Motion teaching method for complex robot links using motor current

Conventional robot motion teaching methods use a teaching pendant or a motion capture device and are not the most convenient or intuitive ways to teach a robot sophisticated and fluid movements such as martial arts motions. Ideally, a robot could be set up as if it were a clothing mannequin that has light limbs and flexible yet frictional joints which can be positioned at desirable shape and hold all the positions. To do the same with a robot, an operator could pull or push the links with minor forces until the desired robot posture is attained. For this, a robot should measure the applied external force by using torque sensors at the robot joints. However, torque sensors are bulky and expensive to install in every DOF joints while keeping a compact design, which is essential to humanoid robots. In this paper, we use only motor current readings to acquire joint torques. The equations used to compensate for the effect of gravity on the joint torques and the self-calibration method to earn link parameters are presented. Additionally, kinematic restrictions can be imposed on the robot’s arms to simplify the motion teaching. Here, we teach the Kendo training robot with this method and the robot’s learnt martial art motions are demonstrated.     

ADXL203型双轴加速计在机器人足部感知系统中的应用

仿人机器人要实现在复杂环境下稳定行走,仅仅依靠地面反力信息远不能满足应用要求,此时足部的倾角信息显得更为重要。脚面倾角可以反映地面倾斜状态,是仿人机器人稳定控制的一个重要依据。利用ADXL203双轴加速度传感器与DSP(TMS3202811)实现对倾角信息的实时高速采集与处理,并通过实验证明了倾角传感器在机器人足部感知系统中是可行的。     

Humanoid odometric localization integrating kinematic,inertial and visual information

We present a method for odometric localization of humanoid robots using standard sensing equipment, i.e., a monocular camera, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), joint encoders and foot pressure sensors. Data from all these sources are integrated using the prediction-correction paradigm of the Extended Kalman Filter. Position and orientation of the torso, defined as the representative body of the robot, are predicted through kinematic computations based on joint encoder readings; an asynchronous mechanism triggered by the pressure sensors is used to update the placement of the support foot. The correction step of the filter uses as measurements the torso orientation, provided by the IMU, and the head pose, reconstructed by a VSLAM algorithm. The proposed method is validated on the humanoid NAO through two sets of experiments: open-loop motions aimed at assessing the accuracy of localization with respect to a ground truth, and closed-loop motions where the humanoid pose estimates are used in real-time as feedback signals for trajectory control.     

Inverse Kinematics Based Human Mimicking System using Skeletal Tracking Technology

Humanoid robots needs to have human-like motions and appearance in order to be well-accepted by humans. Mimicking is a fast and user-friendly way to teach them human-like motions. However, direct assignment of observed human motions to robot’s joints is not possible due to their physical differences. This paper presents a real-time inverse kinematics based human mimicking system to map human upper limbs motions to robot’s joints safely and smoothly. It considers both main definitions of motion similarity, between end-effector motions and between angular configurations. Microsoft Kinect sensor is used for natural perceiving of human motions. Additional constraints are proposed and solved in the projected null space of the Jacobian matrix. They consider not only the workspace and the valid motion ranges of the robot’s joints to avoid self-collisions, but also the similarity between the end-effector motions and the angular configurations to bring highly human-like motions to the robot. Performance of the proposed human mimicking system is quantitatively and qualitatively assessed and compared with the state-of-the-art methods in a human-robot interaction task using Nao humanoid robot. The results confirm applicability and ability of the proposed human mimicking system to properly mimic various human motions.     

