Showing papers on "Humanoid robot published in 2000"

Dynamics Filter - concept and implementation of online motion Generator for human figures

Abstract: Humanoid robots are required to make a variety of dynamics and even expressive motions in changing environments. However, the conventional methods for generating humanoid motions fail do achieve this requirement since they can only generate quite artificial and predefined motions through rather complicated optimization processes. In this paper, we propose the concept of "dynamics filter" which transforms a physically inconsistent motion into a consistent one, and provide an example of its implementation using feedback control and local optimization. The optimization is based on the equation of motion of constrained kinematic chains, which is derived from our previously proposed method for computing the dynamics of structure-varying kinematic chains. The proposed method can be applied to online motion generator of humanoid robots.

Using humanoid robots to study human behavior

Abstract: Our understanding of human behavior advances as our humanoid robotics work progresses-and vice versa. This team's work focuses on trajectory formation and planning, learning from demonstration, oculomotor control and interactive behaviors. They are programming robotic behavior based on how we humans "program" behavior in-or train-each other.

Sociable machines: expressive social exchange between humans and robots

Abstract: : Sociable humanoid robots are natural and intuitive for people to communicate with and to teach. The author presents recent advances in building an autonomous humanoid robot, named "Kismet," that can engage humans in expressive social interaction. She outlines a set of design issues and a framework that she has found to be of particular importance for sociable robots. Having a human-in-the-loop places significant social constraints on how the robot aesthetically appears, how its sensors are configured, its quality of movement, and its behavior. Inspired by infant social development, psychology, ethology, and evolutionary perspectives, this work integrates theories and concepts from these diverse viewpoints to enable Kismet to enter into natural and intuitive social interaction with a human caregiver, reminiscent of parent-infant exchanges. Kismet perceives a variety of natural social cues from visual and auditory channels, and delivers social signals to people through gaze direction, facial expressions, body posture, and vocalizations. The author presents the implementation of Kismet's social competencies and evaluates each with respect to the following: (1) the ability of naive subjects to read and interpret the robot's social cues; (2) the robot's ability to perceive and appropriately respond to naturally offered social cues; (3) the robot's ability to elicit interaction scenarios that afford rich learning potential; and (4) how this produces a rich, flexible, dynamic interaction that is physical, affective, and social. Numerous studies with naive human subjects are described that provide the data upon which the author bases her evaluations.

Active Audition for Humanoid

Abstract: In this paper, we present an active audition system for humanoid robot “SIG the humanoid” . The audition system of the highly intelligent humanoid requires localization of sound sources and identification of meanings of the sound in the auditory scene. The active audition reported in this paper focuses on improved sound source tracking by integrating audition, vision, and motor movements. Given the multiple sound sources in the auditory scene, SIG actively moves its head to improve localization by aligning microphones orthogonal to the sound source and by capturing the possible sound sources by vision. However, such an active head movement inevitably creates motor noise. The system must adaptively cancel motor noise using motor control signals. The experimental result demonstrates that the active audition by integration of audition, vision, and motor control enables sound source tracking in variety of conditions.

Design of the TUAT/Karlsruhe humanoid hand

Abstract: The increasing demand for robotic applications in dynamic unstructured environments is motivating the need for dextrous end-effectors which can cope with the wide variety of tasks and objects encountered in these environments. The human hand is a very complex grasping tool that can handle objects of different sizes and shapes. Many research activities have been carried out to develop artificial robot hands with capabilities similar to the human hand. In this paper the mechanism and design of a new humanoid-type hand (called TUAT/Karlsruhe Humanoid Hand) with human-like manipulation abilities is discussed. The new hand is designed for the humanoid robot ARMAR which has to work autonomously or interactively in cooperation with humans and for an artificial lightweight arm for handicapped persons. The arm is developed as close as possible to the human arm and is driven by spherical ultrasonic motors. The ideal end-effector for such an artificial arm or a humanoid would be able to use the tools and objects that a person uses when working in the same environment. Therefore a new hand is designed for anatomical consistency with the human hand. This includes the number of fingers and the placement and motion of the thumb, the proportions of the link lengths and the shape of the palm. It can also perform most part of human grasping types. The TUAT/Karlsruhe Humanoid Hand possesses 20 DOF and is driven by one actuator which can be placed into or around the hand.

