Related papers: Contact-Implicit Trajectory Optimization with Hydr…
A significant barrier preventing model-based methods from achieving real-time and versatile dexterous robotic manipulation is the inherent complexity of multi-contact dynamics. Traditionally formulated as complementarity models,…
We demonstrate the surprising real-world effectiveness of a very simple approach to whole-body model-predictive control (MPC) of quadruped and humanoid robots: the iterative LQR (iLQR) algorithm with MuJoCo dynamics and finite-difference…
Humanoid robots rely on multi-contact planners to navigate a diverse set of environments, including those that are unstructured and highly constrained. To synthesize stable multi-contact plans within a reasonable time frame, most planners…
Human-robot collaboration (HRC) requires robots to adapt their motions to human intent to ensure safe and efficient cooperation in shared spaces. Although large language models (LLMs) provide high-level reasoning for inferring human intent,…
Safety guarantees in motion planning for autonomous driving typically involve certifying the trajectory to be collision-free under any motion of the uncontrollable participants in the environment, such as the human-driven vehicles on the…
Intrinsically elastic robots surpass their rigid counterparts in a range of different characteristics. By temporarily storing potential energy and subsequently converting it to kinetic energy, elastic robots are capable of highly dynamic…
Object manipulation has been extensively studied in the context of fixed base and mobile manipulators. However, the overactuated locomotion modality employed by snake robots allows for a unique blend of object manipulation through…
Contact-rich manipulation is challenging due to dynamically-changing physical constraints by the contact mode changes undergone during manipulation. This paper proposes a versatile local planning and control framework for contact-rich…
Contact-implicit trajectory optimization (CITO) has attracted growing attention as a unified framework for planning and control in contact-rich robotic tasks. Recent approaches have demonstrated promising results in manipulation and…
Accurate frictional contact is critical in simulating the assembly of rod-like structures in the practical world, such as knots, hairs, flagella, and more. Due to their high geometric nonlinearity and elasticity, rod-on-rod contact remains…
This paper presents a trajectory generation method for contact-constrained robotic systems such as manipulators and legged robots. Contact-constrained systems are affected by the interaction forces between the robot and the environment. In…
Practical use of robotic manipulators made from soft materials requires generating and executing complex motions. We present the first approach for generating trajectories of a thermally-actuated soft robotic manipulator. Based on…
Object manipulation has been extensively studied in the context of fixed base and mobile manipulators. However, the overactuated locomotion modality employed by snake robots allows for a unique blend of object manipulation through…
This paper proposes a novel, more computationally efficient method for optimizing robot excitation trajectories for dynamic parameter identification, emphasizing self-collision avoidance. This addresses the system identification challenges…
Autonomous terrain traversal of articulated tracked robots can reduce operator cognitive load to enhance task efficiency and facilitate extensive deployment. We present a novel hybrid trajectory optimization method aimed at generating…
To achieve general-purpose dexterous manipulation, robots must rapidly devise and execute contact-rich behaviors. Existing model-based controllers are incapable of globally optimizing in real-time over the exponential number of possible…
Optimal control approaches in combination with trajectory optimization have recently proven to be a promising control strategy for legged robots. Computationally efficient and robust algorithms were derived using simplified models of the…
This paper addresses the problem of computing optimal impedance schedules for legged locomotion tasks involving complex contact interactions. We formulate the problem of impedance regulation as a trade-off between disturbance rejection and…
Precise and high-fidelity force control is critical for new generations of robots that interact with humans and unknown environments. Mobile robots, such as wearable devices and legged robots, must also be lightweight to accomplish their…
This manuscript presents a model of compliant contacts for time-critical humanoid robot motion control. The proposed model considers the environment as a continuum of spring-damper systems, which allows us to compute the equivalent contact…