FROM LAMPREY TO HUMANOID: THE DESIGN AND CONTROL OF A FLEXIBLE SPINE BELLY DANCING HUMANOID ROBOT WITH INSPIRATION FROM BIOLOGY

2005 ◽  
Vol 02 (01) ◽  
pp. 81-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
JIMMY OR ◽  
ATSUO TAKANISHI
Keyword(s):  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Control Parameters ◽  
Humanoid Robotics ◽  
Walking Machines ◽  
Belly Dancing ◽  
And Control ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Deficient Area

Research on humanoid robotics has up to now been focused on the control of manipulators and walking machines. The contributions of body torso torwards daily activities have been neglected. To address this deficient area of humanoid robotics research, we developed a unique flexible spine biped humanoid robot. Inspired by the rhythmic and wave-like motions commonly seen in swimming lamprey and in belly dancing, we investigated the possibility of controlling the spine of our robot using the lamprey central pattern generator (CPG). Experimental results show that our robot is capable of mimicing both basic and complex spine motions with fewer actuators than the human spine and using only three input parameters (global and extra excitations from the brainstem, plane of actions). Our work suggests that the CPG is a suitable controller for humanoid spine motions because it can control a high degree of freedom mechanical spine with minimized control parameters. No complex computations of spine trajectories are involved. Furthermore, since our robot can move its upper body dynamically while standing and without external supports, it may be used as a prototype for the next generation of humanoid robots.

A Control System for a Flexible Spine Belly-Dancing Humanoid

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimmy Or
Keyword(s):  
Central Pattern Generator ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Pattern Generator ◽  
Degree Of Freedom ◽  
Rhythmic Movements ◽  
Walking Machines ◽  
Belly Dancing ◽  
Almost All ◽  
High Degree

Recently, there has been a lot of interest in building anthropomorphic robots. Research on humanoid robotics has focused on the control of manipulators and walking machines. The contributions of the torso towards ordinary movements (such as walking, dancing, attracting mates, and maintaining balance) have been neglected by almost all humanoid robotic researchers. We believe that the next generation of humanoid robots will incorporate a flexible spine in the torso. To meet the challenge of controlling this kind of high-degree-of-freedom robot, a new control architecture is necessary. Inspired by the rhythmic movements commonly exhibited in lamprey locomotion as well as belly dancing, we designed a controller for a simulated belly-dancing robot using the lamprey central pattern generator. Experimental results show that the proposed lamprey central pattern generator module could potentially generate plausible output patterns, which could be used for all the possible spine motions with minimized control parameters. For instance, in the case of planar spine motions, only three input parameters are required. Using our controller, the simulated robot is able to perform complex torso movements commonly seen in belly dancing as well. Our work suggests that the proposed controller can potentially be a suitable controller for a high-degree-of-freedom, flexible spine humanoid robot. Furthermore, it allows us to gain a better understanding of belly dancing by synthesis.

Humans and humanoids

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Metta
Keyword(s):  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Robot Vision ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Biologically Inspired ◽  
Robot Interaction ◽  
Humanoid Robotics ◽  
Biomimetic Robot ◽  
Compliant Actuation

This chapter outlines a number of research lines that, starting from the observation of nature, attempt to mimic human behavior in humanoid robots. Humanoid robotics is one of the most exciting proving grounds for the development of biologically inspired hardware and software—machines that try to recreate billions of years of evolution with some of the abilities and characteristics of living beings. Humanoids could be especially useful for their ability to “live” in human-populated environments, occupying the same physical space as people and using tools that have been designed for people. Natural human–robot interaction is also an important facet of humanoid research. Finally, learning and adapting from experience, the hallmark of human intelligence, may require some approximation to the human body in order to attain similar capacities to humans. This chapter focuses particularly on compliant actuation, soft robotics, biomimetic robot vision, robot touch, and brain-inspired motor control in the context of the iCub humanoid robot.

