8 accepted papers
Humanoid robots possess the ability to perform complex tasks in challenging environments. However, they require a model of the surroundings in a representation that is sufficient enough for downstream tasks such as footstep planning. The maps generated by existing mapping algorithms are either spars…
For humans, fast, efficient walking over flat ground represents the vast majority of locomotion that an individual experiences on a daily basis, and for an effective, real-world humanoid robot the same will likely be the case. In this work, we propose a locomotion controller for efficient walking ov…
The ability to accomplish manipulation and locomotion tasks in the presence of significant time-varying external loads is a remarkable skill of humans that has yet to be replicated convincingly by humanoid robots. Such an ability will be a key requirement in the environments we envision deploying ou…
Complex multibody legged robots can have complex rotational control challenges. In this paper, we propose a concise way to understand and formulate a whole-body orientation that (i) depends on system configuration only and not a history of motion, (ii) can be representative of the orientation of the…
For achieving significant levels of autonomy, legged robot behaviors require perceptual awareness of both the terrain for traversal, as well as structures and objects in their surroundings for planning, obstacle avoidance, and high-level decision making. In this work, we present a perception engine…
Legged robots require fast and accurate representation of their surrounding terrain to achieve behaviors such as running, push recovery, continuous walking, backflips, while also utilizing on-board computational resources efficiently. The desired tasks can be achieved efficiently by representing the…
Obtaining highly dynamic motions in robots is a difficult task. In recent years, sophistication in mechanical design, improved algorithms, and high computational power allows new robots to perform natural gaits and dynamic motions such as backflips. Offline optimization is often necessary to obtain…
Awareness of the environment is essential for mobile robots. Perception for legged robots requires high levels of reliability and accuracy in order to walk stably in the types of complex, cluttered environments we are interested in. In this paper, we present a usable environmental perception algorit…