II-EN: Enhancing an Infrastructure with an Agile Dexterous Mobile Manipulator for Research on Dynamic Balance

该项目开发了一个测试台，用于探索办公室或家庭等人类环境中高度敏捷的机器人移动性，同时还具有高度灵巧的能力，可以有目的地与环境中的功能进行交互，例如开门、移动桌子或家具以及操纵日常物体。移动机器人将在我们的日常生活中发挥越来越重要的作用，包括在仓库和医院运输材料、零售商店的库存管理以及为人们直接服务的应用，包括公共场所的支持和指导。 目前轮式移动机器人缺乏此类任务所需的敏捷性和灵巧性。该项目增强了卡内基梅隆大学球机器人研究平台，这是之前在国家科学基金会资助下开发的同类首创功能。 球机器人是动态稳定的移动机器人，它在单个球形轮上保持平衡和移动。 Ballbot 类移动机器人的独特优势包括高度高，可在视线水平上进行人机交互、单球轮占用空间小，以及具有内在合规性的全向运动。这种理想特征的组合在传统的静态稳定移动机器人中并不存在。该项目开发并在 CMU 球机器人平台上添加了一对 7 自由度的手臂和手。目标是创造前所未有的敏捷灵巧的移动操控能力。这里，术语“敏捷”是指球机器人当前快速、平稳地在环境中移动，同时避开静态和动态障碍物的能力。术语“灵巧”是指熟练地操纵物体并与环境交互的能力。实现这一复合目标的部分原因是为球机器人创造了一对新型轻质但坚固的人体规模手臂/手，以及实现广泛的未来研究所需的软件。

The project develops a test bed for exploring highly agile robot mobility in human environments such as an office or home, while also incorporating a highly dexterous ability for purposefully interacting with features in the environment such as opening doors, moving tables or furniture, and manipulating everyday objects. Mobile robots are poised to take increasingly important roles in our daily lives ranging from transporting materials in warehouses and hospitals, inventory management in retail stores, and applications in direct service to people including support and guidance in public spaces. Wheeled mobile robots currently lack the agility and dexterity needed for these kinds of tasks. The project enhances the CMU ballbot research platform, a first-of-its-kind capability previously developed under NSF funding. Ballbots are dynamically stable mobile robots, which balance and locomote on single spherical wheels. Unique advantages of the ballbot class of mobile robots include tall heights enabling human-robot interaction at eye level, a small footprint afforded by the single ball wheel, and omni-directional motion with intrinsic compliance. This combination of desirable features does not exist in traditional statically stable mobile robots. The project develops and adds a pair of 7-degree-of-freedom arms and hands to the CMU ballbot platform. The objective is to create an unprecedented capability for agile and dexterous mobile manipulation. Here, the term "agile" refers to the ballbot?s current ability to swiftly and smoothly move through the environment, while avoiding static and dynamic obstacles. The term "dexterous" refers to the ability to skillfully manipulate objects and interact with the environment. Reaching this compound goal is enabled in part by the creation of a pair of new lightweight but strong human-scale arms/hands for the ballbot and the requisite software to enable a wide range of future research.