Sensor-based Robust Whole-body Control of Highly Dynamic Legged Humanoid Robots

Sensor-based Robust Whole-body Control of Highly Dynamic Legged Humanoid Robots PDF Author: Donghyun Kim (Ph. D.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Industrial robots significantly improve the productivity of manufacturing operations performing various tasks rapidly, accurately, and repeatedly. It would be hard to imagine factories without robotic arms. At the same time, it is difficult to imagine human-centered robots maintaining infrastructure and providing care as they are not yet versatile enough. One important obstacle to the adoption of human-centered robots is their limited mobility. Legged humanoid robots represent an embodiment of a highly dexterous system which could provide human-like capabilities to boost automated services in human environments. Therefore this thesis is dedicated to investigate the sensor-based control of legged humanoids robots such that they can achieve versatile and high task performance. To tackle agility and robustness in legged humanoid robots, I have studied the dynamic whole-body motion control of these kind of robots, with special focus on dynamic locomotion in coordination with whole-body task capabilities. One of the unique aspects of this study is the enhancement of locomotion capabilities without compromising the robot's dexterity. Currently, existing locomotion techniques for legged systems are highly specialized and not adaptable to generic robotic structures with manipulation requirements. Here, we explore the robot's legged mobility without compromising its dexterity by utilizing a general-purpose whole-body controller (WBC), i.e. a control algorithm which can find a dynamically-consistent mapping from operational space tasks to joint torques. The use of a WBC is appealing due to its ability to coordinate multiple tasks for highly redundant robotic systems. As such, WBCs have been deployed recently for controlling humanoid robots. However, the use of WBCs for achieving highly dynamic sensor-based motions has been lacking, and our work addresses the technical problems of such and endeavor. Our research primarily focuses on employing WBCs for dynamic motion control of legged robots. The dynamic control of real robots requires both algorithmic developments and compre- hensive system analyses for real-time deployment, which covers a broad spectrum of components from motor-level control to high-level planners. Therefore, my studies include the algorithmic enhancement of WBCs, the development of locomotion planners, the analysis of real-time con- trollers, and the integration of state-estimators. The algorithmic theory and methods are verified in both simulation and various real systems.

Sensor-based Robust Whole-body Control of Highly Dynamic Legged Humanoid Robots

Sensor-based Robust Whole-body Control of Highly Dynamic Legged Humanoid Robots PDF Author: Donghyun Kim (Ph. D.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Industrial robots significantly improve the productivity of manufacturing operations performing various tasks rapidly, accurately, and repeatedly. It would be hard to imagine factories without robotic arms. At the same time, it is difficult to imagine human-centered robots maintaining infrastructure and providing care as they are not yet versatile enough. One important obstacle to the adoption of human-centered robots is their limited mobility. Legged humanoid robots represent an embodiment of a highly dexterous system which could provide human-like capabilities to boost automated services in human environments. Therefore this thesis is dedicated to investigate the sensor-based control of legged humanoids robots such that they can achieve versatile and high task performance. To tackle agility and robustness in legged humanoid robots, I have studied the dynamic whole-body motion control of these kind of robots, with special focus on dynamic locomotion in coordination with whole-body task capabilities. One of the unique aspects of this study is the enhancement of locomotion capabilities without compromising the robot's dexterity. Currently, existing locomotion techniques for legged systems are highly specialized and not adaptable to generic robotic structures with manipulation requirements. Here, we explore the robot's legged mobility without compromising its dexterity by utilizing a general-purpose whole-body controller (WBC), i.e. a control algorithm which can find a dynamically-consistent mapping from operational space tasks to joint torques. The use of a WBC is appealing due to its ability to coordinate multiple tasks for highly redundant robotic systems. As such, WBCs have been deployed recently for controlling humanoid robots. However, the use of WBCs for achieving highly dynamic sensor-based motions has been lacking, and our work addresses the technical problems of such and endeavor. Our research primarily focuses on employing WBCs for dynamic motion control of legged robots. The dynamic control of real robots requires both algorithmic developments and compre- hensive system analyses for real-time deployment, which covers a broad spectrum of components from motor-level control to high-level planners. Therefore, my studies include the algorithmic enhancement of WBCs, the development of locomotion planners, the analysis of real-time con- trollers, and the integration of state-estimators. The algorithmic theory and methods are verified in both simulation and various real systems.

