187 research outputs found
Feedback Control of an Exoskeleton for Paraplegics: Toward Robustly Stable Hands-free Dynamic Walking
This manuscript presents control of a high-DOF fully actuated lower-limb
exoskeleton for paraplegic individuals. The key novelty is the ability for the
user to walk without the use of crutches or other external means of
stabilization. We harness the power of modern optimization techniques and
supervised machine learning to develop a smooth feedback control policy that
provides robust velocity regulation and perturbation rejection. Preliminary
evaluation of the stability and robustness of the proposed approach is
demonstrated through the Gazebo simulation environment. In addition,
preliminary experimental results with (complete) paraplegic individuals are
included for the previous version of the controller.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Control System Magazine. This version addresses
reviewers' concerns about the robustness of the algorithm and the motivation
for using such exoskeleton
Keep Rollin' - Whole-Body Motion Control and Planning for Wheeled Quadrupedal Robots
We show dynamic locomotion strategies for wheeled quadrupedal robots, which
combine the advantages of both walking and driving. The developed optimization
framework tightly integrates the additional degrees of freedom introduced by
the wheels. Our approach relies on a zero-moment point based motion
optimization which continuously updates reference trajectories. The reference
motions are tracked by a hierarchical whole-body controller which computes
optimal generalized accelerations and contact forces by solving a sequence of
prioritized tasks including the nonholonomic rolling constraints. Our approach
has been tested on ANYmal, a quadrupedal robot that is fully torque-controlled
including the non-steerable wheels attached to its legs. We conducted
experiments on flat and inclined terrains as well as over steps, whereby we
show that integrating the wheels into the motion control and planning framework
results in intuitive motion trajectories, which enable more robust and dynamic
locomotion compared to other wheeled-legged robots. Moreover, with a speed of 4
m/s and a reduction of the cost of transport by 83 % we prove the superiority
of wheeled-legged robots compared to their legged counterparts.Comment: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letter
Trajectory Optimization Through Contacts and Automatic Gait Discovery for Quadrupeds
In this work we present a trajectory Optimization framework for whole-body
motion planning through contacts. We demonstrate how the proposed approach can
be applied to automatically discover different gaits and dynamic motions on a
quadruped robot. In contrast to most previous methods, we do not pre-specify
contact switches, timings, points or gait patterns, but they are a direct
outcome of the optimization. Furthermore, we optimize over the entire dynamics
of the robot, which enables the optimizer to fully leverage the capabilities of
the robot. To illustrate the spectrum of achievable motions, here we show eight
different tasks, which would require very different control structures when
solved with state-of-the-art methods. Using our trajectory Optimization
approach, we are solving each task with a simple, high level cost function and
without any changes in the control structure. Furthermore, we fully integrated
our approach with the robot's control and estimation framework such that
optimization can be run online. By demonstrating a rough manipulation task with
multiple dynamic contact switches, we exemplarily show how optimized
trajectories and control inputs can be directly applied to hardware.Comment: Video: https://youtu.be/sILuqJBsyK
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A Lower Limb Prosthesis with Active Alignment for Reduced Limb Loading
Over the past decade, the growing field of robotics has created new possibilities in lower limb prostheses. The focus of these new prostheses has been replicating the dynamics of the lost limb in order to restore gait of individuals with lower limb amputations to healthy norms. This places demanding loads on the residual limb. Compensation by the rest of body is high, causes overloading of intact joints and can lead to deterioration of mobility and overall health. Abnormalities remain present in the person’s gait, stemming from the loading of soft tissue and the altered anatomy of the affected limb. In this dissertation, an experimental prosthesis is developed with systematic, simulation based techniques. Kinematics and kinetics of the prosthesis design are altered in order to actively realign the limb in relation to the center of pressure during stance, allowing positive power to be generated by the prosthesis while actively reducing the magnitude of the sagittal moment transferred to the residual limb. Initial findings show that during walking with the experimental device compared to a daily use prosthesis, peak pressures on the residual limb are lowered by over 10% while maintaining walking speed
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Control Implementation of Dynamic Locomotion on Compliant, Underactuated, Force-Controlled Legged Robots with Non-Anthropomorphic Design
The control of locomotion on legged robots traditionally involves a robot that takes a standard legged form, such as the anthropomorphic humanoid, the dog-like quadruped, or the bird-like biped. Additionally, these systems will often be actuated with position-controlled servos or series-elastic actuators that are connected through rigid links. This work investigates the control implementation of dynamic, force-controlled locomotion on a family of legged systems that significantly deviate from these classic paradigms by incorporating modern, state-of-the-art proprioceptive actuators on uniquely configured compliant legs that do not closely resemble those found in nature. The results of this work can be used to better inform how to implement controllers on legged systems without stiff, position-controlled actuators, and also provide insight on how intelligently designed mechanical features can potentially simplify the control of complex, nonlinear dynamical systems like legged robots. To this end, this work presents the approach to control for a family of non-anthropomorphic bipedal robotic systems which are developed both in simulation and with physical hardware. The first is the Non-Anthropomorphic Biped, Version 1 (NABi-1) that features position-controlled joints along with a compliant foot element on a minimally actuated leg, and is controlled using simple open-loop trajectories based on the Zero Moment Point. The second system is the second version of the non-anthropomorphic biped (NABi-2) which utilizes the proprioceptive Back-drivable Electromagnetic Actuator for Robotics (BEAR) modules for actuation and fully realizes feedback-based force controlled locomotion. These systems are used to highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of utilizing proprioceptive actuation in systems, and suggest the tradeoffs that are made when using force control for dynamic locomotion. These systems also present case studies for different approaches to system design when it comes to bipedal legged robots
Design and Control of Robotic Systems for Lower Limb Stroke Rehabilitation
Lower extremity stroke rehabilitation exhausts considerable health care resources, is labor intensive, and provides mostly qualitative metrics of patient recovery. To overcome these issues, robots can assist patients in physically manipulating their affected limb and measure the output motion. The robots that have been currently designed, however, provide assistance over a limited set of training motions, are not portable for in-home and in-clinic use, have high cost and may not provide sufficient safety or performance. This thesis proposes the idea of incorporating a mobile drive base into lower extremity rehabilitation robots to create a portable, inherently safe system that provides assistance over a wide range of training motions. A set of rehabilitative motion tasks were established and a six-degree-of-freedom (DOF) motion and force-sensing system was designed to meet high-power, large workspace, and affordability requirements. An admittance controller was implemented, and the feasibility of using this portable, low-cost system for movement assistance was shown through tests on a healthy individual. An improved version of the robot was then developed that added torque sensing and known joint elasticity for use in future clinical testing with a flexible-joint impedance controller
Underwater Robots Part II: Existing Solutions and Open Issues
National audienceThis paper constitutes the second part of a general overview of underwater robotics. The first part is titled: Underwater Robots Part I: current systems and problem pose. The works referenced as (Name*, year) have been already cited on the first part of the paper, and the details of these references can be found in the section 7 of the paper titled Underwater Robots Part I: current systems and problem pose. The mathematical notation used in this paper is defined in section 4 of the paper Underwater Robots Part I: current systems and problem pose
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