Development of a Full-Sized Bipedal Humanoid Robot Utilizing Spring Assisted Parallel Four-Bar Linkages With Synchronized Actuation

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeakweon Han ◽  
Dennis Hong
Keyword(s):  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Bipedal Walking ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Research Education ◽  
New Class ◽  
Vision Based Localization ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Cost

Besides the difficulties in control and gait generation, designing a full-sized (taller than 1.3m) bipedal humanoid robot that can walk with two legs is a very challenging task, mainly due to the large torque requirements at the joints combined with the need for the actuators’ size and weight to be small. Most of the handful of successful humanoid robots in this size class that exist today utilize harmonic drives for gear reduction to gain high torque in a compact package. However, this makes the cost of such a robot too high and thus puts it out of reach of most of those who want to use it for general research, education and outreach activities. Besides the cost, the heavy weight of the robot also causes difficulties in handling and raises concerns for safety. In this paper we present the design of a new class of full-sized bipedal humanoid robots that is lightweight and low cost. This is achieved by utilizing spring assisted parallel four-bar linkages with synchronized actuation in the lower body to reduce the torque requirements of the individual actuators which also enables the use of off the shelf components to further reduce the cost significantly. The resulting savings in weight not only makes the operation of the robot safer, but also allows it to forgo the expensive force/torque sensors at the ankles and achieve stable bipedal walking only using the feedback from the IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit.) CHARLI-L (Cognitive Humanoid Autonomous Robot with Learning Intelligence - Lightweight) is developed using this approach and successfully demonstrated untethered bipedal locomotion using ZMP (Zero Moment Point) based control, stable omnidirectional gaits, and carrying out tasks autonomously using vision based localization.

scholarly journals Low-Cost Interactive Humanoid Robot

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 498-501
Keyword(s):  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Operation Time ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Motor Drives ◽  
Drive Train ◽  
Dc Motor Drives ◽  
Li Ion ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Computational Platform

Humanoid robots have been on the frontier of robotic science for several decades, where human alike capabilities have been replicated into electromechanical units. Humanoid robots hold promises in the field of rescue, quarantine, hazardous conditions, radiation leakage, medical trials, etc. Building a humanoid robot is very complicated as it has to deal with locomotion, power, drive train, sensors and computing at the real time. With the development of Single board computers (SBC), the cost of computers has drastically fallen in last 2 decades. At the same time the computation power (GF/Sec) has also increased exponentially. Similarly, MEMS and sensors have also become industrially available with micro sized, robust and reliable. The power source used by robots has also advanced from dry cell to Li-Ion batteries with 5 to 8 times more energy density, resulting in higher operation time. The objective of this paper is to propose a low-cost Humanoid platform comprising a computational platform, sensors, power unit and drive train to deliver basic human alike functions like speech, visual signs, and navigation. The proposed humanoid robot uses a single board computer (SBC) capable of executing python-based AI frameworks combined with Ultrasonic sensors, Li-ion battery and DC motor drives. A top mounted touch screen is used for human machine interface (HMI). This human robotics used in a mid-size campus to guide people to their respective destination, display brief information to new users and navigate to different locations. The humanoid robot adds an aesthetical value to the campus.

scholarly journals External Force Observer for Small- and Medium-Sized Humanoid Robots

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (06) ◽  
pp. 1950030
Author(s):  
Louis Hawley ◽  
Rémy Rahem ◽  
Wael Suleiman
Keyword(s):  
External Force ◽  
Inertial Measurement Unit ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Arbitrary Point ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Force Sensing ◽  
Embedded Processor ◽  
Inertial Measurement ◽  
Margin Of Error

External force observer for humanoid robots has been widely studied in the literature. However, most of the proposed approaches generally rely on information from six-axis force/torque sensors, which the small or medium-sized humanoid robots usually do not have. As a result, those approaches cannot be applied to this category of humanoid robots, which are widely used nowadays in education or research. In this paper, we propose a Kalman filter-based observer to estimate the three components of an external force applied in any direction and at an arbitrary point of the robot’s structure. The observer is simple to implement and can easily run in real time using the embedded processor of a small or medium-sized humanoid robot such as Nao or Darwin-OP. Moreover, the observer does not require any changes to the robot’s hardware, as it only uses measurements from the available force-sensing resistors (FSR) inserted under the feet of the humanoid robot and from the robot’s inertial measurement unit (IMU). The proposed observer was extensively validated on a Nao humanoid robot in both cases of standing still or walking while an external force was applied to the robot. In the conducted experiments, the observer successfully estimated the external force within a reasonable margin of error. Moreover, the experimental data and the MATLAB and C++/ROS implementations of the proposed observer are available as an open source package. https://goo.gl/VkhejY.

