NRI: A Novel Framework for the Hardware and Control Co-design of Dynamic Humanoid Robots with Electric Motors

四足机器人现在正在做真正的工作，包括勘探废弃的矿山，检查发电厂，在崎岖的地形上运输有效载荷，等等。最近从研究平台到有用的机器人的显著转变是由强大、廉价和广泛使用的电动马达的根本性创新促成的。但四足机器人不能使用为人类创造的工具，也不能在为拟人化形式设计的环境中工作，例如狭窄的走廊或爬梯。相反，有能力的人形机器人可以帮助防止美国消防员、护士或仓库工人的反复受伤和残疾，并每年节省数十亿美元的医疗保健费用。阻碍被广泛采用的类人机器人出现的根本挑战是，它们的机械结构和运动控制明显比四足机器人复杂得多。该项目将通过将使四足机器人取得非凡成功的技术转化为通过正式和系统的设计过程创造出具有身体能力的类人机器人来缩小这一差距。该项目制造的机器人Dash将实现跑步、举重等运动任务，性能可与人类媲美。机器人将是开源的，以降低研究的进入门槛，建立一个通用的性能基准平台，加快类人机器人的研究进展，并加快其向美国有用工具的过渡。该项目将创建一个集成框架，用于类人机器人与电动马达的硬件和控制的联合设计，以最大限度地发挥其物理能力。该项目的主要基础科学是机器人集成动态仿人机器人的整体框架，该框架的核心是一种新的可扩展到多任务的协同设计优化公式。这一公式的变革性被这项工作的三个基本科学贡献所放大：(I)推导出针对动态类人机器人的性能度量和设计原则；(Ii)创建用于模拟和识别这些机器人所使用的复杂机构的高效计算工具；以及(Iii)扩展动态全身控制技术以解决自碰撞问题。开源的人形机器人Dash将与这个框架集成，以实现苛刻的物理任务，包括跑步、举重和携带大量有效载荷。从这项研究中学到的经验教训将通过创建一门由PIS联合教授的关于动态机器人的设计和控制的课程来反映在教育中。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Quadruped robots are now doing real work including exploration of abandoned mines, inspection of power plants, transportation of payloads on rough terrain, and more. The remarkable recent transition from research platforms to useful robots was enabled by fundamental innovations on powerful, inexpensive, and widely available electric motors. But quadrupedal robots cannot use tools created for humans or work in environments designed for the anthropomorphic form, such as narrow corridors or climbing ladders. Instead, capable humanoid robots could help prevent the recurrent injuries and disabilities of firefighters, nurses, or warehouse workers in the US, and save billions of dollars on health care each year. The fundamental challenge preventing the advent of widely adopted humanoid robots is that their mechanical structure and motion control are significantly more complex than those of quadrupedal robots. This project will close this gap by translating the technology that enabled the remarkable success of quadruped robots to the creation of physically capable humanoid robots via a formal and systematic design process. The robot Dash fabricated in this project will realize athletic tasks, such as running and powerlifting, with a performance comparable to humans. The robot will be open-sourced to lower the barrier to entry for research, establish a common platform for benchmarking performance, accelerate the research progress on humanoid robots, and expedite their transition to useful tools in the US.This project will create an integration framework for the co-design of the hardware and control of humanoid robots with electric motors to maximize their physical capabilities. The main fundamental science of this project is a holistic framework for robot integration of dynamic humanoids and at the core of this framework is a novel co-design optimization formulation that is scalable to multiple tasks. The transformative nature of this formulation is amplified by three fundamental scientific contributions of this work: (i) Derivation of performance metrics and design principles tailored to dynamic humanoid robots; (ii) Creation of efficient computational tools for simulation and identification of the complex mechanisms employed by these robots; And (iii) extension of dynamic whole-body control techniques to address self-collision. The open-source humanoid robot Dash will be integrated with this framework for realizing demanding physical tasks including running, powerlifting, and carrying a substantial payload. The lessons learned from this research will be reflected in education through the creation of a course on the design and control of dynamic robots jointly taught by the PIs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.