Whole-Body Control for Multi-Contact Balancing of Humanoid Robots

Whole-Body Control for Multi-Contact Balancing of Humanoid Robots PDF Author: Bernd Henze
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030872122
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
This book aims at providing algorithms for balance control of legged, torque-controlled humanoid robots. A humanoid robot normally uses the feet for locomotion. This paradigm is extended by addressing the challenge of multi-contact balancing, which allows a humanoid robot to exploit an arbitrary number of contacts for support. Using multiple contacts increases the size of the support polygon, which in turn leads to an increased robustness of the stance and to an increased kinematic workspace of the robot. Both are important features for facilitating a transition of humanoid robots from research laboratories to real-world applications, where they are confronted with multiple challenging scenarios, such as climbing stairs and ladders, traversing debris, handling heavy loads, or working in confined spaces. The distribution of forces and torques among the multiple contacts is a challenging aspect of the problem, which arises from the closed kinematic chain given by the robot and its environment.

Biologically Inspired Control of Humanoid Robot Arms

Biologically Inspired Control of Humanoid Robot Arms PDF Author: Adam Spiers
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319301608
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
This book investigates a biologically inspired method of robot arm control, developed with the objective of synthesising human-like motion dynamically, using nonlinear, robust and adaptive control techniques in practical robot systems. The control method caters to a rising interest in humanoid robots and the need for appropriate control schemes to match these systems. Unlike the classic kinematic schemes used in industrial manipulators, the dynamic approaches proposed here promote human-like motion with better exploitation of the robot’s physical structure. This also benefits human-robot interaction. The control schemes proposed in this book are inspired by a wealth of human-motion literature that indicates the drivers of motion to be dynamic, model-based and optimal. Such considerations lend themselves nicely to achievement via nonlinear control techniques without the necessity for extensive and complex biological models. The operational-space method of robot control forms the basis of many of the techniques investigated in this book. The method includes attractive features such as the decoupling of motion into task and posture components. Various developments are made in each of these elements. Simple cost functions inspired by biomechanical “effort” and “discomfort” generate realistic posture motion. Sliding-mode techniques overcome robustness shortcomings for practical implementation. Arm compliance is achieved via a method of model-free adaptive control that also deals with actuator saturation via anti-windup compensation. A neural-network-centered learning-by-observation scheme generates new task motions, based on motion-capture data recorded from human volunteers. In other parts of the book, motion capture is used to test theories of human movement. All developed controllers are applied to the reaching motion of a humanoid robot arm and are demonstrated to be practically realisable. This book is designed to be of interest to those wishing to achieve dynamics-based human-like robot-arm motion in academic research, advanced study or certain industrial environments. The book provides motivations, extensive reviews, research results and detailed explanations. It is not only suited to practising control engineers, but also applicable for general roboticists who wish to develop control systems expertise in this area.

Humanoid Robotics: A Reference

Humanoid Robotics: A Reference PDF Author: Prahlad Vadakkepat
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9789400760455
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Humanoid Robotics provides a comprehensive compilation of developments in the conceptualization, design and development of humanoid robots and related technologies. Human beings have built the environment they occupy (living spaces, instruments and vehicles) to suit two-legged systems. Building systems, especially in robotics, that are compatible with the well-established, human-based surroundings and which could naturally interact with humans is an ultimate goal for all researches and engineers. Humanoid Robots are systems (i.e. robots) which mimic human behavior. Humanoids provide a platform to study the construction of systems that behave and interact like humans. A broad range of applications ranging from daily housework to complex medical surgery, deep ocean exploration, and other potentially dangerous tasks are possible using humanoids. In addition, the study of humanoid robotics provides a platform to understand the mechanisms and offers a physical visual of how humans interact, think, and react with the surroundings and how such behaviors could be reassembled and reconstructed. Currently, the most challenging issue with bipedal humanoids is to make them balance on two legs, The purportedly simple act of finding the best balance that enables easy walking, jumping and running requires some of the most sophisticated development of robotic systems- those that will ultimately mimic fully the diversity and dexterity of human beings. Other typical human-like interactions such as complex thought and conversations on the other hand, also pose barriers for the development of humanoids because we are yet to understand fully the way in which we humans interact with our environment and consequently to replicate this in humanoids.

