­Soft robotics is a growing field of study encompassing biology, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. Soft robots can be used for safe and adaptive interaction with humans and harsh environments, manipulation of delicate objects, navigation through a confined space, and actuation with multiple degrees of freedom. One key element in soft...

Continuous long-term observation of coral reefs is essential for gathering crucial data that helps determine the state of environmental health. Coral reefs support 25% of all marine species which makes it necessary that they be monitored for good health. Traditional methods of coral reef monitoring, such as diver-based surveys and airborne observatories,...

Drones are garnering considerable interest for their capacity in autonomously transporting objects across diverse sectors. Their potential is poised to revolutionize the logistics realm by offering swifter, more cost-effective and efficient transportation solutions. This includes facilitating expedited delivery services for packages, transporting essential...

There are many obstacles in the way of exploring challenging environments (e.g., the lunar surface's permanently shadowed regions (PSRs)). The rocky terrain, steep inclines, and slick regolith that are typical in these places present challenges for traditional wheeled rovers. For these explorations to be effective, a vehicle needs to have low power,...

In the realm of quadrupedal locomotion, there's a growing interest in understanding the concept of passive leg stiffness. This stiffness, when tuned correctly, can significantly influence a robot's locomotion dynamics and performance. However, integrating passive stiffness into quadruped robots has been challenging due to complexities in design,...

Background Robotic prostheses have the potential to change the lives of millions of lower-limb amputees by providing critical support during legged locomotion. Powered protheses specifically enable complex capabilities including level-ground walking, running, or stair climbing, while also enabling reductions in metabolic cost and improvements in ergonomic...

Burrowing robots are a class of robot that can move themselves in soil for geotechnical site investigation, search and rescue, sensor deployment, inspection, monitoring, and construction purposes. Moving through soil is a challenging problem due to high drag force and complex underground environments. Many organisms adopt well-evolved strategies and...

Multi-robot systems (MRS) composed of multiple mobile robots have been used for various collective exploration and perception tasks, such as mapping unknown environments, disaster response, and surveillance and monitoring. The performance of MRS in such applications is constrained by the capabilities of the payloads that the robots can carry on-board,...

A variety of rigid exoskeletons have been developed for improving mobility over the decades. High forces and torques provided by those rigid exoskeletons assist the ankle, hip and/or knee, facilitating activities such as walking or lifting heavy objects. However, due to the complexity of the human musculoskeletal system, adjusting and aligning human...

Perching highlights the ability for aerial robots to save energy and maintain a vantage position for monitoring or surveillance. Existing aerial robots coordinate perching mechanisms and flight dynamics to achieve perching. However, there is often a dissociation between controlled collision and dynamic perching in existing designs of aerial robots,...