Nicolas Rojas

Exploration of adaptive gait patterns with a reconfigurable linkage mechanism

Legged robots are able to move across irregular terrains and some can be energy efficient, but are often constrained by a limited range of gaits which can limit their locomotion capabilities considerably. This paper reports a reconfigurable design approach to robotic legged locomotion that produces a wide variety of gait cycles, opening new possibilities for innovative applications. In this paper, we present a distance-based formulation and its application to solve the position analysis problem of a standard Theo Jansen mechanism. By changing the configuration of a linkage, our objective in this study is to identify novel gait patterns of interest for a walking platform. The exemplary gait variations presented in this work demonstrate the feasibility of our approach, and considerably extend the capabilities of the original design to not only produce novel cum useful gait patterns but also to realize behaviors beyond locomotion.

Consistency of WIMP Dark Matter as radiative neutrino mass messenger

A bstractThe scotogenic scenario provides an attractive approach to both Dark Matter and neutrino mass generation, in which the same symmetry that stabilises Dark Matter also ensures the radiative seesaw origin of neutrino mass. However the simplest scenario may suffer from inconsistencies arising from the spontaneous breaking of the underlying ℤ2 symmetry. Here we show that the singlet-triplet extension of the simplest model naturally avoids this problem due to the presence of scalar triplets neutral under the ℤ2 which affect the evolution of the couplings in the scalar sector. The scenario offers good prospects for direct WIMP Dark Matter detection through the nuclear recoil method.

The Forward Kinematics of 3-R

The standard forward-kinematics analysis of 3-RPR planar parallel robots boils down to computation of the roots of a sextic polynomial. There are many different ways to obtain this polynomial, but most of them include exceptions for which the formulation is not valid. Unfortunately, near these exceptions, the corresponding polynomial exhibits numerical instabilities. In this paper, we provide a way around this inconvenience by translating the forward-kinematics problem to be solved into an equivalent problem fully stated in terms of distances. Using constructive geometric arguments, an alternative sextic - which is not linked to a particular reference frame - is straightforwardly obtained with the need for neither variable eliminations nor tangent-half-angle substitutions. The presented formulation is valid, with no modification, for any planar 3-RPR parallel robot, including the special architectures and configurations - which ultimately lead to numerical instabilities - that cannot be directly handled by previous formulations.

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Performing dexterous manipulation of unknown objects with robot grippers without using high-fidelity contact sensors, active/sliding surfaces, or a priori workspace exploration is still an open problem in robot manipulation and a necessity for many robotics applications. In this paper we present a two-fingered gripper topology that enables an enhanced predefined in-hand manipulation primitive controlled without knowing the size, shape, or other particulars of the grasped object. The in-hand manipulation behavior, namely, the planar manipulation of the grasped body, is predefined thanks to a simple hybrid low-level control scheme and has an increased range of motion due to the introduction of an elastic pivot joint between the two fingers. Experimental results with a prototype clearly show the advantages and benefits of the proposed concept. Given the generality of the topology and in-hand manipulation principle, researchers and designers working on multiple areas of robotics can benefit from the findings.

R Planar Robots: A Review and a Distance-Based Formulation

In general, high-order coupler curves of single-degree-of-freedom plane linkages cannot be properly traced by standard predictor–corrector algorithms due to drifting problems and the presence of singularities. Instead of focusing on finding better algorithms for tracing curves, a simple method that first traces the configuration space of planar linkages in a distance space and then maps it onto the mechanism workspace, to obtained the desired coupler curves, is proposed. Tracing the configuration space of a linkage in the proposed distance space is simple because the equation that implicitly defines this space can be straightforwardly obtained from a sequence of bilaterations, and the configuration space embedded in this distance space naturally decomposes into components corresponding to different combinations of signs for the oriented areas of the triangles involved in the bilaterations. The advantages of this two-step method are exemplified by tracing the coupler curves of a double butterfly linkage.

