People


Faculty

Mark Yim

Mark Yim

Director, GRASP Lab; Faculty Director, Design Studio (Venture Labs); Asa Whitney Professor, MEAM

Mark’s research interests began with modular robots that are made up of identical active components that can be arranged to form many different configurations, ranging from a snake robot to a humanoid to a 17 legged centipede. These systems can also self-reconfigure, changing the robot’s shape to suit the task. In addition to self-reconfiguring and self-assembling robots, Mark has also started work on flying robots, and task specification, working to figure out how to specify a task so that a robot configuration can optimally satisfy that task.

Research Areas


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Research Groups

Publications

Amplitude Control for Parallel Lattices of Docked Modboats

Publisher International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Docking and Undocking a Modular Underactuated Oscillating Swimming Robot

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Dynamic Grasping for Object Picking Using Passive Zero-DOF End Effectors

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Thrust Direction Control of an Under-actuated Oscillating Swimming Robot

Publisher IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore

Quori: A Community-Informed Design of a Socially Interactive Humanoid Robot

Publisher The IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), ICRA

A Fast Configuration Space Algorithm for Variable Topology Truss Modular Robots

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

A Novel Underactuated End-Effector for Planar Sequential Grasping of Multiple Objects

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

ModQuad-DoF: A Novel Yaw Actuation for Modular Quadrotors

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Motion planning for variable topology truss modular robot

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

Parallel Self-Assembly with SMORES-EP, a Modular Robot

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Pauses Provide Effective Control for an Underactuated Oscillating Swimming Robot

Publisher IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L)

Polygon-Based Random Tree Search Planning for Variable Geometry Truss Robot

Publisher IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L)

Reconfiguration Solution of a Variable Topology Truss: Design and Experiment

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Robots made from ice: an analysis of manufacturing techniques

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

A Distributed Reconfiguration Planning Algorithm for Modular Robots

Publisher IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L)

ModQuad-Vi: A Vision-Based Self-Assembling Modular Quadrotor

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Optimal structure synthesis for environment augmenting robots

Publisher Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Optimization-Based Nonimpact Rolling Locomotion of a Variable Geometry Truss

Publisher IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L)

Preliminary Hardware and System Design Investigation for an Affordable and Mobile Assistive Robot for Elderly Care

Publisher IEEE ICRA Workshop: Mobile Robot Assistants for the Elderly (MoRobAE)

Reconfiguration Motion Planning for Variable Topology Truss

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

Shape morphing for variable topology truss

Publisher International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots (UR)

Spiral Zipper Manipulator for Aerial Grasping and Manipulation

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

Toward lateral aerial grasping manipulation using scalable suction

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

A flying gripper based on cuboid modular robots

Publisher Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Cyclic blade pitch control without a swashplate for small helicopters

Publisher Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics

Development and deployment of a mobile manipulator for assisting and entertaining elders living in supportive apartment living facilities

Publisher IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)

Discrete Configuration Space Methods for Determining Modular Connector Area of Acceptance in Higher Dimensions

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

Emulating a Fully Actuated Aerial Vehicle Using Two Actuators

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Low cost optical mechanical system for human robot interaction

Publisher ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE)

ModQuad: The flying modular structure that self-assembles in Midair

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Perception-Informed Autonomous Environment Augmentation with Modular Robots

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Preliminary system and hardware design for quori, a low-cost, modular, socially interactive robot

Publisher Annual ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)

Robotic edge-rolling manipulation: A grasp planning approach

Publisher IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L)

Scalability of cyclic control without blade pitch actuators

Publisher AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference

Variable Topology Truss: Hardware Overview, Reconfiguration Planning and Locomotion

Publisher International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots (UR)

A decentralized algorithm for assembling structures with modular robots

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

An end-to-end system for accomplishing tasks with modular robots: Perspectives for the AI community

Publisher International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI)

Configuration recognition with distributed information for modular robot

Publisher International Symposium on Robotics Research (ISRR)

Cyclic blade pitch control for small UAV without a swashplate

Publisher AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference

Designing for uniform mobility using holonomicity

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Evaluating older adults’ interaction with a mobile assistive robot

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

Kinematics of variable topology truss using affine coordinate transformation

Publisher International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI)

Modular robot connector area of acceptance from configuration space obstacles

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

PaintPots: Low cost, accurate, highly customizable potentiometers for position sensing

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Piccolissimo: The smallest micro aerial vehicle

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Towards a variable topology truss for shoring

Publisher International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots and Ambient Intelligence (URAI)

Truss optimization with random piecewise linear beams

Publisher ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE)

