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平台，用于探索在办公室或家庭等人类环境中高度敏捷的机器人移动性，同时还结合了高度灵巧的能力，可以有目的地与环境中的特征进行交互，例如开门，移动桌子或家具，以及操纵日常物品。移动机器人在我们的日常生活中扮演着越来越重要的角色，从仓库和医院的运输材料，到零售商店的库存管理，再到直接为人们服务的应用，包括在公共场所的支持和指导。轮式移动机器人目前缺乏这些任务所需的敏捷性和灵活性。该项目增强了CMU球形机器人研究平台，这是以前在美国国家科学基金会资助下开发的首个此类能力。球机器人是一种动态稳定的移动机器人，它在单个球形车轮上保持平衡和运动。球机器人类移动机器人的独特优势包括高度高，可以在眼睛水平进行人机交互，单球轮提供的占地面积小，以及具有内在顺应性的全方位运动。在传统的静态稳定移动机器人中不存在这种理想特征的组合。该项目开发并增加了一对7自由度的手臂和手到CMU球形机器人平台。目标是创造一种前所未有的灵活和灵巧的移动操作能力。在这里，“敏捷”一词指的是圆球机器人？S当前的能力，迅速和顺利地移动通过环境，同时避免静态和动态障碍。“灵巧”一词指的是熟练地操纵物体和与环境互动的能力。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的轻量级但强壮的人类尺度的手臂/手，以及必要的软件，以实现广泛的未来研究。

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.