Houde Dai

Hai Lan, Zongyan Li, Jianmin Hu et al.

Marker-based optical motion capture (MoCap), while long regarded as the gold standard for accuracy, faces practical challenges, such as time-consuming preparation and marker identification ambiguity, due to its reliance on dense marker configurations, which fundamentally limit its scalability. To address this, we introduce a novel fundamental unit for MoCap, the Rigid Body Marker (RBM), which provides unambiguous 6-DoF data and drastically simplifies setup. Leveraging this new data modality, we develop a deep-learning-based regression model that directly estimates SMPL parameters under a geodesic loss. This end-to-end approach matches the performance of optimization-based methods while requiring over an order of magnitude less computation. Trained on synthesized data from the AMASS dataset, our end-to-end model achieves state-of-the-art accuracy in body pose estimation. Real-world data captured using a Vicon optical tracking system further demonstrates the practical viability of our approach. Overall, the results show that combining sparse 6-DoF RBM with a manifold-aware geodesic loss yields a practical and high-fidelity solution for real-time MoCap in graphics, virtual reality, and biomechanics.

Ran Zhao, Hanchen Yao, Houde Dai

Magnetic response soft robot realizes programmable shape regulation with the help of magnetic field and produces various actions. The shape control of magnetic soft robot is based on the magnetic anisotropy caused by the orderly distribution of magnetic particles in the elastic matrix. In the previous technologies, magnetic programming is coupled with the manufacturing process, and the orientation of magnetic particles cannot be modified, which brings restrictions to the design and use of magnetic soft robot. This paper presents a magnetic pixel robot with shape programmable function. By encapsulating NdFeB/gallium composites into silicone shell, a thermo-magnetic response functional film with lattice structure are fabricated. Basing on thermal-assisted magnetization technique, we realized the discrete magnetization region distribution on the film. Therefore, we proposed a magnetic coding technique to realize the mathematical response action design of software robot. Using these methods, we prepared several magnetic soft robots based on origami structure. The experiments show that the behavior mode of robot can be flexibly and repeatedly regulated by magnetic encoding technique. This work provides a basis for the programmed shape regulation and motion design of soft robot.