Related papers: Evolving Robots on Easy Mode: Towards a Variable C…
In this work, we demonstrate robust walking in the bipedal robot Digit on uneven terrains by just learning a single linear policy. In particular, we propose a new control pipeline, wherein the high-level trajectory modulator shapes the…
Quadruped animals seamlessly transition between gaits as they change locomotion speeds. While the most widely accepted explanation for gait transitions is energy efficiency, there is no clear consensus on the determining factor, nor on the…
The field of robotics has made significant advances towards generalist robot manipulation policies. However, real-world evaluation of such policies is not scalable and faces reproducibility challenges, which are likely to worsen as policies…
Although robotic manipulators are used in an ever-growing range of applications, robot manufacturers typically follow a ``one-fits-all'' philosophy, employing identical manipulators in various settings. This often leads to suboptimal…
In the real world, robots with embodiment face various issues such as dynamic continuous changes of the environment and input/output disturbances. The key to solving these issues can be found in daily life; people `do actions associated…
Many experiments have been performed that use evolutionary algorithms for learning the topology and connection weights of a neural network that controls a robot or virtual agent. These experiments are not only performed to better understand…
Adaptive morphogenetic robots adapt their morphology and control policies to meet changing tasks and environmental conditions. Many such systems leverage soft components, which enable shape morphing but also introduce simulation and control…
We investigate the problem of transferring an expert policy from a source robot to multiple different robots. To solve this problem, we propose a method named $Meta$-$Evolve$ that uses continuous robot evolution to efficiently transfer the…
Safe path and gait planning are essential for bipedal robots to navigate complex real-world environments. The prevailing approaches often plan the path and gait separately in a hierarchical fashion, potentially resulting in unsafe movements…
Personalised rehabilitation can be key to promoting gait independence and quality of life. Robots can enhance therapy by systematically delivering support in gait training, but often use one-size-fits-all control methods, which can be…
With the research into development of quadruped robots picking up pace, learning based techniques are being explored for developing locomotion controllers for such robots. A key problem is to generate leg trajectories for continuously…
Robotics would gain by replicating the remarkable agility of arthropods in navigating complex environments. Here we consider the control of multi-legged systems which have 6 or more legs. Current multi-legged control strategies in robots…
Dynamic maneuvers for legged robots present a difficult challenge due to the complex dynamics and contact constraints. This paper introduces a versatile trajectory optimization framework for continuous-time multi-phase problems. We…
Modularity in robotics holds great potential. In principle, modular robots can be disassembled and reassembled in different robots, and possibly perform new tasks. Nevertheless, actually exploiting modularity is yet an unsolved problem:…
Autonomous space vehicles need adaptive control strategies that can accommodate unanticipated environmental conditions. The evaluation of new strategies can often be done only by actually trying them out in the real physical environment.…
Conventional robot programming methods are complex and time-consuming for users. In recent years, alternative approaches such as mixed reality have been explored to address these challenges and optimize robot programming. While the findings…
We introduce a method that permits to co-evolve the body and the control properties of robots. It can be used to adapt the morphological traits of robots with a hand-designed morphological bauplan or to evolve the morphological bauplan as…
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…
Despite the progress in legged robotic locomotion, autonomous navigation in unknown environments remains an open problem. Ideally, the navigation system utilizes the full potential of the robots' locomotion capabilities while operating…
A distinctive feature of quadrupeds that is integral to their locomotion is the tail. Tails serve many purposes in biological systems including propulsion, counterbalance, and stabilization while walking, running, climbing, or jumping.…