A new versatile hydraulically powered quadruped robot (HyQ) has been developed to serve as a platform to study not only highly dynamic motions, such as running and jumping, but also careful navigat...

Design of HyQ – a hydraulically and electrically actuated quadruped robot:

NASA and General Motors have developed the second generation Robonaut, Robonaut 2 or R2, and it is scheduled to arrive on the International Space Station in early 2011 and undergo initial testing by mid-year. This state of the art, dexterous, anthropomorphic robotic torso has significant technical improvements over its predecessor making it a far more valuable tool for astronauts. Upgrades include: increased force sensing, greater range of motion, higher bandwidth, and improved dexterity. R2's integrated mechatronic design results in a more compact and robust distributed control system with a fraction of the wiring of the original Robonaut. Modularity is prevalent throughout the hardware and software along with innovative and layered approaches for sensing and control. The most important aspects of the Robonaut philosophy are clearly present in this latest model's ability to allow comfortable human interaction and in its design to perform significant work using the same hardware and interfaces used by people. The following describes the mechanisms, integrated electronics, control strategies, and user interface that make R2 a promising addition to the Space Station and other environments where humanoid robots can assist people.

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20100040493/downloads/20100040493.pdf

Robonaut 2 - The first humanoid robot in space

Bipedal running can easily result in a fall due to poor availability of the ground reaction force at the boundary of the flight and support phases. We propose methods to decompose and synthesize a running gait pattern into vertical, horizontal and rotational components so that time-dependent ground friction limits are satisfied. We also extend previously proposed boundary condition, the divergent component of motion, for switching walking gait patterns into running which involves vertical acceleration of the center of gravity. Using these techniques, running at 10 km/h is achieved on a real robot whose dimension are same as ASIMO.

Real time motion generation and control for biped robot -1 st report: Walking gait pattern generation-

This paper gives an overview on the torque-controlled humanoid robot TORO, which has evolved from the former DLR Biped. In particular, we describe its mechanical design and dimensioning, its sensors, electronics and computer hardware. Additionally, we give a short introduction to the walking and multi-contact balancing strategies used for TORO.

/pdf/overview-of-the-torque-controlled-humanoid-robot-toro-22qgecw0kj.pdf

Overview of the torque-controlled humanoid robot TORO

The development of cybernetic human HRP-4C is presented in this paper. The word “Cybernetic Human” is a coinage for us to explain a humanoid robot with a realistic head and a realistic figure of a human being. HRP-4C stands for Humanoid Robotics Platform-4 (Cybernetic human). Standing 158 [cm] tall and weighting 43 [kg] (including batteries), with the joints and dimensions set to average values for young Japanese females, HRP-4C looks very human-like. This paper introduces the design process, mechanical features, and electrical features with specifications of HRP-4C.

Cybernetic human HRP-4C

The present paper describes an implementation of fast running motions involving a humanoid robot. Two important technologies are described: a motion generation and a balance control. The motion generation is a unified way to design both walking and running and can generate the trajectory with the vertical conditions of the Center Of Mass (COM) in short calculation time. The balance control enables a robot to maintain balance by changing the positions of the contact foot dynamically when the robot is disturbed. This control consists of 1) compliance control without force sensors, in which the joints are made compliant by feed-forward torques and adjustment of gains of position control, and 2) feedback control, which uses the measured orientation of the robot's torso used in the motion generation as an initial condition to decide the foot positions. Finally, a human-sized humanoid robot that can run forward at 7.0 [km/h] is presented.

Fast running experiments involving a humanoid robot

There is provided a legged robot that performs motion by changing a joint angle, which includes a trajectory generating section to calculate a center-of-gravity trajectory in designated stepping motion from the stepping motion including at least one of walking motion, running motion and stopping motion, and generate a center-of-gravity trajectory by superimposing a designated travel velocity onto a travel velocity of a center of gravity in the calculated center-of-gravity trajectory in stepping motion, and a trajectory updating section to store the generated center-of-gravity trajectory and update all the stored center-of-gravity trajectories so as to be continuous, and a trajectory reproducing section to calculate time-varying data of a target value of the joint angle based on the updated center-of-gravity trajectory, and a joint driving section to rotate a joint of the legged robot based on the calculated time-varying data of a target value of the joint angle.

Legged robot and its control method

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a legged robot which achieves a stable walking/traveling action by excellently maintaining the follow-up capability of a track, and also to provide a method of controlling the robot. SOLUTION: According to the legged robot, a target torque of a joint is calculated by using "a dynamic system in which mass is concentrated in a trunk, a left knee position, a right knee position, a position in the vicinity of a right leg flat portion, and a position in the vicinity of a left leg flat portion" that is obtained by modeling the legged robot from data providing a left leg flat positional attitude, a right leg flat positional attitude, and a trunk positional attitude, and data providing a trunk position for implementing a positional attitude. Then a target rotational quantity for each joint necessary for implementing the positional attitude is calculated based on a data group. An instruction torque to be applied to a motor of an actuator is adjusted based on a deviation (62, 64) between the calculated target rotational quantity and a detected actual rotational quantity, and a calculated target torque is added (66) to the instruction torque. COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Legged robot and method of controlling the same

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a legged robot which facilitates calculation of data of a track of the gravitational center, that allows a stabilized positional angle without executing unnecessary processing such as parameter adjustment, and implements walking/traveling action with a natural posture, and to provide a legged robot control method and a legged robot control system. SOLUTION: The legged robot 2 can carry out action by changing its joint angles, and it is formed of: a means 21 for calculating a rotational momentum about the center of gravity of the legged robot 2 whose upper body positional angle is kept unchanged, according to a target speed commanded to the legged robot 2; a means 30 for calculating the track of the gravitational center of the legged robot 2 by solving a ZMP equation by using the calculated rotational momentum; and means (40, 50) for rotating joints, based on the calculated track of the gravitational center. COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Legged robot, its control method, and its control system

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for heating crushed glass containing arsenic, a method for preventing elution of arsenic from crushed glass, and a glass material, in which elution of arsenic and a compound thereof into the environment is suppressed.SOLUTION: The method for heating crushed glass containing arsenic includes heating a mixture containing crushed glass containing arsenic and/or a compound thereof and a metallic compound. The metallic compound contains at least one selected from the group consisting of aluminum hydroxide, a combination of sodium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide, a combination of copper carbonate and sodium carbonate, a combination of copper carbonate and magnesium hydroxide, a combination of calcium carbonate and sodium carbonate, and a combination of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide.

Daisaku Honda

Papers

Fast running experiments involving a humanoid robot

Legged robot and its control method

Legged robot and method of controlling the same

Legged robot, its control method, and its control system

Method for heating crushed glass containing arsenic, method for preventing elution of arsenic from crushed glass, and glass material