Walking robots dynamically traverse "extreme" terrain
As a part of the DARPA Learning Locomotion project, the CSAIL Robot Locomotion
Group under the direction of EECS Professor Russ Tedrake has been designing robust control strategies for a small
quadruped robot to dynamically traverse rough terrain containing
obstacles with heights comparable to the leg length of the robot. The
success of these efforts was due to an efficient kinematic planning
algorithm which selects footholds and transitions across the terrain,
and on the design of new kinodynamic motion planning tools for
double-support gaits (in which two feet are off the ground at the same
time for a portion of the gait cycle). The attached video
demonstrates a rare combination of careful foot placements and
aggressive dynamic movements, all generated by the same machinery.
The robot, called LittleDog, is built by Boston Dynamics and operates
in a motion capture environment with "known" terrain; the hope is that
this technology will transition to the BigDog robot in the near future
in order to improve its capabilities for negotiating "extreme"
terrain.
Project team: Russ Tedrake, Katie Byl, Sam Prentice, Alec Shkolnik.
View the video taken by Katie Byl: "Little Dog" (hosted by MIT Tech TV). |
