Data, AI, Robotics, Muay Thai
Physically-adaptive machines using on-the-fly fabrication
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Automatic Leg Regeneration
From a robotics perspective, the work aims at solving the problem of shape adaptation and automatic repair i.e. poor scalability, low granularity, and inflexible connection. From a biology perspective, it should provide insights into the cost of body-part regeneration and force and kinematics analysis for locomotion post-regeneration. Preliminary work uses a system of a legged robot, a regenerating robot and a pre-engineered ribbon material. Results demonstrate end-to-end execution of automatic regeneration of a legged robot’s leg in a cooperative manner within 335 seconds, and show a 90% recovery of forward speed, a 19.7% increase of peak power and a 9.3% reduction of cost of transport with a regenerated leg.
Related publication:
Wang, L. and Fearing, R. S. Automatic leg regeneration for robot mobility recovery. In Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 20-24 May 2019, Montreal, Canada. Accepted.
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Automatic End-Effector Shape-Adaptation
From a robotics perspective, the work tries to solve the problem of integrating fused deposition modelling (FDM) in a robotic system for flexible pick-and-place. From a biology perspective, it proposes models for biomechanics and energetics in animal tool manufacturing and use. Results show integration of FDM based on thermoplastic adhesives (TPA) and pick and place of water and light weighted solid objects with a dimension across three orders of magnitude from 0.1 mm to 10 mm all under the same motor command.
Related publication:
Wang, L., Brodbeck, L., and Iida, F. (2014). Mechanics and energetics in tool manufacture and use: A synthetic approach, Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11:20140827. abstract
Nurzaman, S.G., Culha, U., Brodbeck, L., Wang, L., and Iida, F. (2013). Active sensing system with in situ adjustable sensor morphology, PLOS ONE, 8(12): e84090. full text
Iida, F., Wang, L., Brodbeck, L., Nurzaman, S. G., Leach, D., and Culha, U. (2016) The solving-by-building approach based on thermoplastic adhesives. In Proceedings of the 16th International Symposium on Robotics Research (ISRR), 16-19 December 2013, Singapore, 221-236. abstract
Iida, F., Wang, L., and Brodbeck, L. (2014) Flexible self-reconfiguration based onthermoplastic adhesives. In Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS), 8-11 November 2012, Baltimore, USA, 193-204. abstract
Wang, L. and Iida, F. (2012) The extended phenotype in robots: A new perspective and challenges. Presented at IROS2012 Workshop on Smart Materials and Alternative Technologies for Bio-Inspired Robots and Systems (ATBio), 11 October, Vilamoura, Portugal. full text
Brodbeck, L., Wang, L., and Iida, F. (2012) Robotic body extension based on hot melt adhesives. In Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 14-18 May, St Paul, USA, 4322-4327. abstract
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A Dragline-Forming Robot for Free Space
The problem addressed is how to control thermoplastic shape forming in an anti-gravity fashion. By using a combination of extrusion and pultrusion, two control methods have been developed: (1) a discrete event based controller; and (2) a continuous formation controller. A model-based approach was taken using a heat transfer model and a mass transfer model. Results show on-the-fly formation of various draglines in a spider-like mobile robot for open-space descending.
Related publication:
Wang, L., Culha, U., and Iida, F. (2014). A dragline-forming mobile robot inspired by spiders, Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 9(1): 016006. abstract
Wang, L., Peruzzi, C., Culha, U., Jovic, M., and Iida, F. (2014) Modelling of continuous dragline formation in a mobile robot. In Proceedings of 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 31 May-7 June, Hong Kong, China, 4229-4234. abstract
Wang, L., Culha, U., and Iida, F. (2013) Free-space locomotion with thread formation. In Proceedings of 2013 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 3-7 November, Tokyo, Japan, 4046-4051. abstract