This thesis reports high energy-density electrostatic actuators for use in soft robotics. This thesis has two main parts: a) a detailed study of electro-adhesion using microfabricated electrodes, and b) a flexi-ble fiber-shaped linear motor.
Electro-adhesi ...
Literature on linear induction motors (LIMs) has proposed several approaches to model the behavior of such devices for different applications. In terms of accuracy and fidelity, field analysis-based models are the most relevant. Closed-form or numerical so ...
In various robotics applications, the selection of function approximation methods greatly influences the feasibility and computational efficiency of algorithms. Tensor Networks (TNs), also referred to as tensor decomposition techniques, present a versatile ...
While humans are known to have several premotor cortical areas, secondary motor cortex (M2) is often considered to be the only higher -order motor area of the mouse brain and is thought to combine properties of various human premotor cortices. Here, we sho ...
Modern optimization is tasked with handling applications of increasingly large scale, chiefly due to the massive amounts of widely available data and the ever-growing reach of Machine Learning. Consequently, this area of research is under steady pressure t ...
We develop new tools to study landscapes in nonconvex optimization. Given one optimization problem, we pair it with another by smoothly parametrizing the domain. This is either for practical purposes (e.g., to use smooth optimization algorithms with good g ...
Bayesian Optimization (BO) is typically used to optimize an unknown function f that is noisy and costly to evaluate, by exploiting an acquisition function that must be maximized at each optimization step. Even if provably asymptotically optimal BO algorith ...
Orthogonal group synchronization is the problem of estimating n elements Z(1),& mldr;,Z(n) from the rxr orthogonal group given some relative measurements R-ij approximate to Z(i)Z(j)(-1). The least-squares formulation is nonconvex. To avoid its local minim ...
Molecular machines offer many opportunities for the development of responsive materials and introduce autono-mous motion in molecular systems. While basic molecular switches and motors carry out one type of motion upon being exposed to an external stimulus ...
The modern world is heavily reliant on electromagnetic devices to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa. These devices are fundamental to powering our society, and the growing need for automated production lines and electrified tr ...
