A Brachiating Robot Controller
Penn collection
General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception Laboratory
Kod*lab
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Kodlab
brachiation
dynamically dexterous robotics
limit cycles
locomotion
swing map
symmetry
target dynamics
task encoding
underactuated system
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Engineering
Systems Engineering
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Abstract
We report on our empirical studies of a new controller for a two-link brachiating robot. Motivated by the pendulum-like motion of an ape's brachiation, we encode this task as the output of a "target dynamical system." Numerical simulations indicate that the resulting controller solves a number of brachiation problems that we term the "ladder," "swing-up," and "rope" problems. Preliminary analysis provides some explanation for this success. The proposed controller is implemented on a physical system in our laboratory. The robot achieves behaviors including "swing locomotion" and "swing up" and is capable of continuous locomotion over several rungs of a ladder. We discuss a number of formal questions whose answers will be required to gain a full understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of this approach.