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One-shot Imitation from Mismatched Execution
Human demonstration videos are a powerful way to program robots to do long-horizon manipulation tasks. However, translating these demonstrations into robot executable actions presents significant challenges due to execution mismatches in movement styles and physical capabilities. Existing methods depend either on paired human-robot demonstrations or on visual similarities between the training and test domains. Humans Read more
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Vision-based policies for human-robot collaboration
This thesis investigates vision-based policies (e.g., VLAs, diffusion policy, flow matching) for human-robot collaboration. Despite standard collaborative controllers which make only use of the robot and (if available) human states, vision-based policies are trained additionally on images captured during the task execution. This provides the robot with the possibility to embed the perception of the Read more
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Systematic Validation and Expansion of Thermal Imaging Algorithms for Muscular Activity and Fatigue Monitoring
Contacts: Marta Gandolla, Andrea Dal Prete Location: Politecnico di Milano (Bovisa Campus) Motivation of the study: Monitoring muscle activation and fatigue is crucial for optimizing physical performance and preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders, particularly in industrial environments where back-support exoskeletons are increasingly used. While Surface Electromyography (SEMG) is the traditional gold standard, it suffers from limitations such as Read more
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Bipedal gait analysis on planetary surfaces
Evaluation of the mechanical cost of transport for a bipedal robot during four bipedal locomotion gaits (walking, running, jumping, and skipping), performed in simulation within three different gravitational scenarios: on Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Contacts Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt German Aerospace Center Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics Münchner Straße 20 82234 Wessling Read more
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Comparing Modern AI-Powered 3D Reconstruction Pipelines with Traditional Human Motion Capture Systems
Contacts: Marta Gandolla, Andrea Dal Prete Location: Politecnico di Milano (Bovisa Campus) Motivation of the study: Accurate human kinematics measurement is fundamental in biomechanics, ergonomics, and human–robot interaction, yet traditional approaches remain limited. Optical motion capture systems deliver high accuracy but require expensive equipment and controlled laboratory conditions, while IMU-based methods offer portability at the cost of Read more
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Refinement and Optimization of an Existing Reinforcement Learning Framework for Back Exoskeleton Control
Contacts: Marta Gandolla, Andrea Dal Prete Location: Politecnico di Milano (Bovisa Campus) Motivation of the study. Back exoskeletons are increasingly studied to reduce spinal loads and muscular effort in physically demanding tasks, with both rigid and soft designs showing promising results. However, widespread adoption is limited by the challenge of developing controllers that can adapt to different Read more
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Real-Time Estimation of Arm Impedance and Variable Admittance Control for Elbow Exosuit
Contacts: Marta Gandolla, Andrea Dal Prete, Ali KhalilianMotamed Bonab Location: Politecnico di Milano (Bovisa Campus) – Scuola Sant’Anna di Pisa Motivation of the study. This thesis, developed within a collaboration between Politecnico di Milano and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, focuses on adaptive control strategies for a hybrid soft–rigid elbow exosuit. The project aims to estimate user biomechanical impedance Read more
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Design of a Hybrid Rigid-Soft Cable-Driven Back Exoskeleton
Contacts: Marta Gandolla, Andrea Dal Prete, Ali KhalilianMotamed Bonab Location: Politecnico di Milano (Bovisa Campus) – Scuola Sant’Anna di Pisa Motivation of the study. Musculoskeletal disorders are a major concern in jobs involving repetitive lifting, as they increase spinal loading, fatigue, and the risk of back injuries. Back support exoskeletons (BEs) aim to reduce these Read more
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Enhancing Human-Robot Interaction in motor-cognitive game for older adults
As the aging population continues to grow, service robots are emerging as valuable tools to promote active and healthy aging. Previous work at the WE-COBOT Lab developed a motor-cognitive game for the TIAGo robot (PAL Robotics), combining physical and memory training through embodied interaction [Pozzi, Gandolla, Braghin, Robot-Mediated Gesture-Based Memory Game for Older Adult Psychophysical Stimulation. Read more
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A robotic walking assistant for older adults in long-term care
Assistance and monitoring during elders’ daily walk is something that stakeholders expect from an assistive robot. Though cart-like walkers represent a possible solution, they are limited in versatility. Contrarily, a humanoid walking assistant has the potentiality to accomplish many other tasks and to engage in social interactions, extending the caregivers’ activity. The student will develop Read more