PhD Defense – Godson Osele: Mechanically Compliant Growing Robotic Systems for Manipulating Payloads

Defense Abstract:
Soft growing robot designs unlock new modes of motion that enable exploration of unstructured, unknown, and difficult-to-reach environments while leveraging their mechanical compliance to access novel manipulation capabilities. These robots extend by pressure-driven eversion of their compliant, tube-shaped bodies, enabling them to navigate tight spaces and high curvatures. While previously used for inspection and exploration, this research focuses on their application in material handling. My talk will present works investigating the adaptation of soft growing robots, or vine robots, for significant payload manipulation. It introduces a tip-clutching winch mechanism that anchors the robot through belt friction, significantly enhancing load-carrying capacity without hindering growth. I also present how these robots can be used in a novel class of grasping mechanisms we call “Loop Closure Grasping” to achieve strong, gentle and versatile grasps by undergoing topological transformations. Finally, I present a new method for mechanically programming the cross-section of these robots, allowing variable profiles while maintaining flexibility, and demonstrate its utility in a patient transfer sling prototype. This work significantly broadens the practical applications of soft growing robots in material handling, opening new applications to support human safety and health.