Main.HomePage

Kod*lab

a subsidiary of the Penn Engineering GRASP Lab

We are interested in the application of dynamical systems theory to the invention and construction of intelligent machines and systems, with a particular focus on biologically inspired robotics. Many of us have worked in robotics with emphasis on dynamical dexterity and the management of kinetic energy in designing machines capable of performing useful work on their bodies and environments. Others of us have worked on more abstract problems of control and coordination with the object of developing new methods of design and analysis toward the construction of such machines.

News

Penn Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Graduate Students
May 20, 2009
Goran Lynch, Ph.D. student in Kodlab, has been awarded a “Penn Prize for Excellence in Teaching by Graduate Students”, awarded in a reception on April 28th. Congratulations!

ICRA 2009
April 20, 2009
We will be presenting our paper, Rapid Pole Climbing with a Quadrupedal Robot, a joint effort with Boston Dynamics, at ICRA 2009 in Kobe, Japan, on May 15, 2009.

SandBot in IEEE Spectrum
April 4, 2009
SandBot, our hexapedal platform to study locomotion in sand (with colleagues at Georgia Tech), appears as the cover story of this month’s IEEE Spectrum (local copy).

Projects

Robotic prototypes pursued in our lab have focused on both level ground and vertical locomotion in complex outdoor terrain.

RHex Project: A biologically inspired running robot designed for robust operation in complex, natural, outdoor terrain. Subprojects include EduBot, SandBot, and X-RHex

RiSE Project: A biologically inspired robot designed for vertical climbing in addition to horizontal locomotion. Subprojects include RiSE V2, RiSE V3 and DynoClimber.