↓Skip to main content
Capprin Bass

Research

My research interests are heavily influenced by my time at the Laboratory for Robotics and Applied Mechanics (LRAM) at Oregon State University. The lab focused on the importance of mathematical structure when representing robot systems, as well as effective visualizations of system behavior. Together these themes provide powerful intuition about how complex systems will behave.

Much of this research leverages Lie groups like \((\mathbb{T}^n, +), SE(2), \) and \(SO(3)\) to represent robot systems. The choice to use group structure has important consequences: systems may be constructed using an abstract geometric algebra, and essential properties like kinematics and dynamics yield from that construction. We may also use the Lie algebra to simplify some expressions of system behavior and construct alternative system models.

More recently, I’ve worked on optimal control of autonomous systems via control barrier functions, among other approaches. I currently work on manipulation and the dynamics of manipulators in contact with objects or their environment.

Following is my current list of publications.

2024

Towards Geometric Motion Planning for High-Dimensional Systems: Gait-Based Coordinate Optimization and Local Metrics ↗ ↖
kinematics optimization Lie motion planning
This work extends my own contributions at the tail end of my masters thesis with some excellent novel ideas by Yanhao Yang at Oregon State University. We perform an optimization of body orientation frame for mobile systems, key for motion planning using models for dynamics like constraint curvature. However, we address the curse of dimensionality by performing optimization in the region surrounding the current motion plan, rather than for the entire configuration space.

2023

Linear Kinematics for General Constant Curvature and Torsion Manipulators ↗ ↖
kinematics Lie soft
This is the work of an REU student of mine, Bill Fan, which he started at Oregon State within the Laboratory for Robotics and Applied Mechanics and continued on his own at Olin College of Engineering. It was presented at RoboSoft 2023. We use the Lie algebra to produce an estimate of manipulator configuration for soft, constant-twist manipulators.

2022

Optimal Gait Families using Lagrange Multiplier Method ↗ ↖
kinematics dynamics control optimization
In this work, presented at IROS 2022, we generate families of optimal motion plans for biomimetic systems. These families are parametrized by a single variable, providing an intuitive control mode for systems with very complex dynamics.
Geometric Optimization Methods for Mobile Systems ↗ ↖
kinematics dynamics control Lie optimization dimensionality reduction
This is my masters thesis, the culmination of my geometric mechanics work at Oregon State University. I explore models for locomotion based on the Lie algebra, consequences of body frame coordinate optimization, and dimensionality reduction for biomimetic mobile systems.
Characterizing Error in Noncommutative Geometric Gait Analysis ↗ ↖
kinematics dynamics Lie optimization
In this work, presented at ICRA 2022, we demonstrate the role of body-frame coordinate optimization in reducing error when using simplified models for system dynamics. This was my first conference paper.