In this paper, the sensorless force/position control problem is investigated for a general class of dynamic contact systems with both motion sensor noise and unknown kinetic friction by designing a force observer-based controller. Firstly, in order to suppress the effect of motion sensor noise, a dead-zone extended state observer (ESO) is introduced, and the contact force is estimated. Then, based

This paper proposes a Domain Specific Language to describe in a synthetic and comprehensive way, complex control problems for robotic systems. The proposed language, named Math of Tasks, abstracts from the mathematical description of the problem, which heavily depends on the particular algorithm chosen to solve it, relying on a set of operators and entities which instead, composed together, describes

In this paper, we introduce an O(N) algorithm for the computation of the centroidal momentum matrix (CMM) and its time derivative using spatial algebra and expressed with Lie algebra operators. The proposed algorithm is applied to the postural balance of a humanoid robot using whole body control with quadratic programming. The employed tasks only require the CMM and its time derivative without the

For robots in an unstructured work environment, grasping unknown objects that have neither model data nor RGB data is very important. The key to robotic autonomous grasping is not only in the judgment of object type but also in the shape of the object. We present a new grasping approach based on the basic compositions of objects. The simplification of complex objects is conducive to the description

A cooperative control of a manipulator and a human operator has been proposed for an efficient direct teaching operation in this research. The main goal is making the operator be convenient and relaxed when he is operating the manipulator for a direct teaching. The proposed control strategy has two layers: In the first layer, human motion estimator (HME) has been designed to estimate a human intention

Joints’ backdrivability is desired for robots that perform tasks contacting the environment, in addition to the high torque and fast response property. The electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) is an approach to realize force-sensitive robots. To experimentally confirm the performance of a biped robot driven by EHAs, we developed the fully electro-hydrostatically driven humanoid robot Hydra. In this paper

Compared with the traditional hydraulic humanoid robots, the WLR-II, a novel hydraulic wheel-legged robot developed by using hose-less design, can significantly increase the reliability and maneuverability. The WLR-II combines the rough-terrain capability of legs with the efficiency of wheels. In this paper, a novel framework called rough-terrain adaption framework (RTAF) is presented which allows

This paper presents a novel biped-wheeled-wearable machine, named HANDSHAKE, and obtained by an evolution of two robots presented in other works: one flexible-wheeled leg and one biped-flexible-wheeled robot. A critical design analysis of these two robots helped the author to propose a novel machine able to revolutionize the lower body exoskeletons’ world. Conceptual and functional design, mechanical

Inspired by nature, soft-bodied pneumatic network actuators (PNAs) composed of compliant materials have been successfully applied in the fields of industry and daily life because of large-amplitude motion and long life span. However, compliant materials simultaneously limit the output force, challenge the dynamic modeling and impede corresponding control. In this paper, we investigate the design, modeling

Discrimination of surface textures using tactile sensors has attracted increasing attention. Intelligent robotics with the ability to recognize and discriminate the surface textures of grasped objects are crucial. In this paper, a novel method for surface texture classification based on tactile signals is proposed. For the proposed method, first, the tactile signals of each channel (X, Y, Z, and S)

When people use electronic media for their communication, Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) theories describe the social and communicative aspects of people’s interpersonal transactions. When people interact via a remote-controlled robot, many of the CMC theses hold. Yet, what if people communicate with a conversation robot that is (partly) autonomous? Do the same theories apply? This paper discusses

In building on theories of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), Human–Robot Interaction, and Media Psychology (MΨ; i.e., Theory of Affective Bonding), this paper proposes an explanation of how over time, people experience the mediated or simulated aspects of the interaction with a social robot. In two simultaneously running loops, a more reflective process is balanced with a more affective process

Recent studies suggest that robot-based interventions are potentially effective in diagnosis and therapy of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), demonstrating that robots can improve the engagement abilities and attention in autistic children. While methodological approaches vary significantly in these studies and are not unified yet, researchers often develop similar solutions based on similar conceptual

Humans make extensive use of auditory cues to interact with other humans, especially in challenging real-world acoustic environments. Multiple distinct acoustic events usually mix together in a complex auditory scene. The ability to separate and localize mixed sound in complex auditory scenes remains a demanding skill for binaural robots. In fact, binaural robots are required to disambiguate and interpret

This paper presents a hierarchical controller and extracts the singular configurations based on underactuated system and optimal distribution of forces. Unlike multi-legged and large-sole robots, biped robot with point contact cannot maintain a stable standing state, much less to adjust attitude and resist external impact. The support domain of point-foot bipedal robot degenerates into a line segment

The learning of inter-day representation of electromyographic (EMG) signals across multiple days remains a challenging topic and not fully accommodated yet. This study aims to improve the inter-day hand motion classification accuracy via convolutional neural network (CNN)-based data feature fusion. An EMG database (ISRMyo-I) was recorded from six subjects on 10 days via a low density electrode setting