Walking biped humanoids that perform manual labour

2006 ◽  
Vol 365 (1850) ◽  
pp. 65-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hirohisa Hirukawa
Keyword(s):  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Humanoid Robotics ◽  
Industrial Plants ◽  
Cooperative Tasks ◽  
Manual Labour

The Humanoid Robotics Project of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan realized that biped humanoid robots can perform manual labour. The project developed humanoid robot platforms, consisting of humanoid robot hardware and a package of fundamental software, and explored applications of humanoid robots on them. The applications include maintenance tasks of industrial plants, teleoperation of industrial vehicles, cooperative tasks with a human, guarding the home and office and the care of patients in beds.

scholarly journals Energy-Efficient Hip Joint Offsets in Humanoid Robot via Taguchi Method and Bio-inspired Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (20) ◽  
pp. 7287
Author(s):  
Jihun Kim ◽  
Jaeha Yang ◽  
Seung Tae Yang ◽  
Yonghwan Oh ◽  
Giuk Lee
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Taguchi Method ◽  
Power Consumption ◽  
Hip Joint ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Mean Square ◽  
Hip Joints ◽  
Sway Motion

Although previous research has improved the energy efficiency of humanoid robots to increase mobility, no study has considered the offset between hip joints to this end. Here, we optimized the offsets of hip joints in humanoid robots via the Taguchi method to maximize energy efficiency. During optimization, the offsets between hip joints were selected as control factors, and the sum of the root-mean-square power consumption from three actuated hip joints was set as the objective function. We analyzed the power consumption of a humanoid robot model implemented in physics simulation software. As the Taguchi method was originally devised for robust optimization, we selected turning, forward, backward, and sideways walking motions as noise factors. Through two optimization stages, we obtained near-optimal results for the humanoid hip joint offsets. We validated the results by comparing the root-mean-square (RMS) power consumption of the original and optimized humanoid models, finding that the RMS power consumption was reduced by more than 25% in the target motions. We explored the reason for the reduction of power consumption through bio-inspired analysis from human gait mechanics. As the distance between the left and right hip joints in the frontal plane became narrower, the amplitude of the sway motion of the upper body was reduced. We found that the reduced sway motion of the upper body of the optimized joint configuration was effective in improving energy efficiency, similar to the influence of the pathway of the body’s center of gravity (COG) on human walking efficiency.

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.

Formal Modeling and Analysis of Collaborative Humanoid Robotics

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-54
Author(s):  
Yujian Fu ◽  
Zhijiang Dong ◽  
Xudong He
Keyword(s):  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Formal Modeling ◽  
Rigorous Analysis ◽  
Humanoid Robotics ◽  
Modeling And Analysis ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
And Control ◽  
Successful Collaboration

A humanoid robot is inherently complex due to the heterogeneity of accessory devices and to the interactions of various interfaces, which will be exponentially increased in multiple robotics collaboration. Therefore, the design and implementation of multiple humanoid robotics (MHRs) remains a very challenging issue. It is known that formal methods provide a rigorous analysis of the complexity in both design of control and implementation of systems. This article presents an agent-based framework of formal modeling on the design of communication and control strategies of a team of autonomous robotics, to attain the specified tasks in a coordinated manner. To ensure a successful collaboration of multiple robotics, this formal agent-based framework captures behaviors in Petri Net models and specifies collaboration operations in four defined operations. To validate the framework, a non-trivial soccer bot set was implemented and simulation results were discussed.

Application of Camera Image Processing to Control of Humanoid Robot Motion

2014 ◽  
Vol 474 ◽  
pp. 179-185
Author(s):  
Rastislav Ďuriš
Keyword(s):  
Image Processing ◽  
Computer Vision ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Robot Motion ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Processing Techniques ◽  
And Control ◽  
Detection And Localization ◽  
Wide Potential

The wide potential applications of humanoid robots require that the robots can move in general environment, overcome various obstacles, detect predefined objects and control of its motion according to all these parameters. The goal of this paper is address the problem of implementation of computer vision to motion control of humanoid robot. We focus on using of computer vision and image processing techniques, based on which the robot can detect and recognize a predefined color object in a captured image. An algorithm to detection and localization of objects is described. The results obtained from image processing are used in an algorithm for controlling of the robot movement.

scholarly journals On the epigenesis of meaning in robots and organisms: Could a humanoid robot develop a human(oid) Umwelt?

