Flexible endoscopy is the gold standard modality for diagnosis and therapeutic intervention of various colorectal conditions. A high bar is currently set for any new technology to replace the current modern colonoscope, but limitations do exist. For a robotic system to gain acceptance, ideally a clear advantage over the established standard needs to be demonstrated. The application of robotic technology inspired by locomotion observed in animals has been demonstrated in many fields including colonoscopy. A myriad of novel concepts has been proposed, which can overcome the anatomical and technical challenges.

This review discusses novel and innovative examples of bioinspired robotic locomotion in the colon with a detailed comparison of studies alongside separating the discussion by animal sections of insect, marine and reptile locomotion. We also discuss the current advantages and challenges a bioinspired robot will bring to the colon.

Bioinspired robotics in the colon is an exciting field of research with the potential to improve upon current existing high standards of practice in colonoscopy. By addressing areas that the conventional colonoscope is weaker in, studies are demonstrating improvement upon current limitations of standard practice and providing an insight into new methods of engineering and fabrication. Focus on the technological, mechanical and regulatory barriers is key to achieve acceptance into standard practice and will allow the aspiration of a safe, low discomfort, low cost and potentially fully autonomous robotic colonoscope to be not too distant in the future of colonoscopy.

This paper proposes a novel two-layer framework based on conflict-based search and regional divisions to improve the efficiency of multi-robot path planning. The high-level layer targets the reduction of conflicts and deadlocks, while the low-level layer is responsible for actual path planning. Distinct from previous dual-level search frameworks, the novelties of this work are (1) subdivision of planning regions for each robot to decrease the number of conflicts encountered during planning; (2) consideration of the number of robots in the region during planning in the node expansion stage of A*, and (3) formal proof demonstrating the nonzero probability of the proposed method in obtaining a solution, along with providing the upper bound of the solution in a special case. Experimental comparisons with Enhanced Conflict-Based Search demonstrate that the proposed method not only reduces the number of conflicts but also achieves a computation time reduction of over 30%.

Traction of the head-neck is important in the treatment of patients suffering from neck pain due to degeneration of the intervertebral discs. Conventional neck traction is provided manually by experienced physical therapists who maintain a desired orientation of the head-neck relative to the trunk while applying the traction. It is postulated that innovative designs of neck exoskeletons can provide the same function both flexibly and accurately. This article presents a novel architecture of a parallel mechanism whose base sits on the human shoulders with 4 parallel chains, each chain having a revolute-revolute-universal-revolute (RRUR) structure, while the end-effector is connected rigidly to the human head. Each chain has five degrees-of-freedom (DOF) and applies a constraint on the motion of the end-effector. As a result, this parallel mechanism allows two DOFs to the end-effector. These are (i) forward flexion or lateral bending of the head and (ii) vertical translation. An important motivation for the current design with RRUR structure is to characterize the range of forward flexion/lateral bending of the head-neck with this structure and the vertical translation to the end-effector. A physical prototype was constructed and tested to evaluate the performance of this mechanism in hardware for the proposed application.

Motion assistance for elderly people is a field of application for service robotic systems that can be characterized by requirements and constraints of human–machine interaction and by the specificity of the user’s conditions. The main aspects of characterization and constraints are examined for the application of service systems that can be specifically conceived or adapted for elderly motion assistance by having to consider conditions of motion deficiency and muscular strength weakness as well as psychological aptitudes of users. The analysis is discussed in general terms with reference to elderly people who may not even suffer from specific pathologies. Therefore, the discussion focuses on the need for motion exercise in proper environments, including domestic ones and frame familiar to a user. The challenges of such applications oriented toward elderly users are discussed as requiring research and design of solutions in terms of specific portability, user-oriented operation, low costs, and clinical-physiotherapeutic functionality. Results of the author’s team experiences are presented as an example of problems and attempted solutions to meet the new challenges of service systems for motion assistance applications for elderly people.

Resorbable materials – or materials which diffuse into their surroundings – present a promising means of actuating mechanical systems. In current practice, such as in the realm of in vivo surgical devices, resorbable materials are intended to perform a temporary function and completely dissolve when that function is completed (e.g., resorbable sutures). In this paper, resorbable materials are proposed for use in a different way: as a means for actuation. We propose an approach and physical prototypes to demonstrate that resorbable materials, combined with stored energy, can be used to actuate mechanical systems under several loading conditions and in various applications. Rotary and linear actuation methods, as well as gradual and delayed instantaneous actuations, are demonstrated. Using the principles illustrated here, resorbable materials offer unique, customizable ways to actuate a variety of mechanisms in a wide range of domains.