Tactile feedback is beneficial to improve the hand prosthesis performance, alleviate phantom pain, reduce muscle fatigue, etc. During the manipulation process, muscle fatigue not only causes discomfort to prosthesis users but also disturbs the surface electromyographic (sEMG)-based motion recognition, which significantly deteriorates the prosthesis functional performance. Efforts have been made to

Telexistence refers to the general technology that allows humans to experience the real-time sensation of being in another place, interacting with a remote environment, which may be real, virtual, or a combination of both. It also refers to an advanced type of teleoperation system that allows an operator behind the controls to perform remote tasks dexterously with the feeling of being in a surrogate

Since the last few decades, research in the area of robotics technology has been emphasizing in the modeling and development of cognitive machines. A cognitive machine can have multiple cognitive capabilities to be programmed to make it artificially intelligent. Numerous cognitive modules interact to mimic human behavior in machines and result in such a heavily coupled system that a minor change in

For several years, high development and production costs of humanoid robots restricted researchers interested in working in the field. To overcome this problem, several research groups have opted to work with simulated or smaller robots, whose acquisition costs are significantly lower. However, due to scale differences and imperfect simulation replicability, results may not be directly reproducible

The universal Turing Machine (TM) is a model for Von Neumann computers — general-purpose computers. A human brain, linked with its biological body, can inside-skull-autonomously learn a universal TM so that he acts as a general-purpose computer and writes a computer program for any practical purposes. It is unknown whether a robot can accomplish the same. This theoretical work shows how the Developmental

The use of robotic limb exoskeletons is growing fast either for rehabilitation purposes or in an aim to enhance human ability for lifting heavy objects or for walking for long distances without fatigue. The paper proposes a nonlinear optimal control approach for a lower-limb robotic exoskeleton. The method has been successfully tested so far on the control problem of several types of robotic manipulators

In the past several years, grasp analysis of multi-fingered robotic hands has been actively studied through the use of posture synergies. In these grasping planning algorithms, a formulated optimization is usually performed in the hand’s low-dimensional representation together with the hand’s position and orientation. The optimization terminates at a stable grasp, often after repeated trials with different

This paper describes a rule base-Sugeno fuzzy hybrid controller for path planning of single as well as multiple humanoid robots in cluttered environments. Initially, sensor outputs regarding the obstacle distances are used as inputs to the rule base model, and turning angle is obtained as the output. The rule-based analysis is used for training the fuzzy controller with membership functions. The output

The prime challenge in a humanoid robot is its stability on two feet due to the presence of an underactuated system. In this paper, the complete dynamics of the humanoid robot has been described in essence of torque calculation at the end effectors. Presence of various restraints in humanoid robot motion makes the task of stabilization an even humongous one. Therefore, to neutralize these constraints

Humanoid robots are often supposed to share their workspace with humans and thus have to deal with objects used by humans in their everyday life. In this article, we present our novel approach to h...

Exoskeleton for motion assistance has obtained more and more attention due to its advantages in rehabilitation and assistance for daily life. This research designed an estimation method of human joint torque by the kinetic human–machine interaction between the operator’s elbow joint torque and the output of exoskeleton. The human elbow joint torque estimation was obtained by back propagation (BP) neural

We developed a bipedal robot equipped with brake and clutch mechanisms to change the number of active and passive joints, thereby enabling various types of movements including normal active walking...

The human hand is a complex, highly-articulated system, which has been the source of inspiration in designing humanoid robotic and prosthetic hands. Understanding the functionality of the human han...

Although there are several popular and capable humanoid robot designs available in the kid-size range, they lack some important characteristics: affordability, being user-friendly, using a wide-angle camera, sufficient computational resources for advanced AI algorithms, and mechanical robustness and stability are the most important ones. Recent advances in 3D printer technology enables researchers

A three-finger under actuated robotic hand with dexterous force control and inherent compliance is developed and tested. A simplified biomimetic finger design is generated and applied with mechanic...

Unsteady locomotion and the dynamic environment are two problems that block humanoid robots to apply visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) approaches. Humans are often considered as m...

Gait development for bipedal/humanoid robots has been a field of study with a lot of attention for several years and is becoming increasingly important as robots slowly become part of our daily lives. Therefore, it is expectable that robots should adopt human-like behaviors in order to make their interactions with humans more natural and studies have been made involving robots that have a natural,

This paper contributes towards the benchmarking of control architectures for bipedal robot locomotion. It considers architectures that are based on the Divergent Component of Motion (DCM) and composed of three main layers: trajectory optimization, simplified model control, and whole-body QP control layer. While the first two layers use simplified robot models, the whole-body QP control layer uses a

This paper presents a balance-centered planner for object re-posing. It uses Center-of-Mass (CoM) constraints to preserve robot stability and provides stable, IK-feasible, and collision-free upper-...