Design and development of research platform for perception-action integration in humanoid robot: H6

Abstract: A humanoid robot "H6" is developed as a platform for the research on perception-action coupling in intelligent behaviour of humanoid type robots. The H6 has the features as follows: 1) a body which has enough DOFs and each joint has enough torque for full body motion, 2) a PC/AT compatible on-board computer which is controlled by RT-linux so that low-level to high-level control is achieved simultaneously, 3) is self-contained and connected to a network via radio ethernet, 4) a 3D vision function can be applied. The H6 is expected to be a common test-bed for experiment and discussion for various aspects of intelligent humanoid robotics.

Humanoid robots: a new kind of tool

Abstract: Aside from their traditional roles, humanoid robots can be used to explore theories of human intelligence. The authors discuss their project aimed at developing robots that can behave like and interact with humans.

Dynamics computation of structure-varying kinematic chains and its application to human figures

Abstract: This paper discusses the dynamics computation of structure-varying kinematic chains which imply mechanical link systems whose structure may change from open kinematic chain to closed one and vice versa. The proposed algorithm can handle and compute the dynamics and motions of any rigid link systems in a seamless manner without switching among algorithms. The computation is developed on the foundation of the dynamics computation algorithms established in robotics, which is superior in efficiency due to explicit use of the generalized coordinates to those used in the general-purpose motion analysis softwares. Although the structure-varying kinematic chains are commonly found in computing human and animal motions, the computation of their dynamics has not been discussed in literature. The developed computation will provide a general algorithm for the computation of motion and control of humanoid robots and computer graphics human figures.

Getting humanoids to move and imitate

Abstract: A behavior-based approach to structuring and controlling complex robotic systems is described that uses imitation for interaction and learning. The use of basis behaviors, or primitives, lets humanoid robots dance the Macarena, do aerobics and throw objects.

Inverse kinematics for humanoid robots

Abstract: Real-time control of the end-effector of a humanoid robot in external coordinates requires computationally efficient solutions of the inverse kinematics problem. In this context, this paper investigates methods of resolved motion rate control (RMRC) that employ optimization criteria to resolve kinematic redundancies. In particular we focus on two established techniques, the pseudo inverse with explicit optimization and the extended Jacobian method. We prove that the extended Jacobian method includes pseudo-inverse methods as a special solution. In terms of computational complexity, however pseudo-inverse and extended Jacobian differ significantly in favor of pseudo-inverse methods. Employing numerical estimation techniques, we introduce a computationally efficient version of the extended Jacobian with performance comparable to the original version. Our results are illustrated in simulation studies with a multiple degree-of-freedom robot, and were tested on a 30 degree-of-freedom humanoid robot.

Real-time robot learning with locally weighted statistical learning

Abstract: Locally weighted learning (LWL) is a class of statistical learning techniques that provides useful representations and training algorithms for learning about complex phenomena during autonomous adaptive control of robotic systems. This paper introduces several LWL algorithms that have been tested successfully in real-time learning of complex robot tasks. We discuss two major classes of LWL, memory-based LWL and purely incremental LWL that does not need to remember any data explicitly. In contrast to the traditional beliefs that LWL methods cannot work well in high-dimensional spaces, we provide new algorithms that have been tested in up to 50 dimensional learning problems. The applicability of our LWL algorithms is demonstrated in various robot learning examples, including the learning of devil-sticking, pole-balancing of a humanoid robot arm, and inverse-dynamics learning for a seven degree of-freedom robot.

