Dynamic Hybrid Whole-Body Locomotion for Wheeled Legged Robots

目前，腿式机器人正越来越多地用于穿越困难的地形，并执行传统轮式机器人无法完成的任务。然而，轮式机器人具有腿式机器人尚未利用的许多优点，例如在平坦表面上具有低能耗的运动。轮腿式混合机器人是一个新的里程碑，其中机器人能够同时利用两种运动形式的优点。这项研究旨在利用混合机器人的深度强化学习（DRL），以最大限度地提高其全身运动能力。例如，允许四足轮式机器人作为两足机器人站立。在这种形式下，机器人将能够使用它的前脚来拾取物体，并在平坦和复杂的地形上有效地运输它们。由于轮子和腿的结合，机器人的运动将非常敏捷和平稳，在穿越复杂地形和人造环境时可以实现无缝运动。此外，改造成两足轮式腿式机器人将允许机器人运输和放置物体。这种自主混合机器人的潜在应用包括复杂场景中的建筑，勘探和检查。

Currently, legged robots are being utilised increasingly to traverse difficult terrain and perform tasks that conventional wheeled robots are not capable of. However, wheeled robots have many advantages that legged robots have yet to take advantage of such as movement having low energy consumption on flat surfaces. Wheeled legged hybrid robots are a new milestone in which robots are able to utilise the advantages of both forms of locomotion simultaneously. This research aims to exploit deep reinforcement learning (DRL) on a hybrid robot to maximise its whole-body motion abilities. For instance, allowing a quadrupedal wheeled robot to stand up as a bipedal robot. In this form, the robot will be able to use its front feet to pick up objects and transport them efficiently across both flat and complex terrain. Due to the combination of both wheels and legs, the robot's locomotion will be extremely agile and smooth allowing for seamless motion when traversing complex terrains and human-made environments. In addition, the transformation into a bipedal wheeled legged robot will allow the robot to transport and place objects. Potential applications of such an autonomous hybrid robot include construction, exploration, and inspection in complex scenarios.