Study on feet forces' distributions,energy consumption and dynamic stability measure of hexapod robot during crab walking

This paper deals with the development of a dynamical model related to crab walking of a hexapod robot to determine the feet forces' distributions, energy consumption and dynamic stability measure considering the inertial effects of the legs on the system, which has not been attempted before. Both forward and inverse kinematic analyses of the robot are carried out with an assigned fixed global frame and subsequent local frames in the trunk body and joints of each leg. Coupled multi-body dynamic model of the robot is developed based on free-body diagram approach. Optimal feet forces and corresponding joint torques on all the legs are determined based on the minimization of the sum of the squares of joint torques, using quadratic programming (QP) method. An energy consumption model is developed to determine the minimum energy required for optimal values of feet forces. To ensure dynamically stable gaits, dynamic gait stability margin (DGSM) is determined from the angular momentum of the system about the supporting edges. Computer simulations have been carried out to test the effectiveness of the developed dynamic model with crab wave gaits on a banking surface. It is observed that when the swing leg touches the ground, impact forces (sudden shoot outs) are generated and their effects are also observed on the joints of the legs. The effects of walking parameters, namely trunk body velocity, body stroke, leg offset, body height, crab angle etc. on power consumption and stability during crab motion for duty factors (DFs) like 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 have also been studied.     

New walking dynamics in the simplest passive bipedal walking model

This paper revisits the simplest passive walking model by Garcia et al. which displays chaos through period doubling from a stable period-1 gait. By carefully numerical studies, two new gaits with period-3 and -4 are found, whose stability is verified by estimates of eigenvalues of the corresponding Jacobian matrices. A surprising phenomenon uncovered here is that they both lead to higher periodic cycles and chaos via period doubling. To study the three different types of chaotic gaits rigorously, the existence of horseshoes is verified and estimates of the topological entropies are made by computer-assisted proofs in terms of topological horseshoe theory.     

Investigation of optimal bipedal walking gaits subject to different energy-based objective functions

Optimal bipedal walking gaits subject to different energy-based objective functions are investigated using a simple planar rigid body model of a bipedal robot with upper body, thighs and shanks. The robot's segments are connected by revolute joints actuated by electric motors. The actuators' torques are generated by a trajectory tracking controller to produce periodic walking gaits. A numerical optimization routine is used to find optimal reference trajectories for average speeds in the range of 0.3 – 2.3 m/s to investigate the influence of different objective functions. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Period-three route to chaos induced by a cyclic-fold bifurcation in passive dynamic walking of a compass-gait biped robot

This paper presents a study of the passive dynamic walking of a compass-gait biped robot as it goes down an inclined plane. This biped robot is a two-degrees-of-freedom mechanical system modeled by an impulsive hybrid nonlinear dynamics with unilateral constraints. It is well-known to possess periodic as well as chaotic gaits and to possess only one stable gait for a given set of parameters. The main contribution of this paper is the finding of a window in the parameters space of the compass-gait model where there is multistability. Using constraints of a grazing bifurcation on the basis of a shooting method and the Davidchack–Lai scheme, we show that, depending on initial conditions, new passive walking patterns can be observed besides those already known. Through bifurcation diagrams and Floquet multipliers, we show that a pair of stable and unstable period-three gait patterns is generated through a cyclic-fold bifurcation. We show also that the stable period-three orbit generates a route to chaos.     

Sensitivity Analysis of Human Leg Metabolical Costs

The human walking is characterized by skeletal dynamics and muscle excitation patterns minimizing the metabolical energy. This criterion is applied to assess the performance of lower limb prosthetic devices, and to evaluate therapies for patients presenting gait disorders. It is desirable, therefore, to dispose models of the human normal and pathological gaits capable of estimating the metabolical energy expenditure. For the swing phase of normal and pathological gaits a musculoskeletal model of the lower limb is presented to estimate metabolical energy expenditure. The mechanical model has three degrees of freedom and is actuated by eight Hill-type muscle units, and the model for the metabolical costs is adopted from literature. In this paper a combination of inverse and direct dynamics is used, and a sensitivity analysis of the dynamical behavior and the corresponding metabolical costs estimations with respect to parametrized neural excitations is performed. The leg motions are based on experiments in a gait analysis laboratory. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Virtual quadruped: Mechanical design,control, simulation,and experimentation