The GR2 Gripper: An Underactuated Hand for Open-Loop In-Hand Planar Manipulation

The exact position analysis of a planar mechanism reduces to compute the roots of its characteristic polynomial. Obtaining this polynomial almost invariably involves, as a first step, obtaining a system of equations derived from the independent kinematic loops of the mechanism. The use of kinematic loops to this end has seldom been questioned despite deriving the characteristic polynomial from them requires complex variable eliminations and, in most cases, trigonometric substitutions. As an alternative, the bilateration method has recently been used to obtain the characteristic polynomials of the three-loop Baranov trusses without relying on variable eliminations nor trigonometric substitutions and using no other tools than elementary algebra. This paper shows how this technique can be applied to members of a family of Baranov trusses resulting from the circular concatenation of the Watt mechanism irrespective of the resulting number of kinematic loops. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the characteristic polynomial of a Baranov truss with more that five loops has been obtained, and hence, its position analysis solved in closed form.

Application of distance geometry to tracing coupler curves of pin-jointed linkages

Legged robots are able to move across irregular terrains and those based on 1-degree-of-freedom planar linkages can be energy efficient, but are often constrained by a limited range of gaits which can limit their locomotion capabilities considerably. This article reports the design of a novel reconfigurable Theo Jansen linkage that produces a wide variety of gait cycles, opening new possibilities for innovative applications. The suggested mechanism switches from a pin-jointed Grübler kinematic chain to a 5-degree-of-freedom mechanism with slider joints during the reconfiguration process. It is shown that such reconfigurable linkage significantly extend the capabilities of the original design, while maintaining its mechanical simplicity during normal operation, to not only produce different useful gait patterns but also to realize behaviors beyond locomotion. Experiments with an implemented prototype are presented, and their results validate the proposed approach.

Closed-Form Solution to the Position Analysis of Watt–Baranov Trusses Using the Bilateration Method

Nested reconfiguration is an emerging research area in modular robotics. Such a novel design concept utilizes individual robots with distinctive reconfiguration characteristics (intra-reconfigurability) capable of combining with other homogeneous/heterogeneous robots (inter-reconfigurability). The objective of this approach is to generate more complex morphologies for performing specific tasks that are far from the capabilities of a single module or to respond to programmable assembly requirements. The two-level reconfiguration process in nested reconfigurable robotic system implies several technical challenges in hardware design, planning algorithms, and control strategies. In this paper, we discuss the theory, concept, and initial mechanical design of Hinged-Tetro, a self-reconfigurable module conceived for the study of nested reconfiguration. Hinged-Tetro is a mobile robot that uses the principle of hinged dissection of polyominoes to transform itself into any of the seven one-sided tetrominoes, the Tetris pieces, in a straightforward way. The robot can also combine with other modules for shaping complex structures or giving rise to a robot with new capabilities. Some preliminary experiments of intra-reconfigurability with an implemented prototype are presented.

On a Jansen leg with multiple gait patterns for reconfigurable walking platforms

A double banana is defined as the bar-and-joint assembly of two bipyramids joined by their apexes. Clearly, the bar lengths of this kind of assembly are not independent as we cannot assign arbitrary values to them. This dependency can be algebraically expressed as a closure condition fully expressed in terms of bar lengths. This paper is devoted to its derivation and to show how its use simplifies the position analysis of many well-known serial and parallel robots thus providing a unifying treatment to apparently disparate problems. This approach permits deriving the univariate polynomials, needed for the closed-form solution of these position analysis problems, without relying on trigonometric substitutions or difficult variable eliminations.

Hinged-Tetro: A self-reconfigurable module for nested reconfiguration

Rather than the conventional classification method, we propose to divide modular and reconfigurable robots into intra-, inter-, and nested reconfigurations. We suggest designing the robot with nested reconfigurability, which utilizes individual robots with intra-reconfigurability capable of combining with other homogeneous/heterogeneous robots (inter-reconfigurability). The objective of this approach is to generate more complex morphologies for performing specific tasks that are far from the capabilities of a single module or to respond to programmable assembly requirements. In this paper, we discuss the theory, concept, and initial mechanical design of Hinged-Tetro, a self-reconfigurable module conceived for the study of nested reconfiguration. Hinged-Tetro is a mobile robot that uses the principle of hinged dissection of polyominoes to transform itself into any of the seven one-sided tetrominoes in a straightforward way. The robot can also combine with other modules for shaping complex structures or giving rise to a robot with new capabilities. Finally, the validation experiments verify the nested reconfigurability of Hinged-Tetro. Extensive tests and analyses of intra-reconfiguration are provided in terms of energy and time consumptions. Experiments using two robots validate the inter-reconfigur ability of the proposed module.