New 3-DOFs Hybrid Mechanism for Ankle and Wrist of Humanoid Robot: Modeling, Simulation, and Experiments

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samer Alfayad ◽  
Fethi B. Ouezdou ◽  
Faycal Namoun
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Power Transmission ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Classical Solutions ◽  
Kinematic Modeling ◽  
New Class ◽  
Hybrid Mechanism ◽  
And Control

This paper deals with the design of a new class of hybrid mechanism dedicated to humanoid robotics application. Since the designing and control of humanoid robots are still open questions, we propose the use of a new class of mechanisms in order to face several challenges that are mainly the compactness and the high power to mass ratio. Human ankle and wrist joints can be considered more compact with the highest power capacity and the lowest weight. The very important role played by these joints during locomotion or manipulation tasks makes their design and control essential to achieve a robust full size humanoid robot. The analysis of all existing humanoid robots shows that classical solutions (serial or parallel) leading to bulky and heavy structures are usually used. To face these drawbacks and get a slender humanoid robot, a novel three degrees of freedom hybrid mechanism achieved with serial and parallel substructures with a minimal number of moving parts is proposed. This hybrid mechanism that is able to achieve pitch, yaw, and roll movements can be actuated either hydraulically or electrically. For the parallel submechanism, the power transmission is achieved, thanks to cables, which allow the alignment of actuators along the shin or the forearm main axes. Hence, the proposed solution fulfills the requirements induced by both geometrical, power transmission, and biomechanics (range of motion) constraints. All stages including kinematic modeling, mechanical design, and experimentation using the HYDROïD humanoid robot’s ankle mechanism are given in order to demonstrate the novelty and the efficiency of the proposed solution.

Honda humanoid robots development

2006 ◽  
Vol 365 (1850) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masato Hirose ◽  
Kenichi Ogawa
Keyword(s):  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Bipedal Walking ◽  
Development Work ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Legged Robot ◽  
Continuous Transition ◽  
Living Space ◽  
Straight Line ◽  
Further Development

Honda has been doing research on robotics since 1986 with a focus upon bipedal walking technology. The research started with straight and static walking of the first prototype two-legged robot. Now, the continuous transition from walking in a straight line to making a turn has been achieved with the latest humanoid robot ASIMO. ASIMO is the most advanced robot of Honda so far in the mechanism and the control system. ASIMO's configuration allows it to operate freely in the human living space. It could be of practical help to humans with its ability of five-finger arms as well as its walking function. The target of further development of ASIMO is to develop a robot to improve life in human society. Much development work will be continued both mechanically and electronically, staying true to Honda's ‘challenging spirit’.

scholarly journals A Low-Cost, Accurate, and High-Precision Fluid Dispensing System for Microscale Application

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Champak Das ◽  
Guochun Wang ◽  
Chien Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Positive Displacement ◽  
Real Time Measurement ◽  
Fluid Dispensing ◽  
Accuracy And Precision ◽  
Displacement Pump ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Similar Accuracy ◽  
The Cost

We present here the development of a low-cost, accurate, and precise fluid dispensing system. It can be used with peristaltic or any other pump to improve the flow characteristics. The dispensing system has a range of 1 to 100 µL with accuracy of ~99.5% and standard deviation at ~150 nL over the entire range. The system developed does not depend on the accuracy or precision of the driving pump; therefore, any positive displacement pump can be used to get similar accuracy and precision, which gives an opportunity to reduce the cost of the system. The dispensing system does not require periodic calibration and can also be miniaturized for microfluidic application. Although primarily designed for aqueous liquid, it can be extended for different nonconductive liquids as well with modifications. The unit is further used for near real-time measurement of lactate from microdialysate. The individual components can easily be made disposable or sterilized for use in biomedical applications.

scholarly journals UAVS ENHANCED NAVIGATION IN OUTDOOR GNSS DENIED ENVIRONMENT USING UWB AND MONOCULAR CAMERA SYSTEMS

2019 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W13 ◽  
pp. 665-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Zahran ◽  
A. Masiero ◽  
M. M. Mostafa ◽  
A. M. Moussa ◽  
A. Vettore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Navigation System ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite Systems ◽  
Ultra Wideband ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Satellite Systems ◽  
Monocular Camera ◽  
Camera Systems ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Cost

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The demand for small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is massively increasing these days, due to the wide variety of applications utilizing such vehicles to perform tasks that may be dangerous or just to save time, effort, or cost. Small UAVs navigation system mainly depends on the integration between Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Inertial Measurement Unit (INS) to estimate the Positions, Velocities, and Attitudes (PVT) of the vehicle. Without GNSS such UAVs cannot navigate for long periods of time depending on INS alone, as the low-cost INS typically exhibits massive accumulation of errors during GNSS absence. Given the importance of ensuring full operability of the UAVs even during GNSS signals unavailability, other sensors must be used to bound the INS errors and enhance the navigation system performance. This paper proposes an enhanced UAV navigation system based on integration between monocular camera, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) system, and INS. In addition to using variable EKF weighting scheme. The paper also investigates this integration in the case of low density of UWB anchors, to reduce the cost required for such UWB system infrastructure. A GoPro Camera and UWB rover were attached to the belly of a quadcopter, an on the shelf commercial drone (3DR Solo), during the experimental flight. The velocity of the vehicle is estimated with Optical Flow (OF) from camera successive images, while the range measurements between the UWB rover and the stationary UWB anchors, which were distributed on the field, were used to estimate UAV position.</p>

scholarly journals AQUALOC: An underwater dataset for visual–inertial–pressure localization