This paper describes the procedure followed for using third-party tools and applications, avoiding the development of complex communication software modules for data sharing. A common practice in robotics is the use of middlewares to interconnect different software applications, hardware components, or even complete systems. It allows code and tool reuse minimizing the development effort. In this way

Real-time human intent recognition is important for controlling low-limb wearable robots. In this paper, to achieve continuous and precise recognition results on different terrains, we propose a re...

Biped humanoid robots that operate in real-world environments need to be able to physically recognize different floors to best adapt their gait. In this work, we describe the preparation of a dataset of contact forces obtained with eight force tactile sensors for determining the underlying surface of a walking robot. The data is acquired for four floors with different coefficient of friction, and different

Most existing motion control methods for humanoids aim at avoiding falling. However, the humanoid is generally an unstable system that cannot completely avoid falling and it is difficult to cope with the sudden fall of a robot. This paper designs a planning method of fall protection for humanoids according to the human falling motion. This method changes the impact position between the robot and ground

This paper proposes a new framework to generate 3D multi-contact locomotion with low computation cost. The proposed framework consists of (a) the derivation of the prospect centroidal dynamics by introducing a force distribution ratio, where it can be represented with a formulation similar to the inverted pendulum’s one, and (b) the development of a fast computation method for generating a 3D center-of-mass

This work introduces a new sensing system for biped robots based on plantar robot skin, which provides not only the resultant forces applied on the ankles but a precise shape of the pressure distri...

Intelligent assistive robots can potentially contribute to maintaining an elderly person’s independence by supporting everyday life activities. However, the number of different and personalized activities to be supported renders pre-programming of all respective robot behaviors prohibitively difficult. Instead, to cope with a continuous and potentially open-ended stream of cooperative tasks, new collaborative

Grasp planning and motion synthesis for dexterous manipulation tasks are traditionally done given a pre-existing kinematic model for the robotic hand. In this paper, we introduce a framework for automatically designing hand topologies best suited for manipulation tasks given high-level objectives as input. Our pipeline is capable of building custom hand designs around speci ̄c manipulation tasks based

There has been great progress in soft robot design, manufacture, and control in recent years, and soft robots are a tool of choice for safe and robust handling of objects in conditions of uncertain...

In this paper, we propose a locomotion planning framework for a humanoid robot with stable whole-body collision avoidance motion, which enables the robot to traverse an unknown narrow space on the ...

Robot performance measures are important tools for quantifying the ability to carry out manipulation tasks. Generally, these measures examine the system’s kinematic transformations from configurati...

We evaluate the ability of locally present participants to localize an avatar head’s gaze direction rapidly in hosted telepresence. We performed a controlled user study to test two potential solutions to indicate a remote user’s gaze. We analyze the influence of the user’s distance to the avatar and display technique on localization accuracy. Furthermore, we examine the effect of the avatar head’s

Stable bipedal walking is a key prerequisite for humanoid robots to reach their potential of being versatile helpers in our everyday environments. Bipedal walking is, however, a complex motion that...

Bipedal walking is a complex phenomenon that is not fully understood. Simplified models make it easier to highlight the important features. Here, the variable length inverted pendulum (VLIP) model ...

External force observer for humanoid robots has been widely studied in the literature. However, most of the proposed approaches generally rely on information from six-axis force/torque sensors, whi...

Robots might not act according to human expectations if they cannot anticipate how people make sense of a situation and what behavior they consider appropriate in some given circumstances. In many ...

This paper presents a control scheme for the humanoid robot TEO’s elbow joint based on a novel tuning method for fractional-order PD and PI controllers. Due to the graphical nature of the proposed ...

This paper addresses the problem of obtaining the required motions for a humanoid robot to perform grasp actions trying to mimic the coordinated hand–arm movements humans do. The first step is the ...

This study aimed to propose an extended state observer fuzzy-approximation-based active disturbances rejection control (FAADRC) method for a dual-arm humanoid robotic system. The purpose of this control system was to provide disturbance estimation and compensation to enable the humanoid robots to track any continuous desired trajectory, even in the presence of environmental disturbances and parametric

This paper presents an extension of previous model predictive control (MPC) schemes for dynamic walking to the stabilization of the time-varying divergent component-of-motion (DCM). In order to add...

Robotic exoskeletons are expected to show high compliance and low impedance for human–robot interactions (HRIs). Our study introduces a novel method based on nonlinear model reference adaptive cont...

This paper presents a general framework for locomotion control and generation of humanoid robots. Different from most of the existing work which uses the zero-moment point (2mp) to determine the fe...

In this paper, we propose standing and stepping control with switching rules based on angular momentum around the ankle for planar bipedal robots. A theoretical analysis under some approximation an...

This paper proposes an external force detection method for humanoid robot arm without using joint torque sensors, which can detect the external force of the joint space in real time during the oper...

The proper description of finger-object contact state is critical to the analysis and control of multi-fingered hand grasping. At present, most studies assume that the finger-object contact state i...