1,036 research outputs found
Trajectory generation for multi-contact momentum-control
Simplified models of the dynamics such as the linear inverted pendulum model
(LIPM) have proven to perform well for biped walking on flat ground. However,
for more complex tasks the assumptions of these models can become limiting. For
example, the LIPM does not allow for the control of contact forces
independently, is limited to co-planar contacts and assumes that the angular
momentum is zero. In this paper, we propose to use the full momentum equations
of a humanoid robot in a trajectory optimization framework to plan its center
of mass, linear and angular momentum trajectories. The model also allows for
planning desired contact forces for each end-effector in arbitrary contact
locations. We extend our previous results on LQR design for momentum control by
computing the (linearized) optimal momentum feedback law in a receding horizon
fashion. The resulting desired momentum and the associated feedback law are
then used in a hierarchical whole body control approach. Simulation experiments
show that the approach is computationally fast and is able to generate plans
for locomotion on complex terrains while demonstrating good tracking
performance for the full humanoid control
Torque-Controlled Stepping-Strategy Push Recovery: Design and Implementation on the iCub Humanoid Robot
One of the challenges for the robotics community is to deploy robots which
can reliably operate in real world scenarios together with humans. A crucial
requirement for legged robots is the capability to properly balance on their
feet, rejecting external disturbances. iCub is a state-of-the-art humanoid
robot which has only recently started to balance on its feet. While the current
balancing controller has proved successful in various scenarios, it still
misses the capability to properly react to strong pushes by taking steps. This
paper goes in this direction. It proposes and implements a control strategy
based on the Capture Point concept [1]. Instead of relying on position control,
like most of Capture Point related approaches, the proposed strategy generates
references for the momentum-based torque controller already implemented on the
iCub, thus extending its capabilities to react to external disturbances, while
retaining the advantages of torque control when interacting with the
environment. Experiments in the Gazebo simulator and on the iCub humanoid robot
validate the proposed strategy
Fast Damage Recovery in Robotics with the T-Resilience Algorithm
Damage recovery is critical for autonomous robots that need to operate for a
long time without assistance. Most current methods are complex and costly
because they require anticipating each potential damage in order to have a
contingency plan ready. As an alternative, we introduce the T-resilience
algorithm, a new algorithm that allows robots to quickly and autonomously
discover compensatory behaviors in unanticipated situations. This algorithm
equips the robot with a self-model and discovers new behaviors by learning to
avoid those that perform differently in the self-model and in reality. Our
algorithm thus does not identify the damaged parts but it implicitly searches
for efficient behaviors that do not use them. We evaluate the T-Resilience
algorithm on a hexapod robot that needs to adapt to leg removal, broken legs
and motor failures; we compare it to stochastic local search, policy gradient
and the self-modeling algorithm proposed by Bongard et al. The behavior of the
robot is assessed on-board thanks to a RGB-D sensor and a SLAM algorithm. Using
only 25 tests on the robot and an overall running time of 20 minutes,
T-Resilience consistently leads to substantially better results than the other
approaches
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