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    • C. David Remy
    • Petr Zaytsev
    • Hwan Choi
    • Zhenyu Gan
    • Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy
    • Nils Smit-Anseeuw
    • Kim Ingraham
    • Dan Bruder
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    • Rodney Gleason
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  • RESEARCH
    • Sensors for Soft Robotic Actuators
    • Optimal Control of Assistive Devices
    • Gaits and Energetics in Legged Robots
    • Passive Dynamic Locomotion
    • Gait Creation and Optimal Control
    • A Digital Hydraulic Transmission for Body Powered Exoskeletons
    • Previous Work at the ASL
    • Previous Work at the NMBL
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    • Walk This Way: Outreach at the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum
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  • EXTERNAL
    • Autonmous Systems Lab
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    • Assistive Robotic Devices for Dynamic Locomotion
    • Assessing and Optimizing Human Robot Interaction In Wearable Robotic Devices
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Nils Smit-Anseeuw

Nils Smit-Anseeuw PhD Student, Mechanical Engineering

Nils is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, with a B.A.Sc in Engineering Physics from the University of British Columbia. His interests include underactuated robotics, optimal control, reinforcement learning, and mechanical design.

Learn more... [News] [Publications] [Images] [Videos]

In the News [back to top]

RAMlab will present at IROS workshop in Vancouver (9/24/2017) RAMlab will present at IROS workshop in Vancouver

Dr. Remy, Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy, and Nils Smit-Anseeuw will present in the workshop, 'On the Energetic Economy of Robotics and Biological Systems: A Challenging Handicap to Overcome.' more...

RAMlab goes to Robot Camp (again)! (7/19/2017) RAMlab goes to Robot Camp (again)!

For the second year, RAMlab members helped Robot Camp students build their own passive dynamic walkers at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. more...

New Publication in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (6/26/2017) New Publication in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters

Check out the new paper by Nils Smit-Anseeuw, published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. Nils recently presented this work at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), in Singapore. more...

All News...


Publications [back to top]

  • Smit-Anseeuw, N., Gleason, R., Vasudevan, R. and Remy, C. D., 2017, "The energetic benefit of robotic gait selection - A case study on the robot Ramone", IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2(2):1124 - 1131 [URL]

  • Smit-Anseeuw, N., Gleason, R., Zaytsev, P. and Remy, C. D., 2017, "RAMone: A planar biped for studying the energetics of gait", Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Vancouver, Canada [URL]

  • Smit-Anseeuw, N., Vasudevan, R., Remy, C. D., 2017, "Safe online learning using barrier functions", Dynamic Walking, Åland, Finland [URL]

  • Green, K., Smit-Anseeuw, N., Gleason, R., and Remy, C.D. , 2016, "Design and control of a recovery system for legged robots", Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), Banff, Canada [preprint]

  • Smit-Anseeuw, N., Vasudevan, R., and Remy, C.D., 2016, "When knees become ankles", Dynamic Walking, Holly, MI [preprint]

  • Smit-Anseeuw, N. and Remy, C.D., 2015, "Stabilization of energy optimal series elastic gait", Dynamic Walking, Columbus, OH [preprint]

  • Smit-Anseeuw, N., Gleason, R., Zaytsev, P., Vasudevan, R., Remy, C.D., 2017, "The Energetic Benefit of Robotic Gait Selection", Intelligient Robots and Systems (IROS) Workshop On the Energetic Economy of Robotics and Biological Systems, Vancouver, BC, Canada [URL]

  • Smit-Anseeuw, N., Nash, A., Vasudevan, R., Remy, C. D., 2017, "Safe Online Learning Using Barrier Functions", International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) Workshop on Robust Perception, Planning, and Control for Legged Robot Locomotion in Challenging Domains, Singapore [URL]

  • Smit-Anseeuw, N., 2017, "The Energetic Benefit of Robotic Gait Selection: A Case Study on the Robot RAMone", Midwest Robotics Workshop, Chicago, IL

Images [back to top]

RAMlab Fall Semester Celebration

The team celebrating the end of the Fall 2017 semester and farewell to Jeff Koller with a pizza dinner at Mani Osteria.

Dynamic Walking 2017

RAMlab members ventured to the Åland Islands of Finland for Dynamic Walking 2017. Honorary RAMlab member Keith Buffinton also enjoyed his first DW experience with the team.

RAMlab Winter Outing

The team enjoyed dinner at Ypbor Yan in Ann Arbor after a fun afternoon playing laser tag (February 2017).

The Team

Our team: (Top row left to right) Zhenyu Gan, Wyatt Felt, Kim Ingraham, Nils Smit-Anseeuw, Katelyn Fry, Rodney Gleason, Khai Yi Chin. (Bottom row left to right) Pascal Knecht, Kevin Green, C. David Remy, Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy, Jeff Koller

Annual Canoe Trip

Team RAMlab after our annual trip down the Huron River

Ford Visit

The RAMlab visits the Ford Rouge Factory Tour at the Henry Ford.

Volunteering with Make-a-Wish

Members of the RAMlab volunteering with Make-a-Wish

Demonstrating the FIRST robotics project during a Make-a-Wish event

Lab member Nils Smit-Answeeuw has been advising a local FIRST robotics team. Here is the robot begin demonstrated during a Make-a-Wish event.

Videos [back to top]

RAMone's First Steps and Obstacles

RAMone's First Steps and Obstacles


In this video RAMone walks using a modified version of the walking controller proposed by Jerry Pratt. An advantage of this controller is that it is force based so it handles foot disturbances gracefully. We show this disturbance correction by placing hard and soft objects under RAMone's feet as it walks.


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