Virtual passive dynamic walking and energy-based control laws

Abstract: It has been shown that a simplest walker with suitable parameter choice can walk down a gentle slope without any control forces and generate its steady walking pattern utilizing gravity effect automatically. On the floor, however, the robot cannot exhibit passive walk, so any application methods of passive walk to active walker on the horizontal floor has not been studied yet. In this paper we introduce "virtual passive dynamic walking" with virtual gravity field which acts as a driving force for the biped robot. The robot can walk on the floor without any control torque except virtual gravity effect. Since the modified gravity field seems to be very close to real condition, the generated walking pattern seems to be natural. Further, multi-pattern walking with respect to energy level is proposed. With the proposed method, safety and energy-effective control of biped walking robot can be realized.

Planning of joint trajectories for humanoid robots using B-spline wavelets

Abstract: The formulation and optimization of joint trajectories for humanoid robots is quite different from this same task for standard robots because of the complexity of the humanoid robots' kinematics. We exploit the similarity between the movements of a humanoid robot and human movements to generate joint trajectories for such robots. In particular we show how to transform human motion information captured by an optical tracking device into a high dimensional trajectory of a humanoid robot. We utilize B-spline wavelets to efficiently represent the joint trajectories and to automatically select the density of the basis functions on the time axis. We applied our method to the task of teaching a humanoid robot how to make a dance movement.

The Humanoid Robot ARMAR: Design and Control

Abstract: This paper addresses the mechanism design methodologies, specification, and control strategies of a mobile manipulation system for the humanoid robot ARMAR, that has to work autonomously or interactively in cooperation with humans in dynamic unstructured environments such as workshops or homes.

A conversational robot utilizing facial and body expressions

Abstract: Communication using non-verbal expression, such as gesture, eyeshot, posture and facial expression, plays an important role in human interaction. For example, in conveying spatial information of the position and/or size of an object, pointing actions also contribute to simplifying the verbal expressions. By nodding or changing facial expressions toward the speaker's utterance, humans convey their state of mind to the speaker and realize a conversable environment. No current conversational systems are equipped with such adequate communicational ability. The authors implement body and facial expressions and conversational function in a humanoid robot and try to realize a natural conversational system. As a result, effective use of the pointing action with verbal expressions "that one" or "this one" contribute to simplifying the verbal expression and realization of rhythmical conversation. In addition, proper feedback actions to the user with facial expressions improve the transparency of the system and the performance of the interface.

Methods for Motion Generation and Interaction with a Humanoid Robot: Case Studies of Dancing and Catching

Abstract: We focus on creating realistic, adaptable movement for humanoid robots and virtual characters. Here we present motion synthesis of dance movements for a humanoid robot, and interactive behavior for catching. Our approach to motion generation includes collection of example human movements, handling of marker occlusion, extraction of motion parameters, and trajectory generation, all of which must be handled in such a way as to be faithful to the style of the original movements. In our interactive behavior, we generate ball-glove impact predictions and intercept motion trajectories for a real time catching task. In this paper we present our results and discuss ideas for future improvements.

Control to realize human-like walking of a biped humanoid robot

Abstract: The paper describes the balance control of biped locomotion systems. A biped humanoid robot is modeled and studied focusing on the realization of human-like walking. Firstly, the smooth motion of its lower limbs is characterized in terms of a set of walking variables. Secondly, to cancel moments produced by the motion of the lower limbs, the motion of its trunk and waist is derived by an iteration method. Finally, program control using a preset walking motion is applied to the biped robot. To confirm human-like walking, we have constructed a human-like biped robot called WABIAN-RII (WAseda BIped HumANoid robot-Revised II) that has a total of forty-three mechanical degrees of freedom (DOF). Experiments of a human-follow walking are conducted using the WABIAN-RII.