We consider a prototyped walking robot containing a platform and two double-link legs. Thus, it is a five-link mechanism. The front leg models identical motions of the quadruped’s two front legs, and the back leg models identical motions of the quadruped’s two back legs. The legs have passive (uncontrolled) feet that extend in the frontal plane. Because of this the robot is stable in the frontal plane. This robot can be viewed as a “virtual” quadruped. Four DC motors drive the mechanism. Its control system comprises a computer, hardware servo-systems, and power amplifiers. The locomotion of the prototype is planar curvet gait. In the double support our prototype is statically stable and overactuated. In the single support it is an unstable and underactuated system. There is no flight phase. We describe here the scheme of the mechanism, the characteristics of the drives, and the control strategy. The dynamic model of the planar walking is recalled for the double-and single-support phases and for the impact instant. The experiments give results that are close to those of the simulation. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 11, No. 8, pp. 5–28, 2005.     

Optimal control for indoor overhead crane systems with predefined course of crab

Most papers on optimal control of 3D overhead cranes focus on systems without constraints for the course of the crab (for example [1], [3]). Based on a general 3D model a minimal model with 2 degrees of freedom is developed. Starting from a given initial state the optimal control to reach a given final state is calculated for some predefined courses of the crab. For different turning angles and speeds of the crab an arc of a sine, parabola, circular and an arc of two symmetric clothoid segments have been investigated. Calculations for different values of the mass of the load, turning angles and speed of the crab are presented. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Adaptive control of kinematically redundant robots

A redundant robot has more degrees of freedom than those neededto position the Robert end-effector uniquely. In a usual robotictask, only end-effector position trajectory is specified. Thejoint position trajectory is unknown, and it must be selectedfrom a self-motion manifold for a specified end-effector. Inmany situations, the robot dynamic parameters such as the linkmass, inertia, and joint viscous friction are unknown. The lackof knowledge of the joint trajectory and the dynamic parametersmake it difficult to control redundant robots. In this paper we show, through careful formulation of the problem,that the adaptative control of redundant robots can be addressedas a reference-velocity traking problem in the joint space.A control law ensures bounded estimation of the unknown dynamicparameters of the robot, and the convergence to zero of thevelocity traking error is derived. To ensure the joint motionon the self-motion manifold remains bounded, a homeomorphictransformation is found. This transformation decomposes thedynamics of the velocity tracking error into a cascade systemconsisting of the dynamics in the end-effector error coordinatesand the dynamics on the self-motion manifold. The dynamics onthe self-motion manifold is shown to be related to the conceptof zero dynamics. In the shown that, if the reference jointtrajectory is selected to optimize a certain type of objectivefunction, then stable dynamics on the self-motion manifold result.This ensures the overall stability of the adaptive system. Detailedsimulations are given to test the theoretical developments.The proposed adaptive scheme does not require measurements ofthe joint acceleration or the inversion of the inertia matrixof the robot.     

A comparison of static optimization criteria for resolving the 3D muscle redundancy problem during human gait

In this paper, different approaches of static optimization for predicting muscle forces during human walking are investigated. In order to better reflect the true mechanics of the human body, a three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of a single leg is developed. The joint moments generated by muscles during walking are computed from inverse dynamics. The muscle force is estimated by different optimization criteria, each satisfying the moment constraints at all joints and the lower and upper muscle force constraints. Several polynomial and non-polynomial criteria frequently used in literature are studied. Then the results obtained from these calculations are compared with each other. This paper provides an overview of the effects of different optimization criteria on the 3D muscle force distribution problem during human walking. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

“货到人”拣选系统机器人任务分配的鲁棒双层规划模型

在电商“货到人”拣选系统中,如何调度系统中的机器人并对任务进行合理地分配决定着整个系统的运行效率与成本。分析“货到人”拣选系统作业流程,建立机器人数量配置、机器人调度与机器人任务分配的双层规划模型。上层模型以批量订单完成总成本最小为目标函数,以机器人调度为决策变量,构建整数规划模型;下层模型以机器人完成所有任务的平均空闲率最小为目标函数,以任务分配为决策变量,考虑机器人在完成任务过程中由于调度、避障、路径规划等导致的行走距离不确定因素,构建鲁棒优化模型。上层的调度结果制约了下层的最小平均空闲率,下层的任务分配结果影响上层的最小成本,上下层结果共同决定机器人配置决策。利用遗传算法求解模型,通过实例仿真验证了模型的有效性。     

