Mechanics
Related papers: 20
About
Mechanics is the branch of physics and engineering that studies how forces, motion, energy, and material properties govern the behavior of physical systems. It encompasses classical subfields including rigid body dynamics, fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, and contact mechanics, all of which describe how objects move, deform, and interact under applied loads. In robotics and AI, mechanics underpins virtually every physical system: robot manipulators rely on rigid body dynamics and inertial parameter estimation to plan and control motion accurately; bioinspired robots draw on aerodynamic and hydrodynamic principles observed in insect flight, fish locomotion, and snake movement; and soft robotics leverages continuum mechanics and material models such as dielectric elastomers. Understanding mechanics enables engineers to design actuators, model contact and collision, ensure postural stability in bipeds, and develop tactile sensors for artificial skin. It matters because no robot can interact reliably with the physical world without accurate mechanical models — they form the mathematical foundation for simulation, control law design, motion optimization, and safe human-robot interaction across virtually every application domain.
Top Researchers
Top Institutes
Top Cited Papers
Applied Mechanics and Materials
Citations: 2583 • 2026
The aerodynamics of insect flight
Sanjay P. Sane
Citations: 1238 • 2003
The central nervous system stabilizes unstable dynamics by learning optimal impedance
Etienne Burdet, Rieko Osu, David W. Franklin, Theodore E. Milner, Mitsuo Kawato
Citations: 1116 • 2001
Theory of dielectric elastomers
Zhigang Suo
Citations: 1017 • 2010
Dynamics of a cantilever beam attached to a moving base
T. R. Kane, R. R. Ryan, A. K. Banerjeer
Citations: 745 • 1987
Literature survey of contact dynamics modelling
Gabriele Gilardi, Inna Sharf
Citations: 719 • 2002
Estimation of Inertial Parameters of Manipulator Loads and Links
Christopher G. Atkeson, Chae An, John M. Hollerbach
Citations: 574 • 1986
Postural Stability of Biped Robots and the Foot-Rotation Indicator (FRI) Point
Ambarish Goswami
Citations: 567 • 1999
From contact electrification to triboelectric nanogenerators
Zhong Lin Wang
Citations: 529 • 2021
Rotational accelerations stabilize leading edge vortices on revolving fly wings
David Lentink, Michael H. Dickinson
Citations: 521 • 2009
Drag reduction in fish-like locomotion
David Barrett, Michael Triantafyllou, Dick K. P. Yue, Mark A. Grosenbaugh
Citations: 509 • 1999
Unsteady forces and flows in low Reynolds number hovering flight:two-dimensional computations<i>vs</i>robotic wing experiments
Z. Jane Wang, James M. Birch, Michael H. Dickinson
Citations: 508 • 2003
Mechanics of Precurved-Tube Continuum Robots
Robert J. Webster, Joseph M. Romano, Noah J. Cowan
Citations: 476 • 2008
A Computational Fluid Dynamic Study of Hawkmoth Hovering
Hao Liu, Charles P. Ellington, Keiji Kawachi, Coen van den Berg, Alexander P. Willmott
Citations: 468 • 1998
Efficient collective swimming by harnessing vortices through deep reinforcement learning
Siddhartha Verma, Guido Novati, Petros Koumoutsakos
Citations: 454 • 2018
Force production and flow structure of the leading edge vortex on flapping wings at high and low Reynolds numbers
James M. Birch, William Dickson, Michael H. Dickinson
Citations: 431 • 2004
Jumping on water: Surface tension–dominated jumping of water striders and robotic insects
Je‐Sung Koh, Eunjin Yang, Gwang-Pil Jung, Sun-Pill Jung, Jae Hak Son, Sang‐im Lee, Piotr G. Jabłoński, Robert J. Wood, Ho-Young Kim, Kyu‐Jin Cho
Citations: 418 • 2015
Series elastic actuator development for a biomimetic walking robot
David Robinson, Jerry Pratt, Daniel Paluska, Gill A. Pratt
Citations: 415 • 1999
Fully Printed Flexible Fingerprint-like Three-Axis Tactile and Slip Force and Temperature Sensors for Artificial Skin
Shingo Harada, Kenichiro Kanao, Yuki Yamamoto, Takayuki Arie, Seiji Akita, Kuniharu Takei
Citations: 349 • 2014
The three–dimensional leading–edge vortex of a ‘hovering’ model hawkmoth
Coen van den Berg, Charles P. Ellington
Citations: 345 • 1997