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (14) ◽  
pp. 1549-1559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime Ferrera ◽  
Vincent Creuze ◽  
Julien Moras ◽  
Pauline Trouvé-Peloux
Keyword(s):  
Inertial Measurement Unit ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Underwater Vehicles ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Inertial Measurement ◽  
Computing Unit ◽  
Underwater Environment ◽  
Localization And Mapping ◽  
Vision Based Localization ◽  
Archeological Site

We present a new dataset, dedicated to the development of simultaneous localization and mapping methods for underwater vehicles navigating close to the seabed. The data sequences composing this dataset are recorded in three different environments: a harbor at a depth of a few meters, a first archeological site at a depth of 270 meters, and a second site at a depth of 380 meters. The data acquisition is performed using remotely operated vehicles equipped with a monocular monochromatic camera, a low-cost inertial measurement unit, a pressure sensor, and a computing unit, all embedded in a single enclosure. The sensors’ measurements are recorded synchronously on the computing unit and 17 sequences have been created from all the acquired data. These sequences are made available in the form of ROS bags and as raw data. For each sequence, a trajectory has also been computed offline using a structure-from-motion library in order to allow the comparison with real-time localization methods. With the release of this dataset, we wish to provide data difficult to acquire and to encourage the development of vision-based localization methods dedicated to the underwater environment. The dataset can be downloaded from: http://www.lirmm.fr/aqualoc/

Designing Arms and Hands for the Humanoid Robot ROMAN

2012 ◽  
Vol 463-464 ◽  
pp. 1233-1237 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hirth ◽  
K. Berns ◽  
K. Mianowski
Keyword(s):  
Nonverbal Communication ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Communication Signals ◽  
Nonverbal Interaction ◽  
Personal Robots

The interest in assistance and personal robots is constantly growing. Therefore robots need new, sophisticated interaction abilities. Psychologists point out that most of the human-human interaction is conducted nonverbally. For that reason, researchers try to enable humanoid robots to realize nonverbal communication signals. This paper presents a compact, lightweight, and low-cost arm and hand design to enable humanoid robots to use gestures as nonverbal interaction signals.

scholarly journals A GNSS-FREE UNMANNED AERIAL LASER SCANNING SYSTEM

2020 ◽  
Vol XLIII-B2-2020 ◽  
pp. 83-90
Author(s):  
M. Shahbazi ◽  
C. Cortes ◽  
P. Ménard ◽  
J. S. Bilodeau
Keyword(s):  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Bundle Adjustment ◽  
Measurement Unit ◽  
Scanning System ◽  
Dual Frequency ◽  
Gnss Receiver ◽  
Intrinsic Parameters ◽  
The Individual

Abstract. In this paper, the procedure of developing and evaluating a UAV-borne mapping system is described. The system is equipped with both a LiDAR and a camera. The system mounting parameters, as well as the intrinsic parameters of the individual sensors, are calibrated rigorously. Simultaneous calibration of the LiDAR intrinsic parameters and the LiDAR-camera mounting parameters is performed in a self-calibrating bundle adjustment with additional relative orientation constraints. A visual-inertial approach is proposed to georeference the laser scans without using a GNSS receiver. This approach is motivated not only by the interest of users in low-cost systems but also by the fact that the integrity of GNSS signals might be affected under several environmental conditions, e.g., indoors, in urban canyons, under tree canopies. It is shown that a low-cost inertial measurement unit not equipped with a dual-frequency, real-time kinematic GNSS receiver is still useful for georeferencing the laser scanning data with cm-level accuracy. The scans are also textured using the images captured by the camera, which enriches the LiDAR point clouds with spectral information.

The Synergistic Combination of Research, Education, and International Robot Competitions Through the Development of a Humanoid Robot

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl J. Muecke ◽  
Dennis W. Hong
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Sponsored Research ◽  
Research Education ◽  
Graduate Research ◽  
Technical Details ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Operation Results

This paper presents our experience of how a graduate research project on humanoid robots was successfully fused together with undergraduate design projects, which also resulted in successful spin-off teams for international robot competitions. The research portion of the project and some of the technical details of the development of the humanoid robot is presented, followed by discussions of the motivation, operation, results, and lessons learned for the organization of the undergraduate senior capstone design projects and the competition, including the roles of the graduate students as mentors. Our approach resulted in not only a successful sponsored research program, but also a number of awards in design competitions, international robot competitions, and best paper awards.

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