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In this letter, we formulate a novel Markov Decision Process (MDP) for safe and data-efficient learning for humanoid locomotion aided by a dynamic balancing model. In our previous studies of biped locomotion, we relied on a low-dimensional…

Motion planning and control problems are embedded and essential in almost all robotics applications. These problems are often formulated as stochastic optimal control problems and solved using dynamic programming algorithms. Unfortunately,…

When do locomotion controllers require reasoning about nonlinearities? In this work, we show that a whole-body model-predictive controller using a simple linear time-invariant approximation of the whole-body dynamics is able to execute…

Soft actuators offer compliant and safe interaction with an unstructured environment compared to their rigid counterparts. However, control of these systems is often challenging because they are inherently under-actuated, have infinite…

Robot footstep planning strategies can be divided in two main approaches: discrete searches and continuous optimizations. While discrete searches have been broadly applied, continuous optimizations approaches have been restricted for…

For safe and effective operation of humanoid robots in human-populated environments, the problem of commanding a large number of Degrees of Freedom (DoF) while simultaneously considering dynamic obstacles and human proximity has still not…

This paper aims for a controller that can stabilize a position-controlled humanoid robot when standing still or walking on synthetic grass even when subjected to external disturbances. Two types of controllers are designed and implemented:…

We present a method for solving the general mixed constrained convex quadratic programming problem using an active set method on the dual problem. The approach is similar to existing active set methods, but we present a new way of solving…

Dynamic balancing under uncertain disturbances is important for a humanoid robot, which requires a good capability of coordinating the entire body redundancy to execute multi tasks. Whole-body control (WBC) based on hierarchical…

Autonomous mobile manipulation offers a dual advantage of mobility provided by a mobile platform and dexterity afforded by the manipulator. In this paper, we present a whole-body optimal control framework to jointly solve the problems of…

The remarkable athletic intelligence displayed by humans in complex dynamic movements such as dancing and gymnastics suggests that the balance mechanism in biological beings is decoupled from specific movement patterns. This decoupling…

Simplified models are useful to increase the computational efficiency of a motion planning algorithm, but their lack of accuracy have to be managed. We propose two feasibility constraints to be included in a Single Rigid Body Dynamicsbased…

Robots usually establish contacts at rigid surfaces with near-zero relative velocities. Otherwise, impact-induced energy propagates in the robot's linkage and may cause irreversible damage to the hardware. Moreover, abrupt changes in…

For general quadratically-constrained quadratic programming (QCQP), we propose a parabolic relaxation described with convex quadratic constraints. An interesting property of the parabolic relaxation is that the original non-convex feasible…

The main contribution of this thesis is the development of a new algorithm for solving convex quadratic programs. It consists in combining the method of multipliers with an infeasible active-set method. Our approach is iterative. In each…

Stable bipedal walking is a key prerequisite for humanoid robots to reach their potential of being versatile helpers in our everyday environments. Bipedal walking is, however, a complex motion that requires the coordination of many degrees…

We introduce a robust control architecture for the whole-body motion control of torque controlled robots with arms and legs. The method is based on the robust control of contact forces in order to track a planned Center of Mass trajectory.…

In this paper, a reinforced soft robot prototype with a custom-designed actuator-space string encoder are created to investigate dynamic soft robotic trajectory tracking. The soft robot prototype embedded with the proposed adaptive…

The hybrid zero dynamics control concept for bipedal walking is extended to include a non-instantaneous double support phase. A symmetric robot that consists of five rigid body segments which are connected by four actuated revolute joints…

This paper proposes a framework designed to generate a closed-loop walking engine for a humanoid robot. In particular, the core of this framework is an abstract dynamics model which is composed of two masses that represent the lower and the…