Research

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Areas of Research

Robotics and Autonomy

Creating machines that interact with complex environments, make decisions, take action, and collaborate with humans and one another

On land, in air, in space, and underwater, as individuals and as teams, autonomous machines increasingly impact infrastructure, healthcare, security, manufacturing, and the environment. Our research in robotics and autonomy drives fundamental advances in materials, actuation, and sensing and control; sensorimotor integration; locomotion, manipulation, and swarm behavior; machine perception and cognition; and human-robot interaction.

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Research Area Subtopics

Bio-inspiration, Neuromechanics, and Neuroscience

We study sensorimotor integration in model animal systems to better understand neuromechanics and to derive inspiration for robots. We particularly seek to understand how animals move their bodies and sensory organs in order to execute behaviors, such as prey capture. Model systems include rat whisking and the electrosense of the black ghost knifefish.

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Human-machine Systems

We investigate a broad range of topics in human-machine systems including haptic interfaces to virtual environments, haptic feedback on touch surfaces, human-in-the-loop control systems to augment motor learning, human-robot co-adaptation, especially in the context of rehabilitation, and dynamic allocation of autonomy in the context of human-robot teams.

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Swarm Robotics and Decentralized Computation

Networked systems often exhibit emergent behavior. In nature, for example, flocks of birds, schools of fish, and swarms of bees all develop cohesive global behavior from purely local interactions. We develop tools to design local control, communication, and estimation laws for individual agents that yield a desired group behavior such as self-assembly or locomotion.

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Autonomous Systems

Autonomous systems use sensory data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and motion planning and control to make real-time decisions about how to act in changing environments. We explore new ways for robots, vehicles, and other powered devices to achieve sophisticated autonomous behaviors, including locomotion on complex terrain, multi-fingered or nonprehensile manipulation, and automation in manufacturing.

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Soft Robotics

We develop soft devices and machines with novel bioinspired actuation, perception, control, and power capabilities. This work includes the synthesis and characterization of functional soft, polymeric, and nanoscale materials, the development of novel additive and digital manufacturing methods, and the design of soft robotic structures with embedded sensors, actuators, and control.

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