Compliant Whole-body Control of Humanoid Robots

Compliant Whole-body Control of Humanoid Robots PDF Author: Taizo Yoshikawa
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
A major obstacle that prevents humanoid robots from accomplishing real world tasks is their inability to physically interact with, and effectively manipulate, the most common objects generally found in human environments. Even tasks that seem simple for a human remain a significant challenge for most robots. Robots generally employ precision to perform a manipulation task. Humans, in contrast, employ compliance through tactile and force feedback to overcome their imprecision, allowing them to resolve uncertainties associated with the task. The lack of compliance and force control has been indeed a major limiting factor in the ability of robots to interact and manipulate in human environments. One of the major objectives of this research is to endow humanoid robots with whole-body compliant motion abilities. With compliance, a robot overcomes position uncertainties by moving in directions that reduce contact forces, which in turn directs it towards its goal. Whole-body framework was designed to allow the robot to compliantly interact with its environment at multiple contact points. The synthesis of compliant tasks is greatly simplified by being independent of postures and constraints, which are automatically integrated in the control hierarchy. This research focuses on the development of (I) sensor-based whole-body compliant motion primitives, (II) contact sensing and contact force control, (III) whole-body multi-contact for extended support, kneeling, crawling, leaning table, and locomotion strategy to improve support in unstructured terrains, (IV) dynamic collision-free motion planning and (V) dynamic collision-free walking path planning.

Bioinspired Legged Locomotion

Bioinspired Legged Locomotion PDF Author: Maziar Ahmad Sharbafi
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
ISBN: 0128037741
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 698

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Book Description
Bioinspired Legged Locomotion: Models, Concepts, Control and Applications explores the universe of legged robots, bringing in perspectives from engineering, biology, motion science, and medicine to provide a comprehensive overview of the field. With comprehensive coverage, each chapter brings outlines, and an abstract, introduction, new developments, and a summary. Beginning with bio-inspired locomotion concepts, the book's editors present a thorough review of current literature that is followed by a more detailed view of bouncing, swinging, and balancing, the three fundamental sub functions of locomotion. This part is closed with a presentation of conceptual models for locomotion. Next, the book explores bio-inspired body design, discussing the concepts of motion control, stability, efficiency, and robustness. The morphology of legged robots follows this discussion, including biped and quadruped designs. Finally, a section on high-level control and applications discusses neuromuscular models, closing the book with examples of applications and discussions of performance, efficiency, and robustness. At the end, the editors share their perspective on the future directions of each area, presenting state-of-the-art knowledge on the subject using a structured and consistent approach that will help researchers in both academia and industry formulate a better understanding of bioinspired legged robotic locomotion and quickly apply the concepts in research or products. Presents state-of-the-art control approaches with biological relevance Provides a thorough understanding of the principles of organization of biological locomotion Teaches the organization of complex systems based on low-dimensional motion concepts/control Acts as a guideline reference for future robots/assistive devices with legged architecture Includes a selective bibliography on the most relevant published articles

Whole-Body Impedance Control of Wheeled Humanoid Robots

Whole-Body Impedance Control of Wheeled Humanoid Robots PDF Author: Alexander Dietrich
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319405578
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Introducing mobile humanoid robots into human environments requires the systems to physically interact and execute multiple concurrent tasks. The monograph at hand presents a whole-body torque controller for dexterous and safe robotic manipulation. This control approach enables a mobile humanoid robot to simultaneously meet several control objectives with different pre-defined levels of priority, while providing the skills for compliant physical contacts with humans and the environment. After a general introduction into the topic of whole-body control, several essential reactive tasks are developed to extend the repertoire of robotic control objectives. Additionally, the classical Cartesian impedance is extended to the case of mobile robots. All of these tasks are then combined and integrated into an overall, priority-based control law. Besides the experimental validation of the approach, the formal proof of asymptotic stability for this hierarchical controller is presented. By interconnecting the whole-body controller with an artificial intelligence, the immense potential of the integrated approach for complex real-world applications is shown. Several typical household chores, such as autonomously wiping a window or sweeping the floor with a broom, are successfully performed on the mobile humanoid robot Rollin’ Justin of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The results suggest the presented controller for a large variety of fields of application such as service robotics, human-robot cooperation in industry, telepresence in medical applications, space robotics scenarios, and the operation of mobile robots in dangerous and hazardous environments.

