Robot locomotion
Encyclopedia
Robot locomotion is the collective name for the various methods that robot
s use to transport themselves from place to place. Although wheeled robots are typically quite energy efficient and simple to control, other forms of locomotion may be more appropriate for a number of reasons (e.g. traversing rough terrain, moving and interacting in human environments). Furthermore, studying bipedal and insect-like robots may beneficially impact on biomechanics.
A major goal in this field is in developing capabilities for robots to autonomously decide how, when, and where to move. However, coordinating a large number of robot joints for even simple matters, like negotiating stairs, is difficult. Autonomous robot locomotion is a major technological obstacle for many areas of robotics, such as humanoids (like Honda's Asimo
).
There are many different types of wheeled robots, the most common being the Reed Shepps type and the unicycle type. The major concern in the motion planning of wheeled robots are the holonomic
that the robot is subject to. These are decided by the type of wheels, number of wheels and the direction of the axes of rotation of the wheels.
For simplicity most mobile robots have four wheel
s or a number of continuous tracks. Some researchers have tried to create more complex wheeled robots with only one or two wheels. These can have certain advantages such as greater efficiency and reduced parts, as well as allowing a robot to navigate in confined places that a four wheeled robot would not be able to.
at the MIT
Leg Laboratory, successfully demonstrated very dynamic walking. Initially, a robot with only one leg, and a very small foot, could stay upright simply by hopping. The movement is the same as that of a person on a pogo stick
. As the robot falls to one side, it would jump slightly in that direction, in order to catch itself. Soon, the algorithm was generalised to two and four legs. A bipedal robot was demonstrated running and even performing somersault
s. A quadruped was also demonstrated which could trot
, run, pace, and bound. For a full list of these robots, see the MIT Leg Lab Robots page.
or wave, and is employed in nature by ciliate
s for transport, and by worm
s arthropod
s for locomotion.
robots have been successfully developed. Mimicking the way real snakes move, these robots can navigate very confined spaces, meaning they may one day be used to search for people trapped in collapsed buildings. The Japanese ACM-R5 snake robot can even navigate both on land and in water.
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s use to transport themselves from place to place. Although wheeled robots are typically quite energy efficient and simple to control, other forms of locomotion may be more appropriate for a number of reasons (e.g. traversing rough terrain, moving and interacting in human environments). Furthermore, studying bipedal and insect-like robots may beneficially impact on biomechanics.
A major goal in this field is in developing capabilities for robots to autonomously decide how, when, and where to move. However, coordinating a large number of robot joints for even simple matters, like negotiating stairs, is difficult. Autonomous robot locomotion is a major technological obstacle for many areas of robotics, such as humanoids (like Honda's Asimo
ASIMO
is a humanoid robot created by Honda. Introduced in 2000, ASIMO, which is an acronym for "Advanced Step in Innovative MObility", was created to be a helper to people. With aspirations of helping people who lack full mobility, ASIMO is used to encourage young people to study science and mathematics...
).
Wheeled
In terms of energy efficiency on flat surfaces, wheeled robots are the most efficient. This is due to the fact that an ideal rolling (but not slipping) wheel loses no energy. A wheel rolling at a given velocity needs no input to maintain its motion. This is in contrast to legged robots which suffer an impact with the ground at heelstrike and lose energy as a result.There are many different types of wheeled robots, the most common being the Reed Shepps type and the unicycle type. The major concern in the motion planning of wheeled robots are the holonomic
Holonomic constraints
In a system of point particles, holonomic constraints are relations between the coordinates and time which can be expressed in the following form:...
that the robot is subject to. These are decided by the type of wheels, number of wheels and the direction of the axes of rotation of the wheels.
Rolling
Wheel
A wheel is a device that allows heavy objects to be moved easily through rotating on an axle through its center, facilitating movement or transportation while supporting a load, or performing labor in machines. Common examples found in transport applications. A wheel, together with an axle,...
s or a number of continuous tracks. Some researchers have tried to create more complex wheeled robots with only one or two wheels. These can have certain advantages such as greater efficiency and reduced parts, as well as allowing a robot to navigate in confined places that a four wheeled robot would not be able to.
Examples
- Boe-BotBoe-BotBOE–Bot is short for Board of Education robot. It is the trade name of a robot kit that is used in college and high school robotics classes. It consists of a main circuit board , a plug–in microcontroller, two small servo motors to drive the wheels, a bread board and a small aluminum chassis that...
