Imitating human motion using humanoid upper body models

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis investigates human motion imitation of five different humanoid upper bodies (comprised of the torso and upper limbs) using human dance motion as a case study. The humanoid models are based on five existing humanoids, namely, ARMAR, HRP-2, SURALP, WABIAN-2, and WE-4RII. These humanoids are chosen for their different structures and range of joint motion

Characteristics and Performance of CAUTO (CAssino hUmanoid TOrso) Prototype

An artificial torso is a fundamental part of a humanoid robot for imitating human actions. In this paper, a prototype of CAUTO (CAssino hUmanoid TOrso) is presented. Its design is characterized by artificial vertebras actuated by cable-driven parallel manipulators. The design was conceived by looking at the complex system and functioning of the human torso, in order to develop a solution for basic human-like behavior. The requirements and kinematic structure are introduced to explain the peculiarities of the proposed mechanical design. A prototype is presented, and built with low-cost and high-performance features. Tests results are reported to show the feasibility and the characteristics in replicating human torso motions. In addition, the power consumption has been measured during the tests to prove the efficiency of the Li-Po battery supply, employed for a fully portable solution of the designed torso

Integrated Design of a Telerobotic Workstation

The experiments described in this paper are part of a larger joint MIT/NASA research effort that focuses on the development of a methodology for designing and evaluating integrated interfaces for highly dexterous and multi-functional telerobots. Specifically, a telerobotic workstation is being designed for an Extravehicular Activity (EVA) anthropomorphic space station telerobot. Previous researchers have designed telerobotic workstations based upon performance of discrete subsets of tasks (for example, peg-in-hole, tracking, etc.) without regard for transitions that operators go through between tasks performed sequentially in the context of larger integrated tasks. The exploratory research experiments presented here took an integrated approach and assessed how subjects operating a full-immersion telerobot perform during the transitions between sub-tasks of two common EVA tasks. Preliminary results show that up to 30% of total task time is spent gaining and maintaining Situation Awareness (SA) of their task space and environment during transitions. Although task performance improves over the two trial days, the percentage of time spent on SA remains the same. This method identifies areas where workstation displays and feedback mechanisms are most needed to increase operator performance and decrease operator workload - areas that previous research methods have not been able to address

Gait-Behavior Optimization Considering Arm Swing and Toe Mechanisms for Biped Robot on Rough Road

芝浦工業大学2019年

Exploring robust, intuitive and emergent physical human-robot interaction with the humanoid Acroban

International audienceWe present how a humanoid robot, called Acroban, allows whole-body robust, natural and intuitive physical interac- tion with both adults and children. These physical human-robot interaction are made possible through the combination of several properties of Acroban: 1) it is whole-body compliant thanks to variable impedance control and also thanks to the use of elastics and springs; 2) it has a bio-inspired vertebral column allowing more flexibility in postural and equilibrium control; 3) it is light- weight; 4) it has simple low-level controllers that leverage the first three properties. Moreover, the capabilities for physical human- robot interaction that we show are not using a model of the human, and in this sense are "model free": 1) the capability of the robot to keep its equilibrium while being manipulated or pushed by humans is a result of the intrinsic capability of the whole body to absorb unpredicted external perturbations; 2) the capability of leading Acroban by the hand is an emergent human-robot interface made possible by the self-organizing properties of the body and its low-level controllers and was observed a posteriori only after the robot was conceived and without any initial plan to make this possible. Finally, an originality of Acroban is that is is made with relatively low-cost components which lack of precision is counterbalanced with the robustness due to global geometry and compliance

Evaluating alternative gait strategies using evolutionary robotics

Evolutionary robitics is a branch of artificial intelligence concerned with the automatic generation of autonomous robots. Usually the form of the robit is predefined an various computational techniques are used to control the machine's behaviour. One aspect is the spontaneous generation of walking in legged robots and this can be used to investigate the mechanical requiements for efficient walking in bipeds. This paper demonstrates a bipedal simulator that spontaneously generates walking and running gaits. The model can be customized to represent a range of hominoid morphologies and used to predict performance paramets such as preferred speed and metabolic energy cost. Because it does not require any motion capture data it is particularly suitable for investigating locomotion in fossil animals. The predictoins for modern humans are highly accurate in terms of energy cost for a given speend and thus the values predicted for other bipeds are likely to be good estimates. To illustrate this the cost of transport is calculated for Australopithecus afarensis. The model allows the degree of maximum extension at the knee to be varied causing the model to adopt walking gaits varying from chimpanzee-like to human=like. The energy costs associated with these gait choices can thus be calculated and this information used to evaluate possible locomotor strategies in early hominid