Related papers: Wallbounce : Push wall to navigate with Contact-Im…
Locomotion is a fundamental skill for humanoid robots. However, most existing works make locomotion a single, tedious, unextendable, and unconstrained movement. This limits the kinematic capabilities of humanoid robots. In contrast, humans…
In the context of mobile navigation in unstructured environments, the predominant approach entails the avoidance of obstacles. The prevailing path planning algorithms are contingent upon deviating from the intended path for an indefinite…
Caves and lava tubes on the Moon and Mars are sites of geological and astrobiological interest but consist of terrain that is inaccessible with traditional robot locomotion. To support the exploration of these sites, we present ReachBot, a…
Achieving robust legged locomotion on complex terrains poses challenges due to the high uncertainty in robot-environment interactions. Recent advances in bipedal and quadrupedal robots demonstrate good mobility on rugged terrains but rely…
In this work, we present a control framework to effectively maneuver wheelchairs with a dynamically stable mobile manipulator. Wheelchairs are a type of nonholonomic cart system, maneuvering such systems with mobile manipulators (MM) is…
Balancing and push-recovery are essential capabilities enabling humanoid robots to solve complex locomotion tasks. In this context, classical control systems tend to be based on simplified physical models and hard-coded strategies. Although…
Multi-robot control in cluttered environments is a challenging problem that involves complex physical constraints, including robot-robot collisions, robot-obstacle collisions, and unreachable motions. Successful planning in such settings…
Robust motion planning is a well-studied problem in the robotics literature, yet current algorithms struggle to operate scalably and safely in the presence of other moving agents, such as humans. This paper introduces a novel framework for…
We present a principled method for motion prediction via dynamic simulation for rigid bodies in intermittent contact with each other where the contact region is a planar non-convex contact patch. Such methods are useful in planning and…
Intentionally applying impacts while maintaining balance is challenging for legged robots. This study originated from observing experimental data of the humanoid robot HRP-4 intentionally hitting a wall with its right arm while standing on…
We propose a novel hands-free control framework for the Boston Dynamics Spot robot using the Microsoft HoloLens 2 mixed-reality headset. Enabling accessible robot control is critical for allowing individuals with physical disabilities to…
Consider the problem of planning collision-free motion of $n$ objects in the plane movable through contact with a robot that can autonomously translate in the plane and that can move a maximum of $m \leq n$ objects simultaneously. This…
We present a principled method for motion prediction via dynamic simulation for rigid bodies in intermittent contact with each other where the contact is assumed to be a planar non-convex contact patch. The planar non-convex contact patch…
A key challenge in contact-rich dexterous manipulation is the need to jointly reason over geometry, kinematic constraints, and intricate, nonsmooth contact dynamics. End-to-end visuomotor policies bypass this structure, but often require…
As robots move from the laboratory into the real world, motion planning will need to account for model uncertainty and risk. For robot motions involving intermittent contact, planning for uncertainty in contact is especially important, as…
This paper discusses developments for a multi-limb morphogenetic UAV, MorphoGear, that is capable of both aerial flight and ground locomotion. A hybrid path planning algorithm based on the A* strategy has been developed, enabling seamless…
This paper presents a contact-implicit model predictive control (MPC) framework for the real-time discovery of multi-contact motions, without predefined contact mode sequences or foothold positions. This approach utilizes the…
This paper presents a physical interface for collaborative mobile manipulators in industrial manufacturing and logistics applications. The proposed work builds on our earlier MOCA-MAN interface, through which an operator could be physically…
Navigating large and complex indoor environments, such as universities, airports, and hospitals, can be cognitively demanding and requires attention and effort. While mobile applications provide convenient navigation support, they occupy…
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…