8 accepted papers
This paper introduces a framework for interactive navigation through adaptive non-prehensile mobile manipulation. A key challenge in this process is to manipulate objects with unknown dynamics, which are difficult to infer from visual observation. To address this, we propose an adaptive dynamics mod
In this work, we introduce a framework that enables highly maneuverable locomotion using non-periodic contacts. This task is challenging for traditional optimization and planning methods to handle due to difficulties in specifying contact mode sequences in real-time. To address this, we use a bi-lev
In this work, we present a control framework to effectively maneuver wheelchairs with a dynamically stable mobile manipulator. Wheelchairs are a type of nonholonomic cart system, maneuvering such systems with mobile manipulators (MM) is challenging mostly due to the following reasons: 1) These syste…
In this paper, we present a planning and control framework for dynamic, whole-body motions for dynamically stable shape-accelerating mobile manipulators. This class of robots are inherently unstable and require careful coordination between the upper and lower body to maintain balance while performin…
This work presents a new human-centered method for indoor service robots to provide people with physical assistance and active guidance while traveling through congested and narrow spaces. As most previous work is robotcentered, this paper develops an end-to-end framework which includes a feedback p…
The ballbot is a human sized, dynamically stable mobile robot that balances on a single, spherical wheel. The current framework for navigation and control makes the assumption that the robot is operating on a level surface without any center-of-mass offset; however, in practice, such a dynamically s…
This work presents a method for assisting people in getting out of chairs with a dynamically stable mobile robot. A user study is described in which force profiles and joint trajectories were recorded for a human-human sit-to-stand experiment. These data were used to develop an impedance-based contr…
This paper describes the design, construction, and operation of a closed-loop spherical induction motor (SIM) ball wheel for a balancing mobile robot (ballbot). Following earlier work, this new design has a smaller rotor and higher torques due to the use of six stators in a skewed layout. Actuation…