Related papers: Task-Independent Spiking Central Pattern Generator…
Performing highly agile dynamic motions, such as jumping or running on uneven stepping stones has remained a challenging problem in legged robot locomotion. This paper presents a framework that combines trajectory optimization and model…
Intelligent control of soft robots is challenging due to the nonlinear and difficult-to-model dynamics. One promising model-free approach for soft robot control is reinforcement learning (RL). However, model-free RL methods tend to be…
For energy-efficient computation in specialized neuromorphic hardware, we present spiking neural coding, an instantiation of a family of artificial neural models grounded in the theory of predictive coding. This model, the first of its…
Synthetic active collectives, composed of many nonliving individuals capable of cooperative changes in group shape and dynamics, hold promise for practical applications and for the elucidation of guiding principles of natural collectives.…
In trying to build humanoid robots that perform useful tasks in a world built for humans, we address the problem of autonomous locomotion. Humanoid robot planning and control algorithms for walking over rough terrain are becoming…
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…
Robotic vision introduces requirements for real-time processing of fast-varying, noisy information in a continuously changing environment. In a real-world environment, convenient assumptions, such as static camera systems and deep learning…
Spiking neural network is a type of artificial neural network in which neurons communicate between each other with spikes. Spikes are identical Boolean events characterized by the time of their arrival. A spiking neuron has internal…
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…
Crawling is a common locomotion mechanism in soft robots and nonskeletal animals. In this work we propose modeling soft-robotic legged locomotion by approximating it with an equivalent articulated robot with elastic joints. For concreteness…
One of the most interesting and still growing scientific fields is neuromorphic engineering, which is focused on studying and designing hardware and software with the purpose of mimicking the basic principles of biological nervous systems.…
We propose a model of an adaptive network of spiking neurons that gives rise to a hypernetwork of its dynamic states at the upper level of description. Left to itself, the network exhibits a sequence of transient clustering which relates to…
Legged robots must exhibit robust and agile locomotion across diverse, unstructured terrains, a challenge exacerbated under blind locomotion settings where terrain information is unavailable. This work introduces a hierarchical…
This work presents an extended framework for learning-based bipedal locomotion that incorporates a heuristic step-planning strategy guided by desired torso velocity tracking. The framework enables precise interaction between a humanoid…
The process of robot design is a complex task and the majority of design decisions are still based on human intuition or tedious manual tuning. A more informed way of facing this task is computational design methods where design parameters…
As both legged robots and embedded compute have become more capable, researchers have started to focus on field deployment of these robots. Robust autonomy in unstructured environments requires perception of the world around the robot in…
Despite the extensive presence of the legged locomotion in animals, it is extremely challenging to be reproduced with robots. Legged locomotion is an dynamic task which benefits from a planning that takes advantage of the gravitational pull…
Spikes are the currency in central nervous systems for information transmission and processing. They are also believed to play an essential role in low-power consumption of the biological systems, whose efficiency attracts increasing…
Recent advances in data-driven reinforcement learning and motion tracking have substantially improved humanoid locomotion, yet critical practical challenges remain. In particular, while low-level motion tracking and trajectory-following…
The adaptive fitness of an organism in its ecological niche is highly reliant upon its ability to associate an environmental or internal stimulus with a behavior response through reinforcement. This simple but powerful observation has been…