Special Robotics Seminar Bipedal Locomotion from Robots to Birds: Analyzing and Synthesizing Dynamic Walking and Running by Way of Optimization
Rogers 226 Tues Jan 27, 2015 4:00 - 4:50 pm Abstract: Bipedal locomotion is a complex phenomenon to understand and control, making it difficult for legged robots to achieve the speed, agility, efficiency, and robustness of their animal counterparts. This presentation explores the use of numerical optimization to investigate and implement bipedal control as it applies to biology, dynamical models, and robots alike. We use trajectory optimization as a primary tool for analyzing and synthesizing bipedal locomotion control in its arguably most dynamic domains: running in cursorial birds and underactuated walking and running in robots. We present 1) an investigation uncovering the task-level control objectives of ground-running birds from quail to ostrich, 2) modeling investigations into control strategies that optimize these objectives, and 3) the design of a highly dynamic robot and the optimal walking control thereof. We also present our ongoing progress in the control of ATRIAS, a highly dynamic biped capable of walking and runn! ing. We ultimately posit that dynamic and biologically comparable bipedal locomotion can be achieved by optimizing energy costs while strictly avoiding injurious forces and satisfying practical locomotion task constraints. Speaker Bio: Christian Hubicki is a postdoctoral researcher in the Dynamic Robotics Laboratory at Oregon State University. Christian received his B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bucknell University, studying precision point-to-point robot position control and optimization of rough-terrain bipedal robotic walking. He received a Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering fellowship to pursue his doctorate from the Dynamic Robotics Lab at Oregon State University. To receive his PhD in Robotics and Mechanical Engineering, Christian studied optimization of control in dynamic bipedal locomotion and how it can be unified to connect robots and ground-running birds. His current postdoctoral efforts are aimed at the successful dynamic demonstration of the bipedal robot, ATRIAS, at the DARPA Robotics Challenge in June.
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