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Wang R, Xiao H, Quan X, Gao J, Fukuda T, Shi Q. Bioinspired Soft Spine Enables Small-Scale Robotic Rat to Conquer Challenging Environments. Soft Robot 2024; 11:70-84. [PMID: 37477672 DOI: 10.1089/soro.2022.0220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/22/2023] Open
Abstract
For decades, it has been difficult for small-scale legged robots to conquer challenging environments. To solve this problem, we propose the introduction of a bioinspired soft spine into a small-scale legged robot. By capturing the motion mechanism of rat erector spinae muscles and vertebrae, we designed a cable-driven centrally symmetric soft spine under limited volume and integrated it into our previous robotic rat SQuRo. We called this newly updated robot SQuRo-S. Because of the coupling compliant spine bending and leg locomotion, the environmental adaptability of SQuRo-S significantly improved. We conducted a series of experiments on challenging environments to verify the performance of SQuRo-S. The results demonstrated that SQuRo-S crossed an obstacle of 1.07 body height, thereby outperforming most small-scale legged robots. Remarkably, SQuRo-S traversed a narrow space of 0.86 body width. To the best of our knowledge, SQuRo-S is the first quadruped robot of this scale that is capable of traversing a narrow space with a width smaller than its own width. Moreover, SQuRo-S demonstrated stable walking on mud-sand, pipes, and slopes (20°), and resisted strong external impact and repositioned itself in various body postures. This work provides a new paradigm for enhancing the flexibility and adaptability of small-scale legged robots with spine in challenging environments, and can be easily generalized to the design and development of legged robots with spine of different scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruochao Wang
- Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
- Intelligent Robotics Institute, School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Hang Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
- Yangtze Delta Region Academy of Beijing Institute of Technology, Jiaxing, China
| | - Xiaolong Quan
- Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
- Intelligent Robotics Institute, School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Junhui Gao
- Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
- Intelligent Robotics Institute, School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Toshio Fukuda
- Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
- Intelligent Robotics Institute, School of Mechatronical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
| | - Qing Shi
- Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China
- Yangtze Delta Region Academy of Beijing Institute of Technology, Jiaxing, China
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Ding L, Xu P, Li Z, Zhou R, Gao H, Deng Z, Liu G. Pressing and Rubbing: Physics-Informed Features Facilitate Haptic Terrain Classification for Legged Robots. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2022. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2022.3160833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Nisticò Y, Fahmi S, Pallottino L, Semini C, Fink G. On Slip Detection for Quadruped Robots. SENSORS 2022; 22:s22082967. [PMID: 35458952 PMCID: PMC9030087 DOI: 10.3390/s22082967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Legged robots are meant to autonomously navigate unstructured environments for applications like search and rescue, inspection, or maintenance. In autonomous navigation, a close relationship between locomotion and perception is crucial; the robot has to perceive the environment and detect any change in order to autonomously make decisions based on what it perceived. One main challenge in autonomous navigation for legged robots is locomotion over unstructured terrains. In particular, when the ground is slippery, common control techniques and state estimation algorithms may not be effective, because the ground is commonly assumed to be non-slippery. This paper addresses the problem of slip detection, a first fundamental step to implement appropriate control strategies and perform dynamic whole-body locomotion. We propose a slip detection approach, which is independent of the gait type and the estimation of the position and velocity of the robot in an inertial frame, that is usually prone to drift problems. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first approach of a quadruped robot slip detector that can detect more than one foot slippage at the same time, relying on the estimation of measurements expressed in a non-inertial frame. We validate the approach on the 90 kg Hydraulically actuated Quadruped robot (HyQ) from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), and we compare it against a state-of-the-art slip detection algorithm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ylenia Nisticò
- Dynamic Legged Systems (DLS) Lab, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via S. Quirico 19D, 16163 Genova, Italy; (Y.N.); (C.S.)
- Università di Pisa, Scuola di Ingegneria, Via Diotisalvi 2, 56122 Pisa, Italy;
| | - Shamel Fahmi
- Dynamic Legged Systems (DLS) Lab, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via S. Quirico 19D, 16163 Genova, Italy; (Y.N.); (C.S.)
- Biomimetic Robotics Lab, Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA;
| | - Lucia Pallottino
- Università di Pisa, Scuola di Ingegneria, Via Diotisalvi 2, 56122 Pisa, Italy;
| | - Claudio Semini
- Dynamic Legged Systems (DLS) Lab, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via S. Quirico 19D, 16163 Genova, Italy; (Y.N.); (C.S.)
| | - Geoff Fink
- Dynamic Legged Systems (DLS) Lab, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via S. Quirico 19D, 16163 Genova, Italy; (Y.N.); (C.S.)
