The Biorobotics Lab reduces complicated high-dimensional problems found in robotics to low-dimensional tractable ones for design, analysis, and planning. Often, we look to biology for inspiration and sometimes, we return the favor by providing analysis that models biology. Our research group runs the full pipeline from basic research, to applied research and all the way to system deployment, and in some cases commercialization. We find that basic theory informs system development and vice-versa. We strongly believe in working with stakeholders in our chosen application fields because they have a unique perspective that challenge our core assumptions, inform future research direction, and drive the development of practical solutions. Our ability to build a great variety of novel field-tested systems stems from advancing modularity, at all levels, both in software and hardware.
Displaying 52 Publications
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Below is a list of this RI member's most recent, active or featured projects. To view archived projects, please visit the project archive
Modular Distributed Manipulator System
An array of cells, each of which can induce a vectored force to an object resting on the cell. The cells collectively transport and manipulate objects resting on the array.
Coverage Path Planning in the Plane: Exact Cellular Decompositions
Incremental construction of exact cellular decompositions that are formulated in terms of critical points of Morse functions.
Snake Robot Design
Analyzing the factors that are of importance in designing a snake robot, and implementing new designs.
Retract-like structures for SE(2) and SE(3)
Motion planning algorithm for thr rod-shaped robots, based on distance measurements.
Sensor Based Coverage of Unknown Planar Environments
Sensor based coverage of unknown environments using exact cellular decompositions.
Search and Rescue
Giving Urban Search and Rescue workers more technological tools to help find and save victims of natural disasters.
Controlled Coverage for Auto-Body Painting
Speeding up of the paint spray-gun path programming by automation, achieving uniform coverage.
Highly-Articulated Robotic Probe
We developed and tested a prototype based on an innovative approach of a highly articulated robotic probe.
Modular Robots: Mechanism and Control Design
Modular robotic systems have a core set of modules that can be combined and recombined to quickly form a customized robot.
Modular Robots: EigenBots System Design
Self-contained sensing, computing, and a motor driver printed circuit board design provides onboard feedback control and motion planning.
Vanderbot
Path-planning for a hyperredundant robot with low torque limits. Because the robot can't cantilever its full length, the planner finds bracing points in the environment to reduce the required torque.
Geometric Mechanics: The Dynamics and Control of Multi-robot Systems in Ambient Media
Investigating the different and rich ways in which agents interact in their environment, especially when that environment possesses complicated dynamics of its own.
Robovent
Research in ventilation control systems, tele-critical data collection, machine learning, and respiratory support hardware to enable tele-critical healthcare.
Space Robotics: Dexterous On-Orbit Maintenance
Dexterous On-Orbit Maintenance is used to perform repairs and replacements for satellites whose enabling functions - propellants, coolants, etc. - naturally deplete or whose subcomponents fail.
Multi-Agent: Communication Learning
Gradient-based inter-agent communication learning on bandwidth-limited communication networks.
DARPA Subterranean Challenge - Team Explorer
The DARPA Subterranean or “SubT” Challenge seeks novel approaches to rapidly map, navigate, and search underground environments during time-sensitive combat operations or disaster response scenarios.
MMPUG: Multi-Model Perception Uber Good
This research seeks to develop the state of the art in fast moving autonomy while also exploring methods for human interaction with complex systems.
Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning: Distributed Learning for Collaborative Policies
We developed decentralized multi-agent RL to construct a structure out of blocks. Each agent vies for itself and the agents automatically build scaffolding structure as well.
Multi-Agent Path Planning: Subdimensional Expansion and Operations
We seek to obtain the benefits of both coupled and decoupled approaches by bypassing the curse of dimensionality, on average, for multi-agent planners.
Locomoting Systems - Titan 6 - Large Size Six-Legged Robot
Two-meter tall hexapod for various terrain usage. It is also an exploration of building a set of self-sufficient modular joints unified by a novel control architecture.
Medical AI: Ultrasound Segmentation
This project aims to allow ultrasound image segmentation to generalize across real-world patient diversity
Medical Robotics: Medical Sensation Reduction
This project aims to create a device that reduces pain from needles.
Medical Robotics: ENT surgical augmentation
This project is exploring methods of performing specialized bone surgery around the ear to make surgeries safer and more effective.
Confined Space Robotics - In-situ Pipe Repair
Robot solution for old pipes. Robots go inside the pipes to repair leakage by extruding epoxy pipe inside the original pipe without digging the old pipe otu of the ground.
Robotic Force Sensor and Perception
Giving the robots the sense of touch by developing compact, robust, and intelligent force/torque/tactile sensors and perception algorithms.
Confined Space Robotics - Edge Sensing and Embedded Sensors
Blaser is a compact ultra-short range 3D scanner for confined space robotic applications.
Confined Space Robotics - Pipeline SLAM - Robust Mapping in Confined Spaces
CMU in-pipe mapping system is a self-sufficient payload consisting of sensors and computation devices, equipped with multi-modal Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithms.
Confined-Space Robotic Manipulator and Mobile System
Design robotic arm, manipulator, mobile base, and its control hardware/software for confined space applications.
Autonomous Needle Insertion for Vessel Access
The most important component in case of high-tempo, traumatic scenarios on the battlefield is inserting a needle in the vessel of the patient autonomously, as there is no professional medical person present.
Toward Practical Ultrasound AI Across Real-World Patient Diversity
This work proposes a method for enhancing deep learning models’ capabilities by generating synthetic, or augmented, data which is transformed in a manner designed to account for various body types, injury scenarios, and imaging features.
Deformation Modeling
Predict deformation in ultrasound images and use it to create synthetic data to train other machine learning techniques.
Surgical Snake Robot
A tool for minimally invasive robotic surgery.
Punctate Pressure
A novel device that allows us to perform psychophysical experiments.
DARPA RACER Challenge
An autonomy system that can handle tough terrain while moving fast.
Hybrid Robot Exploration
This project seeks novel approaches to rapidly map, navigate, and search environments.
Material Tracking on Moving Conveyor Belts
Recycling Robotics
Electronic Waste Recycling
Recycling Robotics