- CosmobotCosmobotCosmoBot is a child-friendly, interactive remote controlled telerehabilitation robot designed by AnthroTronix, Inc.. CosmoBot is part of an overall assistive technology system that includes the CosmoBot robot, Mission Control input device, and accompanying software...
- Elmer
- Elsie
- EnonEnon (robot)Enon is a personal assistant robot first offered for sale in September 2005 by Fujitsu corporation in Japan. The six-million yen rolling robot is self-guiding, with limited speech recognition and synthesis. Enon, an English acronym for "Exciting Nova On Network" can pick up and carry roughly in...
- HEROHERO (robot)HERO is the name of several educational robots sold by Heathkit during the 1980s. The Heath Company began the HERO 1 project in October 1979. The first units were available in 1982. Models included the HERO 1, HERO Jr., and HERO 2000. All three were available as kits, or for more money,...
- IRobot CreateIRobot CreateiRobot Create is a hobbyist robot manufactured by iRobot that is based on the Roomba platform and was introduced in 2007. However, iRobot Create is explicitly designed for robotics development, rather than simply hacking the Roomba...
- Johns Hopkins BeastJohns Hopkins BeastThe Johns Hopkins Beast was an early robot built in the 1960s at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The machine had a rudimentary intelligence and the ability to survive on its own. As it wandered through the white halls of the laboratory, it would seek black wall outlets....
- Land WalkerLand WalkerThe Land Walker is a one-man, two-legged supposed walker transport, 3.40 metres in height. Made with the assistance of P.A. Technology, the walker is copyright of the Sakakibara Kikai Co. and Ltd....
- Modulus robotModulus robotThe household robot Modulus, described by the manufacturer as "the friend of homo sapiens", was made by Sirius, a company Massimo Giuliana set up in 1982 for marketing home and personal computers, and which decided to start building its own domestic robot back in 1984...
- MusaMusa (Robot)MUSA is a robot that can fight using Kendo. It was completed in July 2005 by the Manufacturing & Mechatronics Lab of Seoul National University headed by Professor Young-Bong Bang. it is 163 cm tall and weighs 70 kg.-References:* *...
- OmnibotOmnibotThe Omnibot is a toy robot originally manufactured by Tomy in the mid 1980s. The name then came to apply to the successful line of robots manufactured by the company. The initial Omnibot was announced with expectations of restoring popular interest in robots, at a time when it was becoming obvious...
- PaPeRoPaPeRoThe PaPeRo which stands for "Partner-type-Personal-Robot", is a personal robot developed by Japanese firm NEC Corporation. It is noted for its cute appearance and facial recognition system. The robot's development began in 1997 with the first prototype, the R100...
- PhobotPhobotPhobot is a robot that exhibits behaviour that mimics fear and overcoming it by graded exposure. The robot was voted the public's favourite at a conference on human-robot interaction in Amsterdam. It was designed by a team of students at the University of Amsterdam, and constructed from Lego...
- Pocketdelta robotPocketdelta robotThe PocketDelta robot is a micro robot based on a parallel structure called “Delta robot”. It has been designed to perform micro-assembly tasks where high-speed and high-precision are needed in a reduced working space...
- Push the Talking Trash CanPush the Talking Trash CanPush the Talking Trash Can is a radio-controlled robot, created by Daniel Deutsch, which makes daily rounds throughout Tomorrowland inside the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida; Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure park in Anaheim, California, Hong Kong...
- RB5XRB5XThe RB5X is a cylinder-shaped robot with an arm and a transparent, dome-shaped top. It has an RS-232 communications interface. It was first released circa 1983. Its inputs include eight bumper panels, a photodiode and a sonic transducer. The robot learns from experience.The robot was often given...
- RovioRovio (robot)Rovio is a Wi-Fi enabled robot manufactured by WowWee which lets you view what the robot's webcam sees from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. It can be accessed and controlled from any PC, Mac, Cell Phone, Smartphone, PDA or PSP....
- SeropiSeropiSEROPI is a wheel based humanoid robot developed by KITECH .right|250px|thumbnail|SEROPI...
- Shakey the robotShakey the RobotShakey the Robot was the first general-purpose mobile robot to be able to reason about its own actions. While other robots would have to be instructed on each individual step of completing a larger task, Shakey could analyze the command and break it down into basic chunks by itself...
