Related papers: An Optimization Based Control Framework for Balanc…
One of the challenges for the robotics community is to deploy robots which can reliably operate in real world scenarios together with humans. A crucial requirement for legged robots is the capability to properly balance on their feet,…
When balancing, a humanoid robot can be easily subjected to unexpected disturbances like external pushes. In these circumstances, reactive movements as steps become a necessary requirement in order to avoid potentially harmful falling…
This paper presents a Non-Linear Model Predictive Controller for humanoid robot locomotion with online step adjustment capabilities. The proposed controller considers the Centroidal Dynamics of the system to compute the desired contact…
The paper presents a planner to generate walking trajectories by using the centroidal dynamics and the full kinematics of a humanoid robot. The interaction between the robot and the walking surface is modeled explicitly via new conditions,…
Forthcoming applications concerning humanoid robots may involve physical interaction between the robot and a dynamic environment. In such scenario, classical balancing and walking controllers that neglect the environment dynamics may not be…
We present a new framework for prioritized multi-task motion-force control of fully-actuated robots. This work is established on a careful review and comparison of the state of the art. Some control frameworks are not optimal, that is they…
We present an integrated approach to locomotion and balancing of humanoid robots based on direct centroidal control. Our method uses a five-mass description of a humanoid. It generates whole-body motions from desired foot trajectories and…
The humanoid robot iCub is a research platform of the Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), spread among different institutes around the world. In the most recent version of iCub, the robot is equipped with stronger legs and…
The current state-of-the-art gradient-based optimisation frameworks are able to produce impressive dynamic manoeuvres such as linear and rotational jumps. However, these methods, which optimise over the full rigid-body dynamics of the…
This paper proposes a technique for automatic gain tuning of a momentum based balancing controller for humanoid robots. The controller ensures the stabilization of the centroidal dynamics and the associated zero dynamics. Then, the…
Jumping can be an effective way of locomotion to overcome small terrain gaps or obstacles. In this paper we propose two different approaches to perform jumps with a humanoid robot. Specifically, starting from a pre-defined CoM trajectory we…
Torque control algorithms which consider robot dynamics and contact constraints are important for creating dynamic behaviors for humanoids. As computational power increases, algorithms tend to also increase in complexity. However, it is not…
When a big and heavy robot moves, it exerts large forces on the environment and on its own structure, its angular momentum can varysubstantially, and even the robot's structure can deform if there is a mechanical weakness. Under these…
Balancing and reacting to strong and unexpected pushes is a critical requirement for humanoid robots. We recently designed a capture point based approach which interfaces with a momentum-based torque controller and we implemented and…
A common approach to the generation of walking patterns for humanoid robots consists in adopting a layered control architecture. This paper proposes an architecture composed of three nested control loops. The outer loop exploits a robot…
Step adjustment can improve the gait robustness of biped robots, however the adaptation of step timing is often neglected as it gives rise to non-convex problems when optimized over several footsteps. In this paper, we argue that it is not…
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.…
The paper takes the first step towards the de- velopment of a control framework for underactuated flying humanoid robots. These robots may thus have the capacities of flight, contact locomotion, and manipulation, and benefit from…
While humans are highly capable of recovering from external disturbances and uncertainties that result in large tracking errors, humanoid robots have yet to reliably mimic this level of robustness. Essential to this is the ability to…
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…