The augmented object model: cooperative manipulation and parallel mechanism dynamics

Abstract: The augmented object model provided the basis for effective cooperation between multiple robots. These robots were assumed to have a single serial-chain structure. In this paper we discuss the augmented object model in the context of mechanisms involving multiple branches such as humanoid robots and parallel mechanisms. An application of the proposed model in the dynamic modeling of a holonomic mobile base and experimental results using real-time dynamic simulation are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Mobile manipulation of humanoids-real-time control based on manipulability and stability

Abstract: A real-time control method for a humanoid in mobile manipulation, doing tasks with its arms while moving, is proposed. The arm tips always follow their desired position with external force applied by impedance control, for carrying out a given task with the arms. An evaluation function consisting of not only stability but also arm manipulability-both are important for mobile manipulation-is defined; the humanoid controls its body and legs so that this evaluation may be optimal. As a result, the humanoid autonomously steps or keeps standing, coordinating with the arm tips motion. The effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed method are ascertained by computer simulations on a humanoid of human-size and experiments using a small experimental robot.

Tracing patterns and attention: humanoid robot cognition

Abstract: Humanoid robots promise to lead us toward more effective and informative interactions between humans and robotic devices. The authors introduce mechanisms for attention control and pattern categorization as the basis for cognition in a humanoid robot.

Automatic Generation of Kinematic Models for the Conversion of Human Motion Capture Data into Humanoid Robot Motion

Abstract: Human motion capture is a promising technique for the generation of humanoid robot motions. To convert human motion into humanoid robot motion, we need to relate the humanoid robot kinematics to the kinematics of a human performer. In this paper we propose an automatic approach for scaling of humanoid robot kinematic parameters to the kinematic parameters of a human performer. The kinematic model is constructed directly from the motion capture data without any manual measurements. We discuss the use of the resulting kinematic model for the generation of humanoid robot motions based on the observed human motions. The results of the proposed technique on real human motion capture data are presented.

Development of a light-weight biped humanoid robot

Abstract: In order to meet the demand of a research platform for intelligent robotics, a humanoid robot named Saika-3 has been developed. It is a self-sustaining biped robot with dual arms and a robotic head. It is equipped with a PC (IBM PC/AT clone), batteries, a wireless ethernet modem, a gyroscope and motor drivers inside its body. Saika-3 can be teleoperated via wireless' ethernet communication. A graphic dynamic simulator is also developed to study control strategy. The paper presents an outline of the hardware of Saika-3 and a simulation result.

Developmental Humanoids: Humanoids that Develop Skills Automatically

Abstract: It is desirable for humans to control humanoids through high-level commands, but it is too tedious for humans to issue commands for every detailed action for every fraction of a second. However, it is extremely challenging for humans to program a humanoid robot to such a sufficient degree that it acts properly in typical unknown human environments. This is especially true for humanoids due to the very large number of redundant degrees of freedom and a large number of sensors that are required for humanoids to work safely and effectively in the human environment. How can we address this fundamental problem? Motivated by human mental development from infancy to adulthood, we enable robots develop its mind automatically, through online, real time interactions with its environment. Humans mentally “raise” the robot through “robot sitting” and “robot schools” instead of task-specific robot programming. The SAIL developmental robot that has been built at MSU is an early prototype of such new generation of robots.

Kinematic design of a humanoid robotic shoulder complex

Abstract: We present a mechanical design for a humanoid robotic shoulder complex. The aim of the mechanism is to support the load of the arm and to copy four principal motions of the human shoulder in order to furnish the desired arm mobility and reachability. We utilize a fully parallel mechanism with four driven legs that provide to the movable platform (on which the arm is to be attached) three rotations and one translation. These three rotations represent the shoulder's flexion-extension (about the vertical axis), the shoulder's abduction-adduction (about the anterior-posterior axis), and the shoulder's rotation (about the medial-lateral axis). The fourth degree of freedom is controlled depending on the angles of the first two rotations and represents the shoulder contraction and enlargement along the medial-lateral axis.