- Sony Rolly
- SpykeeSpykeeSpykee is a robotic toy made by Erector/Meccano. It contains a USB webcam, microphone and speakers. Controlled by computer locally or over the internet, the owner can move the robot to various locations within range of the local router, take pictures and video, listen to surroundings with the...
- TiLRTiLRTiLR is the world's first enterprise-grade telepresence robot developed by RoboDynamics Corporation. The Telepresence internet-connected Low cost Robot enables a user to instantly transport to a remote location whereby the robot would embody the user in the remote location...
- TopoTopo (robot)Topo is a robot designed in the 1980s by Androbot Inc., for the consumer and education markets. It was programmable via Apple II and there was also a user made program for the Windows 9x operating systems. The programming language allows the robot to perform a set of geometric movements, to move...
- TR ArañaTR ArañaThe TR Araña meaning route tracing spider is a robot which is claimed to remotely analyse the composition of the ground. The robot is popularly known as Arturito, a Spanish word–play on R2-D2, and is also known as the Geo-Radar. The device was created by Chilean inventor Manuel Salinas and was...
- WakamaruWakamaruWakamaru is a Japanese domestic robot made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, primarily intended to provide companionship to elderly and disabled people. The robot is yellow, 1m tall, and weighs 30 kilograms. It has two arms and its flat, circular base has a diameter of 45 cm...
Hopping
Several robots, built in the 1980s by Marc RaibertMarc Raibert
Marc Raibert is a former MIT professor who founded the MIT Leg Lab in the 1980s, and went on to found Boston Dynamics, a simulation and robotics company in 1992. Raibert developed the first self-balancing hopping robots, a significant step forward in robotics...
at the MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
Leg Laboratory, successfully demonstrated very dynamic walking. Initially, a robot with only one leg, and a very small foot, could stay upright simply by hopping. The movement is the same as that of a person on a pogo stick
Pogo stick
A pogo stick is a device for jumping off the ground in a standing position with the aid of a spring, used as a toy or exercise equipment. It consists of a pole with a handle at the top and footrests near the bottom, and a spring located somewhere along the pole...
. As the robot falls to one side, it would jump slightly in that direction, in order to catch itself. Soon, the algorithm was generalised to two and four legs. A bipedal robot was demonstrated running and even performing somersault
Somersault
A somersault is an acrobatic exercise in which a person does a full 360° flip, moving the feet over the head. A somersault can be performed either forwards, backwards, or sideways and can be executed in the air or on the ground...
s. A quadruped was also demonstrated which could trot
Trot (horse gait)
The trot is a two-beat diagonal gait of the horse, where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time. There is a moment of suspension between each beat....
, run, pace, and bound. For a full list of these robots, see the MIT Leg Lab Robots page.
Metachronal motion
Coordinated, sequential mechanical action having the appearance of a traveling wave is called a metachronal rhythmMetachronal rhythm
A metachronal rhythm or metachronal wave refers to wavy movements produced by the sequential action of structures such as cilia, segments of worms or legs. These movements produce the appearance of a travelling wave. A Mexican wave is a large scale example of a metachronal wave...
or wave, and is employed in nature by ciliate
Ciliate
The ciliates are a group of protozoans characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to flagella but typically shorter and present in much larger numbers with a different undulating pattern than flagella...
s for transport, and by worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s for locomotion.
Slithering
Several snakeSnake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
robots have been successfully developed. Mimicking the way real snakes move, these robots can navigate very confined spaces, meaning they may one day be used to search for people trapped in collapsed buildings. The Japanese ACM-R5 snake robot can even navigate both on land and in water.
Approaches
- GaitGaitGait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of animals, including humans, during locomotion over a solid substrate. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain, the need to maneuver, and energetic efficiency...
engineering - Product optimizationProduct optimizationProduct optimization is the practice of making changes or adjustments to a product to make it more desirable.-Description:A product has a number of attributes. For example, a soda bottle can have different packaging variations, flavors, nutritional values. It is possible to optimize a product by...
- Motion planningMotion planningMotion planning is a term used in robotics for the process of detailing a task into discrete motions....
- Motion captureMotion captureMotion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
may be performed on humans, insects and other organisms. - Machine learningMachine learningMachine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, is a scientific discipline concerned with the design and development of algorithms that allow computers to evolve behaviors based on empirical data, such as from sensor data or databases...
, typically with reinforcement learningReinforcement learningInspired by behaviorist psychology, reinforcement learning is an area of machine learning in computer science, concerned with how an agent ought to take actions in an environment so as to maximize some notion of cumulative reward...
.