- Thompson Rivers University, Department of Engineering, 835 University Dr., Kamloops, BC V2C 0C8, Canada
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-250-371-5553
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Roberts SF, Koditschek DE. Virtual Energy Management for Physical Energy Savings in a Legged Robot Hopping on Granular Media. Front Robot AI 2022; 8:740927. [PMID: 34993236 PMCID: PMC8724561 DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2021.740927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We discuss an active damping controller to reduce the energetic cost of a single step or jump of dynamic locomotion without changing the morphology of the robot. The active damping controller adds virtual damping to a virtual leg spring created by direct-drive motors through the robot’s leg linkage. The virtual damping added is proportional to the intrusion velocity of the robot’s foot, slowing the foot’s intrusion, and thus the rate at which energy is transferred to and dissipated by the ground. In this work, we use a combination of simulations and physical experiments in a controlled granular media bed with a single-leg robot to show that the active damping controller reduces the cost of transport compared with a naive compression-extension controller under various conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia F Roberts
- Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Daniel E Koditschek
- Electrical and Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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Sun Y, Hua Z, Li Y, Hui C, Li X, Su B. Modeling and analysis on low energy consumption foot trajectory for hydraulic actuated quadruped robot. INT J ADV ROBOT SYST 2021. [DOI: 10.1177/17298814211062006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
According to the energy consumption characteristics of hydraulic actuator, the valuable foot trajectory characterized by using segmented cubic spline interpolation curve in the swing phase is proposed firstly to reduce the energy consumption of quadruped robots, which is implemented by using controlling parameters tf to change the duration of leg raising and falling in one gait cycle, and then realized the directly control to the time ratio between the piston extension and retraction. Then, the total energy consumption of the hydraulic actuated quadruped robot SCalf-II is modeled. Meanwhile, the parameters of the foot trajectory that have a large impact on the energy consumption are determined. Finally, simulation analysis and verification experiments of the robot moving with constant speeds at the key parameters are performed. The results show that for the given foot trajectory, the optimization ranges of the gait cycle and duration of leg lifting from the lowest to highest are determined in which the energy required for the robot locomotion is at a relatively low level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaru Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Mining Response and Disaster Prevention and Control in Deep Coal Mines, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
- Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Zisen Hua
- State Key Laboratory of Mining Response and Disaster Prevention and Control in Deep Coal Mines, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
- Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Yibin Li
- School of Control Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Chai Hui
- School of Control Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Xianhua Li
- State Key Laboratory of Mining Response and Disaster Prevention and Control in Deep Coal Mines, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
- Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, China
| | - Bo Su
- China North Vehicle Research Institute, Beijing, China
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Romualdi G, Dafarra S, Pucci D. Modeling of Visco-Elastic Environments for Humanoid Robot Motion Control. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2021. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2021.3067589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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A Bio-Inspired Compliance Planning and Implementation Method for Hydraulically Actuated Quadruped Robots with Consideration of Ground Stiffness. SENSORS 2021; 21:s21082838. [PMID: 33920616 PMCID: PMC8072571 DOI: 10.3390/s21082838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
There has been a rising interest in compliant legged locomotion to improve the adaptability and energy efficiency of robots. However, few approaches can be generalized to soft ground due to the lack of consideration of the ground surface. When a robot locomotes on soft ground, the elastic robot legs and compressible ground surface are connected in series. The combined compliance of the leg and surface determines the natural dynamics of the whole system and affects the stability and efficiency of the robot. This paper proposes a bio-inspired leg compliance planning and implementation method with consideration of the ground surface. The ground stiffness is estimated based on analysis of ground reaction forces in the frequency domain, and the leg compliance is actively regulated during locomotion, adapting them to achieve harmonic oscillation. The leg compliance is planned on the condition of resonant movement which agrees with natural dynamics and facilitates rhythmicity and efficiency. The proposed method has been implemented on a hydraulic quadruped robot. The simulations and experimental results verified the effectiveness of our method.
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Nygaard TF, Martin CP, Torresen J, Glette K, Howard D. Real-world embodied AI through a morphologically adaptive quadruped robot. NAT MACH INTELL 2021. [DOI: 10.1038/s42256-021-00320-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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Reactive Balance Control for Legged Robots under Visco-Elastic Contacts. APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/app11010353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Contacts between robots and environment are often assumed to be rigid for control purposes. This assumption can lead to poor performance when contacts are soft and/or underdamped. However, the problem of balancing on soft contacts has not received much attention in the literature. This paper presents two novel approaches to control a legged robot balancing on visco-elastic contacts, and compares them to other two state-of-the-art methods. Our simulation results show that performance heavily depends on the contact stiffness and the noises/uncertainties introduced in the simulation. Briefly, the two novel controllers performed best for soft/medium contacts, whereas “inverse-dynamics control under rigid-contact assumptions” was the best one for stiff contacts. Admittance control was instead the most robust, but suffered in terms of performance. These results shed light on this challenging problem, while pointing out interesting directions for future investigation.
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Chatzinikolaidis I, You Y, Li Z. Contact-Implicit Trajectory Optimization Using an Analytically Solvable Contact Model for Locomotion on Variable Ground. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2020. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2020.3010754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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