基于ADAMS的双足机器人拟人行走动态仿真

在双足机器人HEUBR_1的设计中,下肢采用了一种新的串并混联的仿人结构,并在足部增加了足趾关节.为验证该仿人结构设计的合理性及拟人步态规划的可行性,在ADAMS虚拟环境中建立了双足机器人HEUSR_1的仿真模型.通过拟人步态规划生成了运动仿真数据,在ADAMS虚拟环境中实现了具有足趾运动的拟人稳定行走,经仿真分析,获得了双足机器人HEUBR_1拟人行走步态下的运动学和动力学特性,仿真结果表明:双足机器人HEUBR_1的串并混联的仿人结构设计能够满足行走要求,且拟人步态规划方法可行,有足趾运动的拟人行走具有运动平稳、能耗低、足底冲击力小的特点.稳定行走的仿真步态数据可为下一步双足机器人HEUBR_1样机行走实验提供参考数据.     

New evaluation framework for human-assistive devices based on humanoid robotics

This paper presents the new application of a humanoid robot as an evaluator of human-assistive devices. The reliable and objective evaluation framework for assistive devices is necessary for making industrial standards in order that those devices are used in various applications. In this framework, we utilize a recent humanoid robot with its high similarity to humans, human motion retargeting techniques to a humanoid robot, and identification techniques of robot’s mechanical properties. We also show two approaches to estimate supporting torques from the sensor data, which can be used properly according to the situations. With the general formulation of the wire-driven multi-body system, the supporting torque of passive assistive devices is also formulated. We evaluate a passive assistive wear ‘Smart Suit Lite (SSL)’ as an example of device, and use HRP-4 as the humanoid platform.     

基于多传感器集成的仿人机器人足部感知系统

足部是仿人机器人本体支撑的基础,也是唯一与地面接触并发生相互作用的主要部件,其各种地面信息获取能力是机器人实现仿人的自然性稳定行走控制的关键.基于六维力传感器、惯量测量单元和柔性触觉阵列传感器,设计了一种新型仿人机器人集成化足部感知系统(IPFS).具备对各种地面环境识别和足部姿态获取、足底与外界接触位置的实时感知和估...     

拟人机器人TH-1手臂运动学

拟人机器人手臂的主要特点是它的运动功能，能够实现握手、行走时掌握平衡等动作．本文 主要针对自行设计的具有转摆结构的拟人机器人TH-1手臂机构进行了运动学分析，为其控 制提供数学基础．提出了坐标变换、三角变换等方法，巧妙求解出拟人机器人TH-1手臂逆 向运动学的解析表达式．建立了仿真软件平台，验证了运动学正逆向方程的有效性．     

基于接触力信息的仿人机器人ZMP测量系统

针对现有仿人机器人零力矩点(ZMP)测量系统的力/力矩传感器不直接触地导致不能充分反映脚底各部位受力的问题,设计了一种基于地面接触力信息的具有传感器阵列的ZMP测量系统。介绍了传感器信号多级放大、采集及处理的软硬件系统,应用CAN总线接口实现了与外部上位机的通信。所设计的系统已应用于实际仿人机器人。步行实验表明:该系统能有效完成步行中ZMP的实时测量和脚底各部位受力信息的实时采集、计算与通信,简单易实现。     

基于Kinect的仿人机器人控制系统

为实现对具有16个自由度仿人机器人的姿态控制,采用Kinect传感器对人体姿态的坐标数据进行采集,根据坐标信息利用Processing软件开发基于SimpleOpenNI库的上位机软件,建立人体关节模型,并利用空间向量法对仿人机器人的步态规划以及重心控制算法分析,解析各关节的转动角度,经由无线WiFi模块向仿人机器人发送指令以控制舵机的运动,最终实现对机器人的控制,搭建了基于Kinect传感器的测试平台.测试结果表明:仿人机器人上肢在运动范围内无死角,通过对重心的控制,下肢可实现简单的步行,符合预期效果.     

