Related papers: A Reconfigured Wheel-Legged Robot for Enhanced Ste…
This paper describes a novel amphibious robot, which adopts a dual-swing-legs propulsion mechanism, proposing a new locomotion mode. The robot is called FroBot, since its structure and locomotion are similar to frogs. Our inspiration comes…
Reduced-order models (ROMs) provide a powerful means of synthesizing dynamic walking gaits on legged robots. Yet this approach lacks the formal guarantees enjoyed by methods that utilize the full-order model (FOM) for gait synthesis, e.g.,…
Most conventional wheeled robots can only move in flat environments and simply divide their planar workspaces into free spaces and obstacles. Deeming obstacles as non-traversable significantly limits wheeled robots' mobility in real-world,…
This paper addresses the challenge of terrain-adaptive dynamic locomotion in humanoid robots, a problem traditionally tackled by optimization-based methods or reinforcement learning (RL). Optimization-based methods, such as model-predictive…
Robots excel at avoiding obstacles but struggle to traverse complex 3-D terrain with cluttered large obstacles. By contrast, insects like cockroaches excel at doing so. Recent research in our lab elucidated how locomotor transitions emerge…
Multi-legged robots offer enhanced stability in complex terrains, yet autonomously learning natural and robust motions in such environments remains challenging. Drawing inspiration from animals' progressive learning patterns, from simple to…
The recent availability of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) legged robot platforms have opened up new opportunities in deploying legged systems into different scenarios. While the main advantage of legged robots is their ability to traverse…
If robots are to become ubiquitous, they will need to be able to adapt to complex and dynamic environments. Robots that can adapt their bodies while deployed might be flexible and robust enough to meet this challenge. Previous work on…
Parallel robots are capable of high-speed manipulation and have become essential tools in the industry. The proximal placement of their motors and the low weight of their end effectors make them ideal for generating highly dynamic motion.…
Operating robots precisely and at high speeds has been a long-standing goal of robotics research. Balancing these competing demands is key to enabling the seamless collaboration of robots and humans and increasing task performance. However,…
This work introduces a model-free reinforcement learning framework that enables various modes of motion (quadruped, tripod, or biped) and diverse tasks for legged robot locomotion. We employ a motion-style reward based on a relaxed…
Modern Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms promise to solve difficult motor control problems directly from raw sensory inputs. Their attraction is due in part to the fact that they can represent a general class of methods that allow to…
Biped robots usually adopt feet with a rigid structure that simplifies walking on flat grounds and yet hinders ground adaptation in unstructured environments, thus jeopardizing stability. We recently explored in the SoftFoot the idea of…
Legged robot locomotion is hindered by a mismatch between applications where legs can outperform wheels or treads, most of which feature deformable substrates, and existing tools for planning and control, most of which assume flat, rigid…
We present an open-source untethered quadrupedal soft robot platform for dynamic locomotion (e.g., high-speed running and backflipping). The robot is mostly soft (80 vol.%) while driven by four geared servo motors. The robot's soft body and…
Quadrupedal robots exhibit a wide range of viable gaits, but generating specific footfall sequences often requires laborious expert tuning of numerous variables, such as touch-down and lift-off events and holonomic constraints for each leg.…
Quadrupedal robots exhibit a wide range of viable gaits, but generating specific footfall sequences often requires laborious expert tuning of numerous variables, such as touch-down and lift-off events and holonomic constraints for each leg.…
The logistics of transporting a package from a storage facility to the consumer's front door usually employs highly specialized robots often times splitting sub-tasks up to different systems, e.g., manipulator arms to sort and wheeled…
Hybrid wheeled-legged locomotion is a navigation paradigm only recently opened up by novel robotic designs,e.g. the centaur-type humanoid CENTAURO [1] or the quadruped ANYmal [2] in its configuration featuring non-steerable wheels. The term…
Animals use limbs for both locomotion and manipulation. We aim to equip quadruped robots with similar versatility. This work introduces a system that enables quadruped robots to interact with objects using their legs, inspired by…