Coupled nonlinear oscillators and the symmetries of animal gaits

Summary Animal locomotion typically employs several distinct periodic patterns of leg movements, known as gaits. It has long been observed that most gaits possess a degree of symmetry. Our aim is to draw attention to some remarkable parallels between the generalities of coupled nonlinear oscillators and the observed symmetries of gaits, and to describe how this observation might impose constraints on the general structure of the neural circuits, i.e. central pattern generators, that control locomotion. We compare the symmetries of gaits with the symmetry-breaking oscillation patterns that should be expected in various networks of symmetrically coupled nonlinear oscillators. We discuss the possibility that transitions between gaits may be modeled as symmetry-breaking bifurcations of such oscillator networks. The emphasis is on general model-independent features of such networks, rather than on specific models. Each type of network generates a characteristic set of gait symmetries, so our results may be interpreted as an analysis of the general structure required of a central pattern generator in order to produce the types of gait observed in the natural world. The approach leads to natural hierarchies of gaits, ordered by symmetry, and to natural sequences of gait bifurcations. We briefly discuss how the ideas could be extended to hexapodal gaits.     

Motion planning for planar bipeds using flatness: the single support phase

Trajectory planning and control of planar motions of biped robots is considered. The robot is modeled as a hierarchical structure of rigid links with rotational joints, which may be seen as a pendulum tree. Motors are available at all rotational joints. However, by the absence of control torques at the contact points with the ground, the system is underactuated. It is shown how differential flatness and time scaling can be helpful for the design of walking motions. Emphasis is put on the single support phase, when the robot touches the floor at a single point. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Further development of the mathematical model of a snakeboard

This paper gives the further development for the mathematical model of a derivative of a skateboard known as the snakeboard. As against to the model, proposed by Lewis et al. [1] and investigated by various methods in [1–13], our model takes into account an opportunity that platforms of a snakeboard can rotate independently from each other. This assumption has been made earlier only by Golubev [13]. Equations of motion of the model are derived in the Gibbs-Appell form. Analytical and numerical investigations of these equations are fulfilled assuming harmonic excitations of the rotor and platforms angles. The basic snakeboard gaits are analyzed and shown to result from certain resonances in the rotor and platforms angle frequencies. All the obtained theoretical results are confirmed by numerical experiments.      

On the dynamic model and motion planning for a spherical rolling robot actuated by orthogonal internal rotors

The paper deals with the dynamics of a spherical rolling robot actuated by internal rotors that are placed on orthogonal axes. The driving principle for such a robot exploits nonholonomic constraints to propel the rolling carrier. A full mathematical model as well as its reduced version are derived, and the inverse dynamics are addressed. It is shown that if the rotors are mounted on three orthogonal axes, any feasible kinematic trajectory of the rolling robot is dynamically realizable. For the case of only two rotors the conditions of controllability and dynamic realizability are established. It is shown that in moving the robot by tracing straight lines and circles in the contact plane the dynamically realizable trajectories are not represented by the circles on the sphere, which is a feature of the kinematic model of pure rolling. The implication of this fact to motion planning is explored under a case study. It is shown there that in maneuvering the robot by tracing circles on the sphere the dynamically realizable trajectories are essentially different from those resulted from kinematic models. The dynamic motion planning problem is then formulated in the optimal control settings, and properties of the optimal trajectories are illustrated under simulation.     

Generating optimal path by level set approach for a mobile robot moving in static/dynamic environments

According to the analogy between the mobile robot navigation path and the heat transferring path under steady state, the robot path planning problem during navigation is converted into identify the heat transferring path that minimizes the thermal compliance across the analysis domain. A new path planning approach which combines the concept of growth simulation and level set based heat conduction topology optimization framework is adopted to determine the heat transferring path. By introducing the concept of growth simulation, the proposed approach could calculate a few steps of the navigation path, which is of great significance for online reactive navigation. The proposed approach could avoid local minima and search for the optimal growth orientation freely without constraints from background mesh since the inherent characteristics of heat conduction and the level set approach, respectively. A new reactive navigation algorithm based on the proposed path planning approach and the concept of temporarily safe path is proposed to navigate the mobile robot from the start point to the goal point in unknown dynamic environment with static and dynamic obstacles. Diverse simulation cases are carried to illustrate the effectiveness of the reactive navigation algorithm.     

