In this episode, we explore two cutting-edge environmental robots developed by ETH Zurich students: MONKEE, a tree-climbing robot for canopy research, and ReefRanger, an autonomous underwater robot that feeds and monitors corals.

Podcast: Tree-Climbing and Reef-Restoring Robots

<p id="isPasted">This article was discussed in our <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" rel="noopener noreferrer">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;</p><p><span contenteditable="false" draggable="true" class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/5d57210f-5019-46ef-8c14-0f8830515444?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe></span><br></p><p>The full article will continue below.</p><hr><p id="isPasted">From an AI-based cage system for laboratory mice, and robots designed for use on land, in the water, or on the moon, to innovative propulsion systems for aircraft, racing cars, rockets and pods. The Focus project teams complete the entire process independently – starting with the initial project idea and design studies through to the search for sponsors and production. These are the projects they have implemented this year:</p><h2><strong>MONKEE – Tree-climbing robot</strong></h2><p>The MONKEE climbing robot has two arms and three adhesion points and can adeptly move around in trees, both vertically and sideways, adapting to different trunk shapes and surfaces. This allows it to navigate obstacles and to advance far into the tree canopy. An integrated modular platform provides a flexible foundation for a wide range of applications, allowing for integration of future capabilities, such as CO₂ measurements, collection of samples, and sensor deployment. <a href="https://monkee.ethz.ch/">MONKEE</a> allows comprehensive data gathering for tree canopy research, helping us gain a better understanding of the climate and biodiversity preservation.</p><p><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/njZOm6Zp-Uo?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span></iframe></span></p><h2 id="isPasted"><strong>ReefRanger – Robotics for reef restoration</strong></h2><p><strong><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzQ3OTE4ODQ1NDI1LWltYWdlLmltYWdlZm9ybWF0LnRleHQ1MHBlcmNlbnQuNTkzNjYwMzg2LmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width:100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-inner">(Image: Yannic Hostettler / ETH Zurich)</span></span></span></strong></p><p id="isPasted">Coral reefs provide a habitat to numerous marine species, perform crucial environmental functions and are one of the ecosystems most endangered by climate change. To support their regeneration, coral is grown in underwater farms. The ReefRanger Focus project has developed an autonomous underwater robot to carry out the labour-intensive and time-consuming tasks of feeding and monitoring the coral under water. Equipped with a camera, sensors and machine learning capability, it recognises table corals, navigates to them directly and supplies the coral with nutrients and probiotics. Its soft, flexible feeding mechanism protects the delicate corals. <a href="https://reefranger.ethz.ch/">ReefRanger</a> makes the restoration of coral reefs more efficient and scalable.</p><p><a></a></p><h2><strong>ARGOS – Welfare monitoring for mechatronic mouse enclosures</strong></h2><p><strong><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzQ3OTE4ODk0MjcxLWltYWdlLmltYWdlZm9ybWF0LnRleHQ1MHBlcmNlbnQuMTA1ODYzNjQyNy5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width:100%px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-inner">(Image: Nicole Davidson / ETH Zurich)</span></span></span></strong></p><p>The ARGOS Focus project is developing a smart cage system for laboratory mice that meets current animal welfare standards and complies with the latest monitoring requirements. A highly integrated, mechatronic system continuously tracks the mice’s activity and behaviour, as well as various animal welfare aspects such as water and food intake. This allows real-time monitoring of the animals’ well-being. The team is collaborating on this project with experts from neurosciences, ethics, animal welfare, veterinary medicine and the ETH AI Center.</p><hr><h2 id="isPasted"><strong>2024/25 Focus project rollout</strong></h2><h3><strong>Exhibition</strong></h3><p>Students will be presenting the results of their projects at a public exhibition: <strong>Wednesday, 28 May 2025, 12 noon until 5.30 p.m.</strong>, LEE building, Leonhardstrasse 21, 8081 Zurich.</p><h3><strong>Presentations</strong></h3><p>The teams will provide an insight into their projects at a presentation in the Main Building: <strong>Wednesday, 28 May 2025, 2.00 p.m. until 3.50 p.m.</strong>, in the Audi Max, Main Building, F 30, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zurich.</p>

The MONKEE focus project team with their climbing robot.  (Image: Nicole Davidson / ETH Zurich)

Around 100 Bachelor's students from the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering have spent two semesters working on their Focus projects in 11 teams. They will present the results of their projects on 28 May.

