Related papers: Quadrupeds for Planetary Exploration: Field Testin…
One of the fundamental limiting factors in planetary exploration is the autonomous capabilities of planetary exploration rovers. This study proposes a novel methodology for trustworthy autonomous multi-robot teams which incorporates data…
Terrestrial-aerial bimodal vehicles, which integrate the high mobility of aerial robots with the long endurance of ground robots, offer significant potential for autonomous exploration. Given the inherent energy and time constraints in…
Legged robots are increasingly entering new domains and applications, including search and rescue, inspection, and logistics. However, for such systems to be valuable in real-world scenarios, they must be able to autonomously and robustly…
Jumping constitutes an essential component of quadruped robots' locomotion capabilities, which includes dynamic take-off and adaptive landing. Existing quadrupedal jumping studies mainly focused on the stance and flight phase by assuming a…
Perceiving the surrounding environment is crucial for autonomous mobile robots. An elevation map provides a memory-efficient and simple yet powerful geometric representation for ground robots. The robots can use this information for…
Quadrupedal robots are increasingly deployed for load-carrying tasks across diverse terrains. While Model Predictive Control (MPC)-based methods can account for payload variations, they often depend on predefined gait schedules or…
Quadruped robots manifest great potential to traverse rough terrains with payload. Numerous traditional control methods for legged dynamic locomotion are model-based and exhibit high sensitivity to model uncertainties and payload…
Exploring and traversing extreme terrain with surface robots is difficult, but highly desirable for many applications, including exploration of planetary surfaces, search and rescue, among others. For these applications, to ensure the robot…
Due to the highly complex environment present during the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, all six funded teams relied on legged robots as part of their robotic team. Their unique locomotion skills of being able to step over obstacles require…
Autonomous docking between Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and ground robots is essential for heterogeneous systems, yet most existing approaches target wheeled platforms whose limited mobility constrains exploration in complex terrains.…
Landing is a challenging part of autonomous drone flight and a great research opportunity. This PhD proposes to improve on fiducial autonomous landing algorithms by making them more flexible. Further, it leverages its location, Iceland, to…
Continuous robot operation in extreme scenarios such as underground mines or sewers is difficult because exteroceptive sensors may fail due to fog, darkness, dirt or malfunction. So as to enable autonomous navigation in these kinds of…
Multi-legged elongate robots hold promise for maneuvering through complex environments. Prior work has demonstrated that reliable locomotion can be achieved using open-loop body undulation and foot placement on rugose terrain. However,…
Animals have evolved various agile locomotion strategies, such as sprinting, leaping, and jumping. There is a growing interest in developing legged robots that move like their biological counterparts and show various agile skills to…
Hybrid track/wheel-legged robots combine the advantages of wheel-based and leg-based locomotion, granting adaptability across varied terrains through efficient transitions between rolling and walking modes. However, automating these…
The aim of this work is to enable quadrupedal robots to mount skateboards using Reverse Curriculum Reinforcement Learning. Although prior work has demonstrated skateboarding for quadrupeds that are already positioned on the board, the…
In nature, legged animals have developed the ability to adapt to challenging terrains through perception, allowing them to plan safe body and foot trajectories in advance, which leads to safe and energy-efficient locomotion. Inspired by…
Legged robots are physically capable of navigating a diverse variety of environments and overcoming a wide range of obstructions. For example, in a search and rescue mission, a legged robot could climb over debris, crawl through gaps, and…
In this paper, we present a complete description of the hardware design and control architecture of our custom built quadruped robot, called the `Stoch'. Our goal is to realize a robust, modular, and a reliable quadrupedal platform, using…
Recent advancements in legged robot locomotion have facilitated traversal over increasingly complex terrains. Despite this progress, many existing approaches rely on end-to-end deep reinforcement learning (DRL), which poses limitations in…