Humanoids skill learning based on real-time human motion imitation using Kinect

In this paper, a novel framework which enables humanoid robots to learn new skills from demonstration is proposed. The proposed framework makes use of real-time human motion imitation module as a demonstration interface for providing the desired motion to the learning module in an efficient and user-friendly way. This interface overcomes many problems of the currently used interfaces like direct motion recording, kinesthetic teaching, and immersive teleoperation. This method gives the human demonstrator the ability to control almost all body parts of the humanoid robot in real time (including hand shape and orientation which are essential to perform object grasping). The humanoid robot is controlled remotely and without using any sophisticated haptic devices, where it depends only on an inexpensive Kinect sensor and two additional force sensors. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time for Kinect sensor to be used in estimating hand shape and orientation for object grasping within the field of real-time human motion imitation. Then, the observed motions are projected onto a latent space using Gaussian process latent variable model to extract the relevant features. These relevant features are then used to train regression models through the variational heteroscedastic Gaussian process regression algorithm which is proved to be a very accurate and very fast regression algorithm. Our proposed framework is validated using different activities concerned with both human upper and lower body parts and object grasping also.     

Balancing of humanoid robot using contact force/moment control by task-oriented whole body control framework

Balancing control of humanoid robots is of great importance since it is a necessary functionality not only for maintaining a certain position without falling, but also for walking and running. For position controlled robots, the for-ce/torque sensors at each foot are utilized to measure the contact forces and moments, and these values are used to compute the joint angles to be commanded for balancing. The proposed approach in this paper is to maintain balance of torque-controlled robots by controlling contact force and moment using whole-body control framework with hierarchical structure. The control of contact force and moment is achieved by exploiting the full dynamics of the robot and the null-space motion in this control framework. This control approach enables compliant balancing behavior. In addition, in the case of double support phase, required contact force and moment are controlled using the redundancy in the contact force and moment space. These algorithms are implemented on a humanoid legged robot and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of them.     

基于人体运动的仿人型机器人动作的运动学匹配

提出了仿人型机器人模仿人体运动的相似性函数,讨论了运动学约束,并给出了满足运动约束条件且具有与人体动作高相似性的运动求解算法. 在有33个自由度的仿人型机器人实体上完成了模仿人的太极拳动作,验证了方法的有效性.     

An efficient motion generation method for redundant humanoid robot arms based on motion continuity

This paper proposes a novel method of motion generation for redundant humanoid robot arms, which can efficiently generate continuous collision-free arm motion for the preplanned hand trajectory. The proposed method generates the whole arm motion first and then computes the actuators’ motion, which is different from IK (inverse kinematics)-based motion generation methods. Based on the geometric constraints of the preplanned trajectory and the geometric structure of humanoid robot arms, the wrist trajectory and elbow trajectory can be got first without solving inverse kinematics and forward kinematics. Meanwhile, the constraints restrict all feasible arm configurations to an elbow-circle and reduce the arm configuration space to a two-dimension space. By combining the configuration space and collision distribution of arm motion, collision-free arm configurations can be identified and be used to generate collision-free arm motion, which can avoid unnecessary forward and inverse kinematics. The experiments show that the proposed method can generate continuous and collision-free arm motion for preplanned hand trajectories.     

仿人机器人下楼梯的自适应模糊控制方法

针对仿人机器人下楼梯时的稳定行走问题,提出基于虚拟零力矩点的自适应模糊控制方法。按一定约束条件规划各个关节的运动轨迹,利用模糊控制器得到地面反作用力点的位置,根据脚力传感器反馈信息进行适当修正,得到理想关节轨迹。仿真结果证明,该方法具有实时性和有效性。     

Dead reckoning for biped robots that suffers less from foot contact condition based on anchoring pivot estimation

A novel technique of dead reckoning for high-rate feedback control of biped robots is proposed. A fast position estimation of a robot is achieved by fusing information only from internal sensors including joint angle encoders, inertial sensors and force sensors. It combines the kinematics computation and the double integral of acceleration in a complementary way in order to improve the accuracy. The kinematics computation takes the movement of supporting foot, particularly, rotation about a fixed point and rolling on the terrain into consideration. The weights on each information are adjusted automatically based on the reaction force from the ground as it is expected to reflect the certainty of the contact condition of each foot. The validity of the proposed method is verified through computer simulations.     