Variable topology truss: Design and analysis

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

A simulator for origami-inspired self-reconfigurable robots

Publisher International Meeting of Origami Science, Mathematics, and Education

An end-to-end system for accomplishing tasks with modular robots

Publisher Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS)

Anticogging: Torque ripple suppression, modeling, and parameter selection

Publisher International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR)

Assembly sequence planning for constructing planar structures with rectangular modules

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Design and characterization of the EP-Face connector

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

Design of a spherical robot arm with the Spiral Zipper prismatic joint

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Modular robots

Publisher Springer Handbook of Robotics

Origami 5: Fifth International Meeting of Origami Science, Mathematics, and Education

Publisher International Meeting of Origami Science, Mathematics, and Education

Preface

Publisher International Meeting of Origami Science, Mathematics, and Education

Self-reconfigurable modular connection systems

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

Automated Self-Assembly of Large Maritime Structures by a Team of Robotic Boats

Publisher IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE)

Computer-aided compositional design and verification for modular robots

Publisher International Symposium on Robotics Research (ISRR)

Flight performance of a swashplateless micro air vehicle

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Friction binding study and remedy design for tethered search and rescue robots

Publisher IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR)

Modular reconfigurable robotic systems: lattice automata

Publisher Robots and Lattice Automata

On embeddability of modular robot designs

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Passive stability of vehicles without angular momentum including quadrotors and ornithopters

Publisher IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

Rapid co-design of electro-mechanical specifications for robotic systems

Publisher ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering (IDETC/CIE)

Soft robotics applied to architecture

Publisher Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture International Conference (ACADIA)

News

Student News

Y-Prize Technologies 2024-25

September 24, 2024


GRASP News

The First Climb into the GRASP Treehouse

August 30, 2023


Faculty News

GRASP News

Penn Summer Academy Concludes with Robotic Musical Performance

August 10, 2022


GRASP News

ICRA 2022 – GRASP Accepted Papers

February 9, 2022


GRASP News

2021 IROS Conference Papers

August 6, 2021


GRASP News

ICRA 2021 – GRASP Accepted Papers

March 3, 2021


GRASP News

ICRA 2020 Recap

June 24, 2020


Faculty News

Designs for what the future can be

February 10, 2020


Faculty News

Robots designed to self-construct

February 5, 2020


Student News

GRASP Lab’s high-flying robots

August 19, 2019


Student News

These Robots Can Assemble Themselves In Midair

January 18, 2018


GRASP News

GRASP goes to China

June 24, 2015


GRASP News

UPenn Selected for 2012 RASC-AL Robo-Ops

December 20, 2011


Faculty News

Mark Yim’s presentation at Ignite Philly 2

August 10, 2009


Ph.D. Students

Omar Abdoun

PhD, BE


Haitham Alshehri

PhD, MEAM


Greg Campbell

PhD, MEAM


Spencer Folk

PhD, MEAM


Cole Nagata

PhD, MEAM


Akshay Ram Panyam

PhD, MEAM


Alumni

Andrew Bae

PostDoc, MEAM '20-'24 - Assistant Professor, University of Nevada-Las Vegas


Diego Caporale

Robotics MSE '19, PhD, MEAM '24


Devin Carroll

PhD, MEAM '23, Lecturer at University of Pennsylvania, MEAM


Nick Eckenstein

PhD, MEAM '19


Walker Gosrich

PhD, MEAM '24


Gedaliah Knizhnik

PhD, MEAM '22, Staff Robotic Software Engineer at RRAI


Rebecca Li

Robotics MSE '20; PhD, MEAM


Chang Liu

Robotics MSE '21 - Research Assistant, Modlab, University of Pennsylvania


Chao Liu

Robotics MSE '14; PhD, MEAM '21 - Postdoc at MIT CSAIL


Matthew Piccoli

PhD, MEAM '16 - IQ Motion Control


Shai Revzen

PostDoc '12, ESE - Assistant Professor, University of Michigan


Caio Rodrigues Mucchiani

PhD, MEAM '21 - Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Riverside


Jun Seo

PhD, MEAM '14 - Assistant Professor HKUST


Andrew Specian

PhD, MEAM '22 - Mechanical Development Engineer, Strato Inc


Alexander Spinos

PhD, MEAM '23, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory


Bruno Teles Gabrich

PhD, MEAM '21 - LFI


Tarik Tosun

PhD, MEAM '19 - Waymo


Jessica Yin

Robotics Master's '24; PhD, MEAM '24


Inside the GRASP Lab – Dr. Mark Yim and Modlab

Mark Yim

Research Areas

  • Humanoid Robots for Elder Care
  • Modular Self-reconfigurable Robots
  • Flying Robots
  • Self-assembling Aquatic Bots