Motion planning for high-DOF multi-arm systems operating in complex environments remains a challenging problem, with many motion planning algorithms requiring evaluation of the minimum collision distance and its derivative. Because of the computational complexity of calculating the collision distance, recent methods have attempted to leverage data-driven machine learning methods to learn the collision distance. Because of the significant training dataset requirements for high-DOF robots, existing kernel-based methods, which require $O(N^2)$ memory and computation resources, where $N$ denotes the number of dataset points, often perform poorly. This paper proposes a new active learning method for learning the collision distance function that overcomes the limitations of existing methods: (i) the size of the training dataset remains fixed, with the dataset containing more points near the collision boundary as learning proceeds, and (ii) calculating collision distances in the higher-dimensional link $SE(3)^n$ configuration space – here $n$ denotes the number of links – leads to more accurate and robust collision distance function learning. Performance evaluations with high-DOF multi-arm robot systems demonstrate the advantages of the proposed active learning-based strategy vis-$\grave{\text{a}}$-vis existing learning-based methods.

The paper presents the control architecture of a crawler mobile robot designed and developed to sample potentially contaminated lands. The robot, developed in the framework of an Italian national project named ROBILAUT, carries a driller with a customized sampling mechanism to implement on-site the required quartering, and it is controlled to move the drilling device on specific points acquired in real time before the mission starts. The paper describes the software architecture for the navigation and control, focusing on the control framework of the robotic platform. Specifically, the robot exhibits a differential drive kinematics with actuators’ constraints, and two different control strategies have been experimentally tested for comparison both in a structured environment and in the real site in May 2023.

This article describes a robot walker based on a new single degree-of-freedom six-bar leg mechanism that provides rectilinear, non-rotating, movement of the foot. The walker is statically stable and requires only two actuators, one for each side, to provide effective walking movement on a flat surface. We use Curvature Theory to design a four-bar linkage with a flat-sided coupler curve and then adds a translating link so that walker foot follows this coupler curve in rectilinear movement. A prototype walker was constructed that weighs 1.6 kg, is 180 mm tall, and travels at 162 mm/s. This is an innovative legged robot that has a simple reliable design.

Kinematics remains one of the cornerstones of robotics, and over the decade, Robotica has been one of the venues in which groundbreaking work in kinematics has always been welcome. A number of works in the kinematics community have addressed metrics for rigid-body motions in multiple different venues. An essential feature of any distance metric is the triangle inequality. Here, relationships between the triangle inequality for kinematic metrics and so-called trace inequalities are established. In particular, we show that the Golden-Thompson inequality (a particular trace inequality from the field of statistical mechanics) which holds for Hermitian matrices remarkably also holds for restricted classes of real skew-symmetric matrices. We then show that this is related to the triangle inequality for $SO(3)$ and $SO(4)$ metrics.

The demand for flexible grasping of various objects by robotic hands in the industry is rapidly growing. To address this, we propose a novel variable stiffness gripper (VSG). The VSG design is based on a parallel-guided beam structure inserted by a slider from one end, allowing stiffness variation by changing the length of the parallel beams participating in the system. This design enables continuous adjustment between high compliance and high stiffness of the gripper fingers, providing robustness through its mechanical structure. The linear analytical model of the deflection and stiffness of the parallel beam is derived, which is suitable for small and medium deflections. The contribution of each parameter of the parallel beam to the stiffness is analyzed and discussed. Also, a prototype of the VSG is developed, achieving a stiffness ratio of 70.9, which is highly competitive. Moreover, a vision-based force sensing method utilizing ArUco markers is proposed as a replacement for traditional force sensors. By this method, the VSG is capable of closed-loop control during the grasping process, ensuring efficiency and safety under a well-defined grasping strategy framework. Experimental tests are conducted to emphasize the importance and safety of stiffness variation. In addition, it shows the high performance of the VSG in adaptive grasping for asymmetric scenarios and its ability to flexible grasping for objects with various hardness and fragility. These findings provide new insights for future developments in the field of variable stiffness grippers.

The article introduces a novel class of 4R1H mechanisms, where 4R indicates four revolute joints and 1H indicates one helical joint. The paper starts with the type synthesis of these mechanisms, which involves combining two kinematic chains with planar and cylindrical motion types into a single closed-loop kinematic chain. If we fix any link in such a chain, we get a workable mechanism. The synthesis procedure considers two options for the relative arrangement of these two kinematic chains. Adding an H joint to the kinematic chain allows us to design mechanisms whose output link performs spatial motion. Using the proposed synthesis procedure, we develop a family of 4R1H mechanisms. Next, we choose one mechanism as a representative example and consider its mobility, singularity, kinematic, and dynamic analysis. Using screw theory, we confirm the mechanism has one degree of freedom and determine its singular configurations. Kinematic analysis provides closed-form expressions to calculate displacements, velocities, and accelerations of all the mechanism links. Dynamic analysis uses these results to compute the motor torque required for one motion cycle. To verify the suggested analytical algorithms and obtained results, we use computer-aided design tools, which allow us to develop virtual and physical prototypes.

