Obstacle avoidance is an essential capability of an autonomous robot. This paper presents a method that enables a mobile robot to locate obstacles in its eld of view using two images of its surroundings. The method is based on the assumption that the robot is moving on a locally planar ground. Using a set of point features (corners) that have been matched between the two views using normalized ...

We are developing a general quadrupedal locomotion controller by using a neural model involving a CPG (Central Pattern Generator) utilizing normal ground reaction force (leg loading) sensory feedback for both rolling motion (posture) and gait (rhythmic motion) control. In this abstract, we report the results of experiments using a quadruped robot “Kotetsu” in order to verify the results of our ...

ETS-VII (Engineering Test Satellite No.7) was launched on Nov.1997 to conduct automated rendezvous docking and space robot technology experiments. A 6dof robot arm which is mounted on the ETS-VII chaser satellite were tele-operated from ground and were used to in various experiments such as ORU exchange, equipment handling and satellite capture. These results came by overcoming various troubles...

The Trikebot is the result of a ground-up design effort chartered to develop an effective and low-cost educational robot for secondary level education and home use. This paper describes all aspects of the Trikebot, including chassis and mechanism; control electronics; communication architecture; robot control server and student programming environment. Notable innovations include a fast-build c...

This paper presents a novel approach to visual homing for robot navigation on the ground plane, using only the angles of landmark points. We focus on a robust approach, leading to successful homing even in real, dynamic environments where significant numbers of landmark points are wrong or missing. Three homing algorithms are presented, two are shown to be provably convergent, and the other sho...

A rigid body dynamic model of a six-legged robot with 18 dofs has been developed, including gravity, contact interaction with the ground, actuators and controllers. This model is used as a benchmark to develop a gait algorithm before implementing it on the robot. The latter computes the joint references which represent inputs of the controllers. Success of the real implementation proves the eff...

Robotics can ·leam a lot by investigating simple and effective techniques evolved in biology. The sand scorpion that ·lives· in the Mojave Desert uses ground vibrations when locating. its prey. In this paper it is shown that a robot can be made to navigate using similar techniques. A six-legged robot was constructed and fitted with vibration sensors to try the concept. Such a robot could be use...

|New reactive behaviors that implement formations in multi-robot teams are presented and evaluated. The formation behaviors are integrated with other navigational behaviors to enable a robotic team to reach navigational goals, avoid hazards and simultaneously remain in formation. The behaviors are implemented in simulation, on robots in the laboratory and aboard DARPA's HMMWV-based Unmanned Gro...

in this article a new and an accurate method for kinematic and dynamic analysis of a parallel robot 3prs and a hybrid robot (parallel and serial) 3prs-rrp are presented, which is based on the denavit-hartenberg transformation matrix algebra. first, basic properties of various kinds of robots are compared, and then the denavit-hartenberg parameters and their table are introduced. next, the metho...

The focus of this paper is the problem of foot rotation in biped robots during the single support phase. Foot rotation is an indication of postural instability and should be carefully treated in a dynamically stable walk and avoided altogether in a statically stable walk. We introduce the foot rotation indicator (FRI) point which is a point on the foot/ground contact surface where the net groun...