Robots that can climb trees or restore coral reefs

<section id="isPasted"><p>Even the most advanced robots struggle to sense touch as effectively as humans do -- just think of all the “fail” videos online where robots grasp eggs and accidentally crack them, or a robot arm moves too fast and smashes a bottle to pieces. Touch has been a huge challenge for roboticists who are working to develop more sophisticated systems that enable robots to accomplish tasks with human-like precision and adaptability.</p><h2>New tool gives machines a new level of dexterity and precision</h2><p>To address this challenge,&nbsp;<a href="https://yunzhuli.github.io/">Yunzhu Li</a>, an assistant professor of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cs.columbia.edu/">computer science</a> at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/">Columbia Engineering</a>, has developed a robot learning system that fuses the sense of touch with sight, giving machines a new level of dexterity and precision. His latest paper introduces&nbsp;<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2410.24091">3D-ViTac</a>, a multi-modal robot manipulation system that is the first to integrate visual and tactile data into a unified 3D point cloud space for imitation learning. This system allows robots to “see” and “feel” objects, handle fragile objects, and perform long-horizon, precise tasks far more effectively than vision-only systems. Li and collaborators presented the paper Nov. 6 at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.corl.org/">Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL)</a> in Munich, Germany.</p><p>“Our tactile sensors bring robots' sensing capabilities a step closer to human levels,” said Li, who joined Columbia this year. This research builds on his previous work on a&nbsp;<a href="https://stag.csail.mit.edu/">tactile glove for understanding how humans use their hands</a>. “The sensors are flexible, scalable, cost-effective, and able to detect detailed contact patterns, making them superior to previous tactile sensors used by robots.”</p><h2>New approach&nbsp;</h2><p>In this work, the researchers introduce a high-resolution force sensor, made from force-sensitive materials (specifically, piezoresistive materials), to the robot learning community to mimic human tactile sensing capabilities. The piezoresistive tactile sensor converts applied pressure into changes in electrical resistance. This change in resistance enables the robot to “feel” the objects it interacts with, allowing for precise grip strength and accurate in-hand object manipulation.</p></section><section><h2>3D-ViTac in Action</h2><p><span contenteditable="false" draggable="true" class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZN3mHMNZC7Q?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe></span></p><p id="isPasted">This contact-rich data provides a clear demonstration of how touch can enhance manipulation and how combining touch with vision can bring robots closer to human-level dexterity. The system was tested on tasks like grasping fragile items, such as eggs and grapes, and performing in-hand manipulation, like reorienting a hex key between fingers or adjusting the grip on a spatula. The tactile and visual fusion significantly outperformed systems relying solely on visual inputs, which was especially useful when handling fragile items or doing tasks with limited visibility.</p><h2>Thin, flexible tactile sensors transform robots from clunky tools into ones capable of precise, fluid manipulation&nbsp;</h2><p>The researchers developed a dense, flexible tactile sensor array integrated into a soft robotic gripper. The data from the sensors, combined with visual data, generate a 3D-point cloud, like a visual representation or a scene, that enables the robot to both “see” and “feel” its surroundings. The tactile feedback allows the robot to adjust its grip strength in real time, which is especially crucial when visual information is limited or occluded.&nbsp;</p><p>Equipped with “fingers” capable of feeling the world around them, these robots can now handle fragile objects with care. Thin, flexible tactile sensors cover their hands, enabling them to perceive the slightest pressure and adjust their movements accordingly. This innovation has transformed the robots from clunky tools into ones capable of precise, fluid manipulation once thought impossible for machines.</p><p>“This breakthrough also enables robots to handle occluded objects more reliably and effectively,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://binghao-huang.github.io/">Binghao Huang</a>, the project lead and a Columbia Engineering PhD student who works with Li. Occlusion occurs when an object is hidden from view, which is problematic for robots that rely on visual information to manipulate objects. “As the demand for humanoid robots to assist with household chores grows, our bimanual system equipped with tactile sensors presents a promising solution for achieving such tasks.”</p><h2>What’s next?</h2><p>With this leap forward in robotics, the line between human and machine skills begins to blur, opening the door to a future where robots cannot only see the world but feel it, too.&nbsp;</p><p>The next step for the researchers is to further improve the system's scalability and to scale up data collection. They are also developing a tactile simulation and integrating it into the robot learning process. This will allow for larger-scale data collection and better generalization of the policy, enabling the system to perform well in new situations for which it was not explicitly trained.</p><hr><h2>About the Study</h2><p><strong>Conference</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.corl.org/">Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL)</a> in Munich, Germany, November 6-9, 2024.</p><p><strong>Title</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://binghao-huang.github.io/3D-ViTac/">3D ViTac: Learning Fine-Grained Manipulation with Visuo-Tactile Sensing</a></p><p><strong>Authors</strong>: Binghao Huang<sup>1</sup>, Yixuan Wang<sup>1</sup>, Xinyi Yang<sup>2</sup>, Yiyue Luo<sup>3</sup>, Yunzhu Li<sup>1</sup>,&nbsp;</p><ol><li>Columbia University</li><li>University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</li><li>University of Washington</li></ol><p><strong>Funding</strong>: This work is partly funded by the Toyota Research Institute (TRI). This research solely reflects the opinions and conclusions of its authors and not TRI or any other Toyota entity.</p></section>

Columbia Engineering computer scientists introduce a novel system that mimics human tactile sensing capabilities in robots.

Advancing Robotics with the Power of Touch

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