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News about Motion Planning

Several renders of the SPARC robot as it travels precisely along paths on the ground, transitions to climbing walls, and travels along the wall with and without a payload.

Soft origami robot inch-worms up walls

September 24, 2025

Researchers developed a soft robot that can crawl along a flat path and climb up vertical surfaces using its unique origami structure with an accuracy typically seen only in rigid robots.

A robot made of three tubes and cables connecting them tumbles across the floor in different arrangements in this composite image.

Unique robot shape adopts advanced actuators for better performance

August 13, 2025

Using quasi-direct drive actuators, researchers developed a faster tensegrity robot with better capabilities for autonomy and payload capacity.

A mini-cheetah out on the Robot Garden at the Ford Motor Company Robotics Building.

$1M for open-source first-responder robots

September 16, 2021

Tomorrow’s wildfire fighters and other first responders may tag-team with robotic assistants that can hike through wilderness areas and disaster zones, thanks to a University of Michigan research project.

Roofing drone nails down shingles

September 23, 2019

An octocopter capable of attaching asphalt shingles to roofs with a nail gun has been demonstrated at the University of Michigan's M-Air, an outdoor autonomous system testing lab.