Whole-body Trajectory Generation and Control Strategies for Multi-contact Robots

Whole-body Trajectory Generation and Control Strategies for Multi-contact Robots PDF Author: Jaemin Lee (Ph. D.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The fundamental objective of robotics is to enhance the productivity of humans while interacting in potentially unstructured environments. In this sense, Human-centered robots must be fast, stable, and robust when performing varied and complicated tasks during mission execution. Although industrial robots have seen some advancements regarding motion planning and control, they are largely limited to simple pre-defined tasks in structured environments. However, to achieve highly dynamic motions for dexterous manipulation or agile locomotion in complex robots, we need to consider the use of nonlinear dynamics, complex constraints, multiple contacts, disturbances, and uncertainties. These are fundamental requirements needed to advance the use of general purpose robots dynamically interacting in a wider variety of environments. Therefore, this thesis addresses challenges that arise from the employment of optimization techniques and sophisticated realtime algorithms for the control and deployment of realistic and practical robots in human environments. Considering the above challenges, we propose efficient trajectory generation and trajectory tracking methods as the next paradigms for whole-body control (WBC). First, we formulate a class of motion planning problems to directly obtain dynamically feasible state trajectories in multi-contact robots and the corresponding control inputs. Typically, it takes a tremendous amount of time to solve the end-to-end trajectory generation problem using large-scale standard Nonlinear Programming (NLP). We propose a new sampling-based method together with a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process to break down the trajectory generation problem into tractable parts. In doing so, the number of decision variables is drastically reduced. As a result, we solve the optimization problem much faster than using existing NLP techniques. In addition, we incorporate reachability analysis tools for determining whether the planned trajectories are reachable and discard unfeasible trajectories during optimization. Because simplified models are frequently utilized in locomotion studies to generate walking patterns, planned contact locations may not be feasible due to model mismatch and robot constraints. In contrast, our method enables the generation of dynamically feasible trajectories to reach planned contact location considering full-body dynamics and realistic constraints. The proposed methods are applied to contact constrained manipulation and bipedal locomotion problems to enhance capabilities of robots maneuvering in complex environments without slip or loss of balance. Second, we explore the fundamentals of WBC and use this insight to push forward the capabilities of WBC approaches. One of the problems we explore is the verification of stability of legged robots under unknown external perturbations. In such cases, the closed-loop control system controlled by WBC approaches may become unstable if external perturbations are not properly analyzed with stability verification. To verify stability, we leverage the so-called Centroidal Dynamics of legged robots and a type of WBC dubbed Whole-Body Locomotion Control (WBLC). Using a feedback-linearized state-space model, we obtain appropriate feedback gains for WBC to make our robot stable and robust under perturbations. Another challenge of WBC stems from the reliance on classical feedback control theory. Classical PD control is unsuitable for a noisy system, therefore WBC cannot be directly applied to stochastic systems. Classical WBC approaches do not consider the covariance of the terminal states as constraints which is a more efficient way to control robots with precision. We propose a new control approach, called Hierarchical Covariance Control (HCC) to enforce covariance constraints. Our proposed HCC is a stochastic version of WBC to decrease task errors when uncertainty is substantial. The last improvement I explore regarding WBC is the employment of Model Predictive Control (MPC) instead of solving an instantaneous optimization problem, which cannot guarantee global optimality. As such, we consider longer receding time horizons for MPC, thus improving the tracking performance by reducing the accumulated error norm while executing hierarchical tasks. Overall, our research focuses on the end-to-end process spanning trajectory planning to feedback control enabling the generating of multi-contact and constrained dynamic motions of complex robots operating in realistic setups. The various contributions of this thesis are in the areas of computational efficiency for whole-body trajectory generation, robustness of WBC control algorithms, and significant improvements in trajectory tracking using WBC algorithms. We verify the proposed approaches both in simulations and real experiments using various robotic systems

Increasing Perceptual Skills of Robots Through Proximal Force/Torque Sensors

Increasing Perceptual Skills of Robots Through Proximal Force/Torque Sensors PDF Author: Matteo Fumagalli
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3319011227
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 115

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Book Description
This thesis proposes an effective methodology for enhancing the perceptual capabilities and achieving interaction control of the iCub humanoid robot. The method is based on the integration of measurements from different sensors (force/torque, inertial and tactile sensors) distributed along the robot’s kinematic chain. Humanoid robots require a substantial amount of sensor information to create their own representations of the surrounding environment. Tactile perception is of primary importance for the exploration process. Also in humans, the tactile system is completely functional at birth. In humanoid robotics, the measurements of forces and torques that the robot exchanges with its surroundings are essential for safe interaction with the environment and with humans. The approach proposed in this thesis can successfully enhance the perceptual capabilities of robots by exploiting only a limited number of both localized and distributed sensors, providing a feasible and convenient solution for achieving active compliance control of humanoid robots.

Humanoid Robotics and Neuroscience

Humanoid Robotics and Neuroscience PDF Author: Gordon Cheng
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1420093673
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Humanoid robots are highly sophisticated machines equipped with human-like sensory and motor capabilities. Today we are on the verge of a new era of rapid transformations in both science and engineering-one that brings together technological advancements in a way that will accelerate both neuroscience and robotics. Humanoid Robotics and Neuroscienc