Dynamics-Based Motion Planning for a Pendulum-Actuated Spherical Rolling Robot

This paper deals with the dynamics and motion planning for a spherical rolling robot with a pendulum actuated by two motors. First, kinematic and dynamic models for the rolling robot are introduced. In general, not all feasible kinematic trajectories of the rolling carrier are dynamically realizable. A notable exception is when the contact trajectories on the sphere and on the plane are geodesic lines. Based on this consideration, a motion planning strategy for complete reconfiguration of the rolling robot is proposed. The strategy consists of two trivial movements and a nontrivial maneuver that is based on tracing multiple spherical triangles. To compute the sizes and the number of triangles, a reachability diagram is constructed. To define the control torques realizing the rest-to-rest motion along the geodesic lines, a geometric phase-based approach has been employed and tested under simulation. Compared with the minimum effort optimal control, the proposed technique is less computationally expensive while providing similar system performance, and thus it is more suitable for real-time applications.     

Directional fields algebraic non-linear solution equations for mobile robot planning

In this study, a novel approach to robot navigation/planning by using half-cell electrochemical potentials is presented. The half-cell electrode’s potential is modelled by the Nernst equation to yield automatic search/detection of pipeline flaws by using the direct current voltage gradient (DCVG) technique. We introduce a theory of spherical volumetric electric density in the soil to sustain our postulates for navigational potential fields. The Nernst potential is correlated with the distance to a pipe’s flaw by proposing a fitted theoretical-empirical nonlinear regression model. From this, volumetric derivatives are solved as gradient-based fields to control wheeled robot’s motion. A nonlinear system for trajectory planning is proposed, and analytically solved by an algebraic solution. This solution directly adjust robot’s speed kinematic values to lead it toward the flaw. The inverse/forward kinematic constraints are non-holonomic, and are recursively integrated into the general potential equation. Analytical modelling is reported, and a set of numerical simulations are presented to prove the feasibility of the proposed formulations.     

一种基于Dijkstra算法的机器人避障问题路径规划

移动机器人的避障问题是移动机器人控制领域的研究热点.针对给定的移动机器人避障问题,探讨了最短路径及最短时间路径的路径规划问题.对于最短路径问题,建立了简化的路径网格模型,将其抽象为由节点及边构成的两维图,再使用经典的Dijkstra算法获得可行的最短路径.对于最短时间路径问题,通过分析移动机器人弯道运行的速度曲线,基于几何方法得出了移动时间与过渡圆弧圆心之间严格的数学关系,此后借助MATLAB优化函数获得最佳的移动路径.算法可为类似机器人避障问题的解决提供借鉴.     

Bacterial memetic algorithm for offline path planning of mobile robots

The goal of the path planning problem is to determine an optimal collision-free path between a start and a target point for a mobile robot in an environment surrounded by obstacles. This problem belongs to the group of combinatorial optimization problems which are approached by modern optimization techniques such as evolutionary algorithms. In this paper the bacterial memetic algorithm is proposed for path planning of a mobile robot. The objective is to minimize the path length and the number of turns without colliding with an obstacle. The representation used in the paper fits well to the algorithm. Memetic algorithms combine evolutionary algorithms with local search heuristics in order to speed up the evolutionary process. The bacterial memetic algorithm applies the bacterial operators instead of the genetic algorithm??s crossover and mutation operator. One advantage of these operators is that they easily can handle individuals with different length. The method is able to generate a collision-free path for the robot even in complicated search spaces. The proposed algorithm is tested in real environment.     

机器人路径规划算法及其应用

本文研究环境已知条件下的移动机器人路径规划问题,提出了一种基于人工神经网络的路径规划算法,所提算法可以规划出折线型的最短路径,并且计算简单,收敛速度快。将所提算法应用于机器人“Khepera“,通过模拟实验,表明所提算法有效。