Publications related to Flexural-tensegrity snapping tails for bio-inspired propulsion in fluids

Investigating the roles of reflexes and central pattern generators in the control and modulation of human locomotion using a physiologically plausible neuromechanical model

Auke Ijspeert, Andrea Di Russo, Dimitar Yuriev Stanev, Anushree Bapusaheb Sabnis, Stéphane Armand

Objective. Studying the neural components regulating movement in human locomotion is obstructed by the inability to perform invasive experimental recording in the human neural circuits. Neuromechanical simulations can provide insights by modeling the locom ...

Iop Publishing Ltd2023

Design of an intake and a thruster for an atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion system

Francesco Romano, Thomas Binderup Jensen

Challenging space missions include those at very low altitudes, where the atmosphere is the source of aerodynamic drag on the spacecraft, that finally defines the mission's lifetime, unless a way to compensate for it is provided. This environment is named ...

2022

Robotic Elytra: Insect-Inspired Protective Wings for Resilient and Multi-Modal Drones

Dario Floreano, Charalampos Vourtsis, William John Stewart

Winged drones that fly in close proximity to obstacles or that are capable of aerial and terrestrial locomotion can benefit from protective systems that prevent damage to delicate aerial structures. Existing protective solutions focus on multi-copter drone ...

2021

Design and development of the efficient anguilliform swimming robot- MAR

Auke Ijspeert, Peter Eckert, Anouk Looijestijn

Propulsion of swimming robots at the surface and underwater is largely dominated by rotary propellers due to high thrust, but at the cost of low efficiency. Due to their inherently high speed turning motion, sharp propeller blades and generated noise, they ...

2020

Amphibious and Sprawling Locomotion: From Biology to Robotics and Back

Auke Ijspeert

A milestone in vertebrate evolution, the transition from water to land, owes its success to the development of a sprawling body plan that enabled an amphibious lifestyle. The body, originally adapted for swimming, evolved to benefit from limbs that enhance ...

2020

RoboScallop: A Bivalve Inspired Swimming Robot

Jamie Paik, Matthew Aaron Robertson

Underwater swimming robots permit remote access to over 70% of the Earth's surface that is covered in water for a variety of scientific, environmental, tactical, or industrial purposes. Many practical applications for robots in this setting include sensing ...

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC2019

Pre-impact detection algorithm to identify lack of balance due to tripping-like perturbations

Silvestro Micera

This study investigates the performance of an updated version of our pre-impact detection algorithm while parsing out hip kinematics in order to identify unexpected tripping-like perturbations during walking. This approach grounds on the hypothesis that du ...

IEEE2019

Effects of repeated waist-pull perturbations on gait stability in subjects with cerebellar ataxia

Silvestro Micera

Background: Damage to the cerebellum can affect neural structures involved in locomotion, causing gait and balance disorders. However, the integrity of cerebellum does not seem to be critical in managing sudden and unexpected environmental changes such as ...

BioMed Central2019

Design Methodology for Engineering Multifunctional Mesoscale Robots

Zhenishbek Zhakypov

In this thesis our research goal is to develop, study and demonstrate multifunctional multi-robot systems in mesoscale. Particularly, our goal is to study and demonstrate terrestrial multi-locomotion and collective behaviours with mesoscale robots, similar ...

EPFL2019

Designing Minimal and Scalable Insect-Inspired Multi-Locomotion Millirobots

Jamie Paik, Zhenishbek Zhakypov, Kazuaki Mori

In ant colonies, collectivity enables division of labour and resources with great scalability. Beyond their intricate social behaviours, individuals of the genus Odontomachus, also known as trap-jaw ants, have developed remarkable multi-locomotion mechanis ...

2019