Angus B. Clark

Malleable robotics is my major contribution to the robotics field, where variable stiffness enables an adaptive robot, with the advantages of both soft and rigid manipulators. Specific uses cases include medical robotics and grippers, where soft robots can navigate to desired locations, and through variable stiffness can adapt to perform the required task. For industrial robots, variable stiffness can be applied to allow robots to adapt in topology, changing the overall workspace of the robot, without increasing the complexity of the control architecture with increased degrees of freedom. Further, the reduction in joints allows for cheaper, simple, and lighter robots, which is a specific advantage for robots destined for the space industry.

Some of my publications in this area:

Assessing the performance of variable stiffness continuum structures of large diameter Stiffness-tuneable limb segment with flexible spine for malleable robots Design and Workspace Characterisation of Malleable Robots Malleable Robots: Reconfigurable Robotic Arms with Continuum Links of Variable Stiffness

In many robotic applications robots interact with environment, specifically in environments designed for humans where robots must deal with day-to-day tasks that while we find easy, can be challenging for robots. The vast variety of tasks that need to be overcome to allow robots to excel in different industries allows for the design of multiple types of grippers, all providing different advantages for different use cases. Where soft or rigid, multi-fingered or singular design, fully-contained or externally powered, microscopic or macro, there is a gripper for every task. The recent expansion of grippers in the world of soft robotics has produced adaptable grippers, capable of handling varying objects with ease. This specific area of robotics is of interest, as the simplicity of design with increased capability is highly desirable.

Some of my publications in this area:

A Passively Compliant Idler Mechanism for Underactuated Dexterous Grippers with Dynamic Tendon Routing Force Evaluation of Tendon Routing for Underactuated Grasping Systematic object-invariant in-hand manipulation via reconfigurable underactuation: Introducing the RUTH gripper An origami-inspired variable friction surface for increasing the dexterity of robotic grippers Household clothing set and benchmarks for characterising end-effector cloth manipulation

Robot manipulators excel at being precise, achieving accuracies far above human capability. An ideal area of use for this is in surgery, where precision tools and processes can make significant gains in efficiency and patient recovery time. Continuum robotics is a facinating area of research here, looking towards bio-inspired soft manipulators for NOTES and key-hole surgery.

Some of my publications in this area:

A Continuum Manipulator for Open-Source Surgical Robotics Research and Shared Development

Exoskeletons and prosthetics, both medical applications of robotics, are challenged with the comparison to existing, or pre-existing capability provided by human limbs, be it arms, hands, or legs. Thus, they have a significant challenge to overcome, however any and all progress made is an improvement upon the loss of a limb or capability. Like bio-inspired robotics, we must look towards the exact properties of the human body, and attempt to replicate those in robotics, at the same time as providing an aesthetically pleasing device similar in form, function, weight, and feel to our own body. Taking this one step further, exoskeletons aim to improve upon our own human limitations, increasing our strength, providing safety in joint limitations, and increasing our stamina.

Some of my publications in this area:

A Scalable Variable Stiffness Revolute Joint Based on Layer Jamming for Robotic Exoskeletons Olympic: a modular, tendon-driven prosthetic hand with novel finger and wrist coupling mechanisms Instinctive real-time SEMG-based control of prosthetic hand with reduced data acquisition and embedded deep learning training Virtual reality pre-prosthetic hand training with physics simulation and robotic force interaction

Robots have an important role to play in their use in hazardous environments, due to their robustness and ability to endure significantly harsher conditions than humans are capable of. Areas of use range from distaster relief, providing search and rescue in post earthquake or tsunami conditions, or providing rapid mapping capabilities spanning thousands of miles helping locate missing persons, to extreme conditions such as high voltage, radiation, or temperature, where manipulation for performing tasks in such areas is required. Robots can provide an advanced level of interaction with the environment, allowing us to extend our capabilities past our own limitations.

Some of my publications in this area:

Flapping Foils for Marine Propulsion On a balanced delta robot for precise aerial manipulation: Implementation, testing, and lessons for future designs