This article is devoted to the control of bio-inspired robots that are underactuated. These robots are composed of tensegrity joints remotely actuated with cables, which mimic the musculoskeletal system of the bird neck. A computed torque control (CTC) is applied to these robots as well as an original control called pseudo computed torque control (PCTC). This new control uses the dynamics and the pseudo-inverse of the Jacobian matrix. The stability of the two proposed controls is then analyzed through linearization of the dynamic model and expression of the closed-loop transfer function in the Laplace domain. We show that, depending on the desired trajectory, the CTC can be unstable when the controlled variables are the end effector position and orientation. For a robot with many joints and a limited number of cables, the CTC is always unstable. Instead, the PCTC shows a large domain of stability. The analysis is complemented by experimental tests demonstrating that the CTC and PCTC exhibit similar performance when the CTC is stable. Furthermore, the PCTC maintains stability on trajectories where the CTC becomes unstable, showing robustness to perturbations as well.

In numerous applications, extracting a single rotation component (termed “planar rotation”) from a 3D rotation is of significant interest. In biomechanics, for example, the analysis of joint angles within anatomical planes offers better clinical interpretability than spatial rotations. Moreover, in parallel kinematics robotic machines, unwished rotations about an axis – termed “parasitic motions” – need to be excluded. However, due to the non-Abelian nature of spatial rotations, these components cannot be extracted by simple projections as in a vector space. Despite extensive discussion in the literature about the non-uniqueness and distortion of the results due to the nonlinearity of the SO(3) group, they continue to be used due to the absence of alternatives. This paper reviews the existing methods for planar-rotation extraction from 3D rotations, showing their similarities and differences as well as inconsistencies by mathematical analysis as well as two application cases, one of them from biomechanics (flexural knee angle in the sagittal plane). Moreover, a novel, simple, and efficient method based on a pseudo-projection of the Quaternion rotation vector is introduced, which circumvents the ambiguity and distortion problems of existing approaches. In this respect, a novel method for determining the orientation of a box from camera recordings based on a two-plane projection is also proposed, which yields more precise results than the existing Perspective 3-Point Problem from the literature. This paper focuses exclusively on the case of finite rotations, as infinitesimal rotations within a single plane are non-holonomic and, through integration, produce rotation components orthogonal to the plane.

In this article, we review the main results achieved by the research activities carried out at PRISMA Lab of the University of Naples Federico II where, for 35 years, an interdisciplinary team of experts developed robots that are ultimately useful to humans. We summarize the key contributions made in the last decade in the six research areas of dynamic manipulation and locomotion, aerial robotics, human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence and cognitive robotics, industrial robotics, and medical robotics. After a brief overview of each research field, the most significant methodologies and results are reported and discussed, highlighting their cross-disciplinary and translational aspects. Finally, the potential future research directions identified are discussed.

Multibody dynamics methodologies have been fundamental tools utilized to model and simulate robotic systems that experience contact conditions with the surrounding environment, such as in the case of feet and ground interactions. In addressing such problems, it is of paramount importance to accurately and efficiently handle the large body displacement associated with locomotion of robots, as well as the dynamic response related to contact-impact events. Thus, a generic computational approach, based on the Newton–Euler formulation, to represent the gross motion of robotic systems, is revisited in this work. The main kinematic and dynamic features, necessary to obtain the equations of motion, are discussed. A numerical procedure suitable to solve the equations of motion is also presented. The problem of modeling contacts in dynamical systems involves two main tasks, namely, the contact detection and the contact resolution, which take into account for the kinematics and dynamics of the contacting bodies, constituting the general framework for the process of modeling and simulating complex contact scenarios. In order to properly model the contact interactions, the contact kinematic properties are established based on the geometry of contacting bodies, which allow to perform the contact detection task. The contact dynamics is represented by continuous contact force models, both in terms of normal and tangential contact directions. Finally, the presented formulations are demonstrated by the application to several robotics systems that involve contact and impact events with surrounding environment. Special emphasis is put on the systems’ dynamic behavior, in terms of performance and stability.

Fiber winding reinforcement is widely used in soft robotic manipulators actuated by pressurized fluids. However, the specific effect of each type of winding on the bending motion of a tubular soft robotics manipulator with three chambers has not been explored widely. We present the development of precise finite element (FE) simulations and investigate the effect of helical fiber winding parameters on the bending motion of a two-degree-of-freedom manipulator with three internal chambers. We first show the development of an FE simulation that optimizes convergence and computational time and precisely matches the behavior of soft robots in practice. Compared to single-chamber robots, simulating three-chamber designs is more challenging due to the complex geometry. We then apply our FE model to simulate all the parameter variations. We show that for helical winding with a constant pitch, the closer the center of a chamber is to the intersection of the windings, the lower the bending stiffness of the chamber is. To minimize bending stiffness variation in different bending directions, the optimal angle between the center of the first chamber and the intersection of the two helical windings are 0° and 12°. Reducing the pitch of the helical windings or using other types of windings (i.e., ring winding or six helical winding) reduces the stiffness variation across different bending directions. The FE simulations are compared with experiments showing that the model can capture complex bending behaviors of the manipulator, even though the estimation tends to be less accurate at higher bending angles.