Blackfingers: an Artificial Hand that Copies Human Hand in Structure, Size, and Functions.

Abstract: The construction of an artificial hand able to reproduce the functions of the human hand has never been of interest in industrial robotics. Now it is a must in humanoid robotics. In the paper we will illustrate the structure of the human hand and propose a choice of materials and actuators that can reproduce it. The design, the complete model and the prototype are also presented. The basic controller for the fingers is illustrated.

Complex continuous meaningful humanoid interaction: a multi sensory-cue based approach

Abstract: Human interaction involves a number of factors. One key and noticeable factor is the mass perceptual problem. Humans are equipped with a large number of receptors, equipped for seeing, hearing and touching, to name just a few. These stimuli bombard us continuously, often not on a singular basis. Typically multiple stimuli are activated at once, and in responding to these stimuli, variations of responses are exhibited. The current aim of our project is to provide an architecture, that will enable a humanoid robot to yield meaningful responses to complex and continuous interactions, similar to that of humans. We present our humanoid, a system which is able to simultaneously detect the spatial orientation of a sound source, and is also able to detect and mimic the motion of the upper body of a person. The motion produced by our system is human like-ballistic motion. The focus of the paper is on how we have come about the integration of these components. A continuous interactive experiment is presented in demonstrating our initial effort. The demonstration is in the context of our humanoid interacting with a person. Through the use of spatial hearing and multiple visual cues, the system is able to track a person, while mimicking the persons upper body motion. The system has shown to be robust and tolerable to failure, in performing experiments for a long duration of time.

An epigenetic approach to human-robot communication

Abstract: This paper proposes a developmental approach to social intelligence, especially communication ability, for robots and other artificial systems. Any social being has to have two essential features: naturalistic embodiment, i.e., having a body similar to others; and socio-cultural situatedness, i.e., being able to communicate with others and to participate in the social activity. However, we still have an open question: how does the body become situated in the social environment? Our answer is epigenesis, where (1) we create a humanoid with minimum innate abilities, namely a primordial form of joint attention and indirect experience, then (2) through the attentional and imitative interaction with human caregivers, the humanoid autonomously explores how to interact socially with people. As an epigenetic embodiment, the authors are building an upper-torso humanoid, Infanoid, which is to acquire social situatedness in the human community.

An integrated approach for the design and development of a grasping and manipulation system in humanoid robotics

Abstract: The field of humanoids robotics is widely recognized as the current challenge for robotics research. Developing humanoids poses fascinating problems in the realization of manipulation capability, which is still one of most complex problem in robotics. The paper, starting from an overview of current activities in the development of humanoid robots, with special focus on manipulation, presents the authors' approach to the design and development of anthropomorphic sensorized hands and of anthropomorphic control and sensory-motor coordination schemes. Current achievements at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna and Centro INAIL RTR (Research Centre on Rehabilitation Bioengineering) in the development of a robotic human prosthesis are described, together with preliminary experimental results, as well as in the implementation of biologically-inspired schemes for control and sensory-motor co-ordination, derived from models of well-identified human brain areas.

Development of a Biologically Inspired Real-Time Visual Attention System

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present our attempt in creating a visual system for a humanoid robot, which can intervene in nonspecific tasks in real-time. Due to the generic aspects of our goal, our models are based around human architecture. Such approaches have usually been contradictory, with the efficient implementation of real systems and its demanding computational cost. We show that by using PredN, a system for developing distributed real-time robotic applications, we are able to build a real-time scalable visual attention system. It is easy to change the structure of the system, or the hardware in order to investigate new models. In our presentation, we will also present our system with a number of human visual attributes, such as: log-polar retino-cortical mapping, banks of oriented filters providing a generic signature of any object in an image. Additionally, a visual attention mechanism - a psychophysical model - FeatureGate, is used in eliciting a fixation point. The system runs at frame rate, allowing interaction of same time scale as humans.