapidly-exploring Random Tree) to combine single-point push and double-point complete push in a partially observable environment with obstacles. The single-double push combines the flexibility of a single-point push and the stability of a double-point complete push. To find the reliable pushing point and pushing direction of the double-point complete push, we improve the judgment conditions of the double-point complete push and estimate the object's center of mass based on the LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory) neural network. Finally, the success rate and push steps of single-double and single-point push are compared in both the simulation and the natural environments, and the feasibility of the SDP-RRT algorithm is verified.

A robot must exhibit softness so as not to accidentally damage its environment. However, stiffness is also necessary, so that the robot can transmit forces and perform tasks. In soft robotics, it is desirable to be able to switch between two states, namely a flexible state for adapt ion to the environment and a rigid state for the transmission of forces. String jamming mechanisms, which comprise many units connected in a bead-like pattern, have received attention for their ability to switch between flexible and rigid states. In this study, we propose a new design of the string jamming mechanism that enhances the maximum stiffness in the rigid state while maintaining a high fitting performance for the environment in the flexible state. We evaluate the fitting of the mechanism to the environment in a qualitative geometric discussion and compare the performance of the mechanism with that of existing string jamming mechanisms. The results of experiments measuring the maximum stiffness show the usefulness of the proposed mechanism from a quantitative point of view.

We present a new unimorph actuator for micro-robotics, which is driven by thin shape-memory alloy (SMA) wires. Using a passive-capillary-alignment technique and existing SMA-microsystem fabrication methods, we developed an actuator that is 7 mm long, has a volume of 0.45 mm3, weighs 0.96 mg, and can achieve operation frequencies of up to 40 Hz as well as lift 155 times its own weight. To demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed actuator, we created an 8-mg crawler, the MiniBug, and a bioinspired 56-mg controllable water-surface-tension crawler, the WaterStrider. The MiniBug is 8.5 mm long, can locomote at speeds as high as 0.76 BL/s (body-lengths per second), and is the lightest fully-functional crawling microrobot of its type ever created. The WaterStrider is 22 mm long, and can locomote at speeds of up to 0.28 BL/s as well as execute turning maneuvers at angular rates on the order of 0.144 rad/s. The WaterStrider is the lightest controllable SMA-driven water-surface-tension crawler developed to date.

Pushing is an essential motor skill involved in several manipulation tasks, and has been an important research topic in robotics. Recent works have shown that Deep Q-Networks (DQNs) can learn pushing policies (when, where to push, and how) to solve manipulation tasks, potentially in synergy with other skills (e.g. grasping). Nevertheless, DQNs often assume a fixed setting and task, which may limit their deployment in practice. Furthermore, they suffer from sparse-gradient backpropagation when the action space is very large, a problem exacerbated by the fact that they are trained to predict state-action values based on a single reward function aggregating several facets of the task, rendering the model training challenging. To address these issues, we propose a multi-head target-parameterized DQN to learn robotic manipulation tasks, in particular pushing policies, and make the following contributions: i) we show that learning to predict different reward and task aspects can be beneficial compared to predicting a single value function where reward factors are not disentangled; ii) we study several alternatives to generalize a policy by encoding the target parameters either into the network layers or visually in the input; iii) we propose a kernelized version of the loss function, allowing to obtain better, faster and more stable training performance. Extensive experiments on simulations validate our design choices, and we show that our architecture learned on simulated data can achieve high performance in a real-robot setup involving a Franka Emika robot arm and unseen objects.

An emerging field of sequential decision problems is safe Reinforcement Learning (RL), where the objective is to maximize the reward while obeying safety constraints. Being able to handle constraints is essential for deploying RL agents in real-world environments, where constraint violations can harm the agent and the environment. To this end, we propose a safe model-free RL algorithm with a novel multiplicative value function consisting of a safety critic and a reward critic. The safety critic predicts the probability of constraint violation and discounts the reward critic that only estimates constraint-free returns. By splitting responsibilities, we facilitate the learning task leading to increased sample efficiency. We integrate our approach into two popular RL algorithms, Proximal Policy Optimization and Soft Actor-Critic, and evaluate our method in four safety-focused environments, including classical RL benchmarks augmented with safety constraints and robot navigation tasks with images and raw Lidar scans as observations. Finally, we make the zero-shot sim-to-real transfer where a differential drive robot has to navigate through a cluttered room. Our code can be found at https://github.com/nikeke19/Safe-Mult-RL.

Current motion planning approaches for autonomous mobile robots often assume that the low level controller of the system is able to track the planned motion with very high accuracy. In practice, however, tracking error can be affected by many factors, and could lead to potential collisions when the robot must traverse a cluttered environment. To address this problem, this paper proposes a novel receding-horizon motion planning approach based on Model Predictive Path Integral (MPPI) control theory – a flexible sampling-based control technique that requires minimal assumptions on vehicle dynamics and cost functions. This flexibility is leveraged to propose a motion planning framework that also considers a data-informed risk function. Using the MPPI algorithm as a motion planner also reduces the number of samples required by the algorithm, relaxing the hardware requirements for implementation. The proposed approach is validated through trajectory generation for a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), where fast motion increases trajectory tracking error and can lead to collisions with nearby obstacles. Simulations and hardware experiments demonstrate that the MPPI motion planner proactively adapts to the obstacles that the UAV must negotiate, slowing down when near obstacles and moving quickly when away from obstacles, resulting in a complete reduction of collisions while still producing lively motion.

Grasping and moving objects in a large cluster is a common real scenario. In such scenarios, tens of objects are adjacent to each other, even stacked layer by layer, so that simple grasp would not work due to obstruction. In this paper, we propose a well-designed strategy to use synergy of pushing and grasping to automatically push and grasp objects in a large tightly packed cluster of objects. Our strategy is to detect and grasp isolated graspable objects first before other actions. We then use a smart strategy that pushes objects at the narrowest edge of the clusters. For push action, the robot pushes the edge at the perpendicular direction relative to the cluster, thus improving the performance of isolation and minimizing collisions. We have conducted experiments in both simulation and real-world environments with more than 20 cluttered objects and demonstrated that our solution outperforms existing deep learning based methods, especially in challenging cases, and achieves significantly higher completion rate, grasp success rate, picked rate and efficiency.