09:00 - 09:40
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Christian Bettstetter
(Universität Klagenfurt)
Swarmalatorbots: Robots that sync and swarm
This talk presents a proof of concept for a multi-robot system that forms emergent space-time patterns. Inspired by the theory of swarmalators, in which synchronization and swarming of agents are mutually coupled, we propose a robot-suitable model for coordination in time and space. The approach is evaluated using small ground robots and drones. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCZREhgCF84
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09:45 - 10:25
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Johannes Klinglmayr
(Linz Center for Mechatronics (LCM))
Value sensitive recommendations towards Sustainable Development Goals
In a so-called overpopulated world, sustainable consumption is of existential importance. However, the expanding spectrum of product choices and their production complexity challenge consumers to make informed and value-sensitive decisions. Recent approaches based on (personalized) psychological manipulation are often intransparent, potentially privacy-invasive and inconsistent with (informational) self-determination. By contrast, responsible consumption based on informed choices currently requires reasoning to an extent that tends to overwhelm human cognitive capacity. As a result, a collective shift towards sustainable consumption remains a grand challenge.
I present a novel personal shopping assistant implemented as a smart phone app that supports a value-sensitive design and leverages sustainability awareness, using experts’ knowledge and ‘wisdom of the crowd’ for transparent product information and explainable product ratings. Real-world field experiments in two supermarkets confirm higher sustainability awareness and a bottom-up behavioural shift towards more sustainable consumption. These results encourage novel business models for retailers and producers, ethically aligned with consumer preferences and with higher sustainability.
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10:30 - 11:00
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coffee break
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11:00 - 11:40
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Auke Jan Ijspeert
(EPFL Lausanne)
Investigating animal locomotion using biorobots and neuromechanical simulations (virtual)
The ability to efficiently move in complex environments is a fundamental property both for animals and for robots, and the problem of locomotion and movement control is an area in which neuroscience, biomechanics, and robotics can fruitfully interact. In this talk, I will present how biorobots and numerical models can be used to explore the interplay of the four main components underlying animal locomotion, namely central pattern generators (CPGs), reflexes, descending modulation, and the musculoskeletal system. Going from lamprey to human locomotion, I will present a series of models that tend to show that the respective roles of these components have changed during evolution with a dominant role of CPGs in lamprey and salamander locomotion, and a more important role for sensory feedback and descending modulation in human locomotion. I will also present a recent project showing how robotics can provide scientific tools for paleontology. Interesting properties for robot and lower-limb exoskeleton locomotion control will finally be discussed.
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11:45 - 12:25
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Oleg Gendelman
(Technion - Israel Institute of Technology)
Modal synchronization of coupled bistable van der Pol oscillators (virtual)
We revisit the recently revealed regimes of “nonconventional synchronization” in systems of coupled bi-stable van der Pol oscillators. These regimes are characterized by periodic (or quasiperiodic) almost complete energy exchanges between the coupled oscillators. It is demonstrated that such responses correspond to synchronization of the modulation amplitudes between symmetric and antisymmetric modes of the system, with persistent phase drift. This observation substantially simplifies the treatment, reduces the dynamics to a simple phase cylinder and allows to reveal a rich set of global and local bifurcations of limit cycles and tori in the system. Among other findings, one encounters an unexpected regime of nonstationary asymmetric synchronization.
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12:30 - 13:45
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lunch break & informal discussions
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13:45 - 14:25
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Alexander F. Vakakis
(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Passive Nonlinear Targeted Energy Transfers (virtual)
We explore passive nonlinear targeted energy transfer (TET) in dynamical and acoustical systems based on the synergy of intentional strong nonlinearity, asymmetry, and possible internal scale hierarchy. This is a process where, through predictable design, broadband or narrowband input energy is either irreversibly directed in preferential paths/modes, passively scattered in the frequency/wavenumber domains, dissipated locally, or harvested at a priori designated sites. Interestingly, TET mimics analogous energy cascades occurring often in Nature (e.g., in turbulent flows or granular media), and, as such, benefits from the well-known robust and enhanced dissipative features exhibited by these natural phenomena. Our approach dictates advanced theoretical modelling and analysis accounting for strongly nonlinear effects, but also nonlinear system identification and reduced-order modelling to characterize the experimental realizations that validate the theoretical predictions. We discuss several applications, including implementing intermodal TET, designing, analyzing, characterizing, and experimentally testing non-reciprocal lattice materials incorporating internal hierarchical scales, and employing TET for tuning the bandwidths of nonlinear oscillators. The aim is to translate these approaches to new methods, technologies and devices that exploit and showcase nonlinear TET.