复杂环境下仿人机器人有效支撑区域的感知

当主流的仿人机器人都采ZMP(zero moment point)理论作为稳定行走的判据.实时ZMP点落在支撑足与地面接触形成的多边形支撑区域内是仿人机器人实现稳定步行的必要条件.因此实现仿人机器人在复杂现实环境中稳定行走,必须要求机器人足部感知系统提供足够丰富的地面环境信息,从而可以准确获取支撑区域的形状以实现基于实时ZMP点的稳定控制.文中将柔性阵列力传感器应用于仿人机器人足部感知系统,提出了获取仿人机器人支撑区域形状的方法,而且通过实验验证了其可行性.     

Adequate motion simulation and collision detection for soccer playing humanoid robots

In this paper a humanoid robot simulator based on the multi-robot simulation framework (MuRoSimF) is presented. Among the unique features of this simulator is the scalability in the level of physical detail in both the robot’s motion and sensing systems. It facilitates the development of control software for humanoid robots which is demonstrated for several scenarios from the RoboCup Humanoid Robot League.Different requirements exist for a humanoid robot simulator. E.g., testing of algorithms for motion control and postural stability require high fidelity of physical motion properties whereas testing of behavior control and role distribution for a robot team requires only a moderate level of detail for real-time simulation of multiple robots. To meet such very different requirements often different simulators are used which makes it necessary to model a robot multiple times and to integrate different simulations with high-level robot control software.MuRoSimF provides the capability of exchanging the simulation algorithms used for each robot transparently, thus allowing a trade-off between computational performance and fidelity of the simulation. It is therefore possible to choose different simulation algorithms which are adequate for the needs of a given simulation experiment, for example, motion simulation of humanoid robots based on kinematical, simplified dynamics or full multi-body system dynamics algorithms. In this paper also the sensor simulation capabilities of MuRoSimF are revised. The methods for motion simulation and collision detection and handling are presented in detail including an algorithm which allows the real-time simulation of the full dynamics of a 21 DOF humanoid robot. Merits and drawbacks of the different algorithms are discussed in the light of different simulation purposes. The simulator performance is measured and illustrated in various examples, including comparison with experiments of a physical humanoid robot.     

Clock-turning gait synthesis for humanoid robots

Turning gait is a basic motion for humanoid robots. This paper presents a method for humanoid tuming, i.e. clock-turning. The objective of clock-turning is to change robot direction at a stationary spot. The clock-turning planning consists of four steps： ankle trajectory generation, hip trajectory generation, knee trajectory generation, and inverse kinematics calculation. Our proposed method is based on a typical humanoid structure with 12 DOFs （degrees of freedom）. The final output of clock-turning planning is 12 reference trajectories, which are used to control a humanoid robot with 12 DOFs. ZMP （zero moment point） is used as stability criterion for the planning. Simulation experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of our proposed clock-turuing method.     

基于神经网络的仿人跑步机器人步态规划

为了快速生成仿人机器人跑步运动轨迹,研究了一种用于仿人机器人跑步步态生成的步态规划器。采用三维弹簧倒立摆模型描述跑步过程中仿人机器人质心运动规律,奔跑时机器人质心轨迹及落脚点位置可以由四个步态参数来确定,从而将步态规划问题转化成步态参数优化问题,求解了500余种不同运动状态下的步态参数。建立了基于三层BP神经网络的步态规划器,将优化结果作为训练样本训练神经网络。用上述规划器实现了仿人机器人跑步步态规划并对规划结果进行了仿真验证。研究结果表明,基于BP神经网络的步态规划器可以实现步态参数的快速计算,生成的跑步步态逼真;提出的跑步运动步态规划方法可行,为仿人机器人实时轨迹生成提供了一种解决方法。