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-111
Author(s):  
Tom Ziemke
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Thought Experiments ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Humanoid Robotics ◽  
Strong Ai

This paper discusses recent research on humanoid robots and thought experiments addressing the question to what degree such robots could be expected to develop human-like cognition, if rather than being preprogrammed they were made to learn from the interaction with their physical and social environment like human infants. A question of particular interest, from both a semiotic and a cognitive scientific perspective, is whether or not such robots could develop an experiential Umwelt, i.e. could the sign processes they are involved in become intrinsically meaningful to themselves? Arguments for and against the possibility of phenomenal artificial minds of different forms are discussed, and it is concluded that humanoid robotics still has to be considered “weak” rather than “strong AI”, i.e. it deals with models of mind rather than actual minds.

Motion planning for humanoid robot dynamically stepping over consecutive large obstacles

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fayong Guo ◽  
Tao Mei ◽  
Minzhou Luo ◽  
Marco Ceccarelli ◽  
Ziyi Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motion Planning ◽  
Trajectory Planning ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Decision Criterion ◽  
Body Motion ◽  
Feasibility Analysis ◽  
Upper Body ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – Humanoid robots should have the ability of walking in complex environment and overcoming large obstacles in rescue mission. Previous research mainly discusses the problem of humanoid robots stepping over or on/off one obstacle statically or dynamically. As an extreme case, this paper aims to demonstrate how the robots can step over two large obstacles continuously. Design/methodology/approach – The robot model uses linear inverted pendulum (LIP) model. The motion planning procedure includes feasibility analysis with constraints, footprints planning, legs trajectory planning with collision-free constraint, foot trajectory adapter and upper body motion planning. Findings – The motion planning with the motion constraints is a key problem, which can be considered as global optimization issue with collision-free constraint, kinematic limits and balance constraint. With the given obstacles, the robot first needs to determine whether it can achieve stepping over, if feasible, and then the robot gets the motion trajectory for the legs, waist and upper body using consecutive obstacles stepping over planning algorithm which is presented in this paper. Originality/value – The consecutive stepping over problem is proposed in this paper. First, the paper defines two consecutive stepping over conditions, sparse stepping over (SSO) and tight stepping over (TSO). Then, a novel feasibility analysis method with condition (SSO/TSO) decision criterion is proposed for consecutive obstacles stepping over. The feasibility analysis method’s output is walking parameters with obstacles’ information. Furthermore, a modified legs trajectory planning method with center of mass trajectory compensation using upper body motion is proposed. Finally, simulations and experiments for SSO and TSO are carried out by using the XT-I humanoid robot platform with the aim to verify the validity and feasibility of the novel methods proposed in this paper.

CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF ANTHROPOMORPHISM OF HUMANOID ROBOTS

2005 ◽  
Vol 02 (03) ◽  
pp. 361-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIOMIR VUKOBRATOVIĆ ◽  
BRANISLAV BOROVAC ◽  
KALMAN BABKOVIĆ
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Reasonable Number ◽  
The Common ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Near Future

The rapid development of robotics has led to the appearance of very complex humanoid robots possessing already about fifty degrees of freedom. Bearing in mind that such robots will be increasingly more engaged in the close environment of humans, it is expected that the problem of "working coexistence" of man and robot sharing the common workspace will become acute in the near future. Since no significant rearrangement of the human's environment because of the presence of robots can be expected, robots will have to further "adapt" to the environment previously dedicated only to humans. This paper raises some new fundamental questions concerning the necessary degree of anthropomorphism of humanoid robots. What is particularly challenging is how to achieve a sufficiently high degree of anthropomorphism with a reasonable number of degrees of freedom. Using the example of a humanoid robot, concrete measures are proposed as to how to attain the desired degree of its anthropomorphism.

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