Automatic Gait Generation and Recovery for Mobile Robots

该项目探索新的移动技术，使机器人系统能够从各种故障中恢复。主要研究了一类被称为动态耦合运动的机器人运动。最常见的运动形式，如人类行走或汽车滚动，都采用运动学耦合。制动系统容易出现诸如坠落或中心偏高等错误情况。从这种错误中恢复有时需要移动模式，虽然效率较低，但对机器人系统的健壮性和整体能力至关重要。一个例子是一个六条腿的机器人，它在障碍物上变得高度集中，以至于它的腿不再到达地面--通过积极地移动它的腿，可能会激发振动模式，使机器人逐渐离开障碍。本项目的具体目标是探索这些运动模式的理论和实践能力，考察它们在移动机器人系统中的潜在应用，并展示它们在真实机器人中的有效性。这项工作的主要理论主旨是刻画动态耦合运动的运动能力，并为移动机器人合成运动模式以从错误中恢复。实验和仿真工作将用于验证和验证该研究。对移动机器人结构和故障模式的调查将提供背景和基础，以评估工作的潜在用处。

This project explores new locomotion techniques that will enablerobotic systems to recover from a variety of failures. The primaryfocus is on a class of robot locomotion termed dynamically coupledlocomotion. The most familiar forms of locomotion, such as humanwalking or automobile rolling, employ kinematic coupling. Butlocomotory systems are subject to error conditions such as falling orbecoming high-centered. Recovery from such errors sometimes requireslocomotion modes that, while less efficient, are nonetheless essentialto the robustness and overall competence of the robotic system. Oneexample would be a six-legged robot that has become high-centered onan obstacle such that its legs no longer reach the ground -- byaggressively moving its legs it is possible to excite vibration modesthat cause the robot to gradually move off of the obstacle. Thespecific goal of this project is to explore the theoretical andpractical capabilities of such locomotion modes, to survey theirpotential application in mobile robotic systems, and to demonstratetheir usefulness in real robots. The main theoretical thrust of thework is to characterize the motion capabilities of dynamically coupledlocomotion, and to synthesize motion patterns for mobile robots torecover from errors. Experimental and simulation work will serve todemonstrate and validate the research. Surveys of mobile robotstructures and failure modes will provide context and grounding toassess the potential usefulness of the work.