Manas Bhargava
Postdoctoral Researcher at ISTA
Computational Design and Fabrication of Modular Robots with Untethered Control
Natural organisms utilize distributed actuation through their musculoskeletal systems to adapt their gait for traversing diverse terrains or to morph their bodies for varied tasks. A longstanding challenge in robotics is to emulate this capability of natural organisms, which has motivated the development of numerous soft robotic systems. However, such systems are generally optimized for a single functionality, lack the ability to change form or function on demand, or remain tethered to bulky control systems. To address these limitations, we present a framework for designing and controlling robots that utilize distributed actuation. We propose a novel building block that integrates 3D-printed bones with liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) muscles as lightweight actuators, enabling the modular assembly of musculoskeletal robots. We developed LCE rods that contract in response to infrared radiation, thereby providing localized, untethered control over the distributed skeletal network and producing global deformations of the robot. To fully capitalize on the extensive design space, we introduce two computational tools: one for optimizing the robot's skeletal graph to achieve multiple target deformations, and another for co-optimizing skeletal designs and control gaits to realize desired locomotion. We validate our framework by constructing several robots that demonstrate complex shape morphing, diverse control schemes, and environmental adaptability. Our system integrates advances in modular material building, untethered and distributed control, and computational design to introduce a new generation of robots that brings us closer to the capabilities of living organisms.
@misc{bhargava2025computationaldesignfabricationmodular,
title={Computational Design and Fabrication of Modular Robots with Untethered Control},
author={Manas Bhargava and Takefumi Hiraki and Malina Strugaru and Yuhan Zhang and Michal Piovarci and Chiara Daraio and Daisuke Iwai and Bernd Bickel},
year={2025},
eprint={2508.05410},
archivePrefix={arXiv},
primaryClass={cs.RO},
url={https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05410},}
Mesh Simplification For Unfolding
We present a computational approach for unfolding 3D shapes isometrically into the plane as a single patch without overlapping triangles. This is a hard, sometimes impossible, problem, which existing methods are forced to soften by allowing for map distortions or multiple patches. Instead, we propose a geometric relaxation of the problem: we modify the input shape until it admits an overlap-free unfolding. We achieve this by locally displacing vertices and collapsing edges, guided by the unfolding process. We validate our algorithm quantitatively and qualitatively on a large dataset of complex shapes and show its proficiency by fabricating real shapes from paper.
@article{https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.15269,
author = {Bhargava, M. and Schreck, C. and Freire, M. and Hugron, P. A. and Lefebvre, S. and Sellán, S. and Bickel, B.},
title = {Mesh Simplification for Unfolding},
journal = {Computer Graphics Forum},
volume = {n/a},
number = {n/a},
pages = {e15269},
keywords = {fabrication, single patch unfolding, mesh simplification},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.15269},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cgf.15269},
eprint = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/cgf.15269},
}
PCBend: Light Up Your 3D Shapes With Foldable Circuit Boards
ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH 2023)
We propose a computational design approach for covering a surface with individually addressable RGB LEDs, effectively forming a low-resolution surface screen. To achieve a low-cost and scalable approach, we propose creating designs from flat PCB panels bent in-place along the surface of a 3D printed core. Working with standard rigid PCBs enables the use of established PCB manufacturing services, allowing the fabrication of designs with several hundred LEDs. Our approach optimizes the PCB geometry for folding, and then jointly optimizes the LED packing, circuit and routing, solving a challenging layout problem under strict manufacturing requirements. Unlike paper, PCBs cannot bend beyond a certain point without breaking. Therefore, we introduce parametric cut patterns acting as hinges, designed to allow bending while remaining compact. To tackle the joint optimization of placement, circuit and routing, we propose a specialized algorithm that splits the global problem into one sub-problem per triangle, which is then individually solved. Our technique generates PCB blueprints in a completely automated way. After being fabricated by a PCB manufacturing service, the boards are bent and glued by the user onto the 3D printed support. We demonstrate our technique on a range of physical models and virtual examples, creating intricate surface light patterns from hundreds of LEDs.
@article{10.1145/3592411,
author = {Freire, Marco and Bhargava, Manas and Schreck, Camille and Hugron, Pierre-Alexandre and Bickel, Bernd and Lefebvre, Sylvain},
title = {PCBend: Light Up Your 3D Shapes With Foldable Circuit Boards},
year = {2023},
issue_date = {August 2023},
publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},
address = {New York, NY, USA},
volume = {42},
number = {4},
issn = {0730-0301},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3592411},
doi = {10.1145/3592411},
journal = {ACM Trans. Graph.},
month = {jul},
articleno = {142},
numpages = {16},
keywords = {automated placement and routing, PCB design, PCB bending, 3D electronics}
}