This work is funded in part by National Science Foundation (NSF) Emerging Frontiers Research Initiative Grant 1741565. Any expressed opinion, findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.
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14:30 - 15:10
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Poramate Manoonpong
(The University of Southern Denmark)
Neural Control, Plasticity, and Memory for Robust Self-organized Locomotion and Continuous Online Adaptation of Complex Machines
Walking animals can effectively perform self-organized and robust locomotion. They can quickly adapt their gaits to deal with damage and unpredictable changing environments. They can even take proactive steps to avoid colliding with an obstacle. Biological studies reveal that the complex locomotion behavior is largely attained by several ingredients including neural control mechanisms with plasticity and memory, sensory feedback and adaptation, body dynamics, and their dynamical interactions with the environment. In this talk, I will present “how we can realize these ingredients inspired by nature for complex machines (robots) so they can become more intelligent like their biological counterparts”.
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15:15 - 15:45
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coffee break
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15:45 - 16:25
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Maziar Sharbafi
(Technische Universität Darmstadt)
Hybrid actuation with EPA can inject mechanical intelligence in robots
Recent advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics could create a significant effect on the role of machines in our daily life, namely human-machine interaction. Within Industry 4.0, a paradigm shift in the future of robotics from creating robots doing repetitive and high-precision tasks to intelligent and helpful robots that complement humans’ capabilities, learn new tasks, and adapt to uncertain environments is foreseen. These intelligent robots, do not have just powerful brains to keep everything under control, but also intelligent bodies which could intrinsically, react to the environmental changes and external interactions. Having adaptable body properties (e.g., compliance) with bioinspired actuation and morphological design is one step towards developing machines with mechanical intelligence. Recently, we introduced the hybrid Electric-Pneumatic-Actuator (EPA) as a practical implementation of this idea. Combining control and body intelligence with the EPA system improves the agility, efficiency, and robustness of different gaits in robots. With EPA we can benefit from nonlinear system dynamics adaptation to 1) improve robot interaction with the environment with less sensitivity to sensory issues (e.g., noise, delay, and fault), 2) develop robots with higher efficiency and robustness against perturbations and uncertainties, 3) approach human locomotion behavior with the robots, and 4) finally to be used in assistive devices with more compatible design and control to humans.
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16:30 - 17:30
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Metin Sitti
(Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Stuttgart)
intema22 colloquium: Self-organizing Reconfigurable Robot Collectives at the Micron-Scale (virtual)
Mobile microrobots, which can navigate, sense, and interact with their environment, could potentially revolutionize medicine and environmental remediation. Many self-organizing microrobotic collectives have been developed to overcome inherent limits in actuation, sensing, and manipulation of individual microrobots; however, reconfigurable self-organized collectives with robust transitions between behaviors are rare. Such systems that perform multiple functions are advantageous to operate in complex environments. Here, we present a versatile self-organizing robotic collective system at the microscale capable of on-demand reconfiguration to adapt to and utilize their environments to perform various functions at the air-water interface. Each microrobot is disc-shaped with a magnetic film coating to be oscillated and pulled using applied external magnetic field waveforms and gradients, respectively. Microrobots have magnetic, capillary and hydrodynamic interactions inducing various nonlinear coupled dynamics and dynamic self-assembly modes. Our system exhibits diverse modes ranging from isotropic to anisotropic behaviors and transitions between a globally driven and a novel self-propelling behavior. We show the transition between different modes in experiments and simulations, and demonstrate various functions, using the reconfigurability of our system to navigate, explore, and interact with the environment. Such versatile microrobot collectives with globally driven and self-propelled behaviors have significant potential in future medical and environmental applications.
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17:30 - 18:00
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discussions
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18:00 - 19:00
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dinner
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19:00 - 20:00
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informal discussions
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