Related papers: Central Pattern Generators for the control of robo…

In order for a humanoid robot to perform loco-manipulation such as moving an object while walking, it is necessary to account for sustained or alternating external forces other than ground-feet reaction, resulting from humanoid-object…

This paper presents a method for reproducing a simple central pattern generator (CPG) using a modified Echo State Network (ESN). Conventionally, the dynamical reservoir needs to be damped to stabilize and preserve memory. However, we find…

Available possibilities to prevent a biped robot from falling down in the presence of severe disturbances are mainly Center of Pressure (CoP) modulation, step location and timing adjustment, and angular momentum regulation. In this paper,…

We present a general approach for controlling robotic systems that make and break contact with their environments. Contact-implicit model predictive control (CI-MPC) generalizes linear MPC to contact-rich settings by utilizing a bi-level…

Neural circuits in the brain perform a variety of essential functions, including input classification, pattern completion, and the generation of rhythms and oscillations that support processes such as breathing and locomotion. There is also…

We propose an architecture for learning complex controllable behaviors by having simple Policies Modulate Trajectory Generators (PMTG), a powerful combination that can provide both memory and prior knowledge to the controller. The result is…

Robot design is a nontrivial process that involves careful consideration of multiple criteria, including user specifications, kinematic structures, and visual appearance. Therefore, the design process often relies heavily on domain…

Locomotion is a prime example for adaptive behavior in animals and biological control principles have inspired control architectures for legged robots. While machine learning has been successfully applied to many tasks in recent years, Deep…

Bio-engineered robots are under rapid development due to their maneuver ability through uneven surfaces. This advancement paves the way for experimenting with versatile electrical system developments with various motors. In this research…

This paper proposes a novel control framework for agile and robust bipedal locomotion, addressing model discrepancies between full-body and reduced-order models. Specifically, assumptions such as constant centroidal inertia have introduced…

Character animation in real-world scenarios necessitates a variety of constraints, such as trajectories, key-frames, interactions, etc. Existing methodologies typically treat single or a finite set of these constraint(s) as separate control…

While social robots are developed to provide assistance to users through social interactions, their behaviors are dominantly pre-programmed and remote-controlled. Despite the numerous robot control architectures being developed, very few…

Over the last years, significant advances have been made in robotic manipulation, but still, the handling of non-rigid objects, such as cloth garments, is an open problem. Physical interaction with non-rigid objects is uncertain and complex…

We describe the use of quasiperiodic oscillators for computation and control of robots. We also describe their relationship to central pattern generators in simple organisms and develop a group theory for describing the dynamics of these…

Robots operating in human environments need various skills, like slow and fast walking, turning, side-stepping, and many more. However, building robot controllers that can exhibit such a large range of behaviors is a challenging problem…

Stick insect stepping patterns have been studied for insights about locomotor rhythm generation and control, because the underlying neural system is relatively accessible experimentally and produces a variety of rhythmic outputs. Harnessing…

The main question this paper addresses is: What combination of a robot controller and a learning method should be used, if the morphology of the learning robot is not known in advance? Our interest is rooted in the context of…

Legged robots have significant potential to operate in highly unstructured environments. The design of locomotion control is, however, still challenging. Currently, controllers must be either manually designed for specific robots and tasks,…

A robotic system can be viewed as a collection of lower-dimensional systems that are coupled via reaction forces (Lagrange multipliers) enforcing holonomic constraints. Inspired by this viewpoint, this paper presents a novel formulation for…

We analyze the dynamics of the neural circuit of the lamprey central pattern generator (CPG). This analysis provides insights into how neural interactions form oscillators and enable spontaneous oscillations in a network of damped…