DOCSLIB.ORG

Controlling the NAO: the Humanoid Robot MET 435W By: Mister Higgins [email protected] Chris Zachary [email protected] Adviser

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Controlling the NAO: the Humanoid Robot MET 435W By: Mister Higgins Mhigg002@Odu.Ed Chris Zachary Czach004@Odu.Edu Adviser Controlling the NAO: The Humanoid Robot MET 435W By: Mister Higgins [email protected] Chris Zachary [email protected] Adviser: Dr. Vukica Jovanovic Submitted: April 22, 2020 Letter of Transmittal April 22, 2020 Dr. Vukica Jovanovic Associate Professor Engineering Technology Department 214 Kaufman Hall, Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA 23529 Dear Dr. Jovanovic: In compliance with the Senior Design Project requirements of MET 435, the technical report is attached for your review and approval. Mister Higgins and Chris Zachary are formally presenting a project named: “Controlling the NAO: The Humanoid Robot” as a final product for the Senior Design Project. Please consider the project for submission to the Department of Engineering Technology at Old Dominion University, Mechanical Engineering Technology Program. The main purpose of the document is to present an “Controlling the NAO: The Humanoid Robot” to learn how to operate this autonomous robot. The project team plans on doing a presentation that can be future used by middle schoolers to learn what is NAO robot and what it can do. Sincerely, Mister Higgins ____________________________ Chris Zachary ____________________________ APPROVAL: DATE: 04/22/2020 1 Abstract NAO is a humanoid robot that is designed to work with humans in a variety of different ways and environments. NAO can be used to: -assess emotional changes in children, process those changes using facial recognition software, and give proper responses through various commands. The main purpose of this project is to learn how to operate this autonomous robot. It costs almost $10,000 (USD). The project team plans on doing a presentation that can be future used by middle schoolers to learn what is NAO robot and what it can do. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Equipment List ................................................................................................................................ 4 Project Objective ............................................................................................................................. 6 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 10 Why use the NAO Robot .......................................................................................................... 10 Choregraphe .............................................................................................................................. 10 Challenges ..................................................................................................................................... 14 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 16 Presentation ............................................................................................................................... 16 Applications .................................................................................................................................. 17 References ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 19 3 Equipment List Figure 1 NAO Robot (Softbank Robotics, 2020) This is NAO. Humanoid robots borrow inspiration from bipedal locomotion found in humans. Various developments of humanoid robots transpired in the previous century. These artificial helpers would be based on the electro-mechanical (mechatronics system), embedded with artificial intelligence that would work reliably and repetitively without injuring human beings. Having robots be “human-like” would make them more socially adaptable (Kanda, 2004). Various biped robots have been created in previous decades. Some of them were designed to showcase advanced capabilities of research departments from companies like Honda or Sony. Figure 2: Different humanoid robots in history: a) Maschinenmensch "Robot; b) ASIMO at a Honda factory; c) Sony Qrio Robot; d) NAO Evolution 4 The NAO robot was developed by Aldebaran Robotics in 2006, later rebranded as SoftBank Robotics, and became one of the first humanoid robots placed on the mass market (Shamsuddin, 2011 SoftBank, 2016). It has seven senses integrated for natural interaction: moving, feeling, hearing and speaking, seeing, connecting, and thinking (SoftBank, 2016), and is a dynamically stable, bipedal robot that has controls based on the hybrid zero dynamics (Ames, 2012; Kofinas, 2012; Vukobatrovic, 2004; Vukobratvic, 2007). It is an autonomous robot with twenty-five degrees of freedom that can interact with the environment and adapt to events, such as falling to the ground, responding to someone talking to it, and alike. It has four directional microphones and loudspeakers, various sensors placed at its head, hands, and feet. It also has wireless connectivity with mobile devices. Its structure can be seen in Fig.2. Figure 3. NAO Robot schematics 5 Project Objective The main purpose of this project is to learn how to operate this autonomous robot. It costs almost $10,000 (USD). The project team plans on doing a presentation to middle schoolers by programming NAO to perform various functions like facial recognition, mathematical problems, and various dances. Figure 4: Choregraphe will be used to program NAO. Figure 5: NAO Charger (Softbank Robotics, 2019) 6 The charger for NAO is from the company SoftBank Robotics. The charger has an input of 100- 240 volts and has a current of 1.0 amperes with a frequency of 50-60 Hertz. The charger has an output of 24.8 volts and current of 2.0 amperes. Figure 6: Mister’s MacBook Air This is Mister Higgins’ laptop, a 2015 edition of the MacBook Air used primarily for schoolwork and to program NAO using Choregraphe software. Figure 7: This is Chris Zachary’s laptop, a Lenovo IdeaPad S340. This laptop uses a Windows 10 processor and has Choregraphe software downloaded to work with the NAO robot. 7 Figure 8: Ethernet port and ethernet cable This approximately 15 feet long ethernet cable will connect with the pictured ethernet port, so that NAO will have a more stable connection and IP address. The purple port is used exclusively for this project and to connect to NAO. Thus, this cable will be connected to the internet so that programming can happen. When The pink port was used, they ran into problems because NAO was not connecting effectively to their laptops. 8 Introduction NAO is an autonomous, programmable humanoid robot developed by a French company called Aldebaran Robotics. This robot design is based on a human body with two arms and legs, a head and torso: hence, the name humanoid robot. Some features a humanoid robot may also have are a face with eyes and a mouth. Since NAO is autonomous, it can have cognitive and social experiences of a human as well. An example of NAO’s cognitive skill-set is the ability to identify its current environment, learn from the surroundings, then process whatever changes are needed. Figure 9: NAO Robot kinematics Our NAO is primarily white with grey joints and red trims. He also has 25 degrees of freedom, 2 cameras, 4 microphones, LED lights, 2 IR emitters and receivers, 2 speakers, 1 interior board, 9 tactile sensors, 8 pressure sensors , 1 GB RAM, 2 GB flash memory, a voice synthesizer and sonar rangefinder. NAO got has Ethernet and/or wireless networking capabilities that can be used for programming. There are two ways to program NAO: 1) Choregraphe and 2) NAOqi SDK, which allows usage of C++, C#, Java, Python, and MATLAB The decision was made to learn how to use Choregraphe since no one in the group has extensive programming knowledge. Choregraphe is a visual-based programming tool that has options and commands drag and drop actions from the library (pre-programmed and customized boxes) and using wires to mutually connect commands. 9 Discussion Why use the NAO Robot The NAO robot will be used to help introduce children to the STEM field in a fun and stimulating way. Many young, minority children do not get the affirming and pragmatic chance to positively experience the excitement of the STEM field at an early age, so they do not shy away from majors such as engineering or computer science if they decide to go to college. By introducing children to the NAO robot, it will give them insight into the robotics field and also show them a fulfilling time by having them interact with NAO. With these constructive interactions some of the children may take a liking to NAO and will hopefully expand their interest in the STEM field. Choregraphe Choregraphe is a programming software used to create and control the behaviors of the NAO robot. Choregraphe has a vast array of actions that can be used and combined to recreate dances and totally unique movements. For example, Choregraphe allows NAO to move, walk, talk, ask questions, and respond to questions. It is also capable of playing uploaded music or sounds through its speakers. Figure 10: This is what Choregraphe looks like when it is first opened. At the top left of the screen is where files can be
Load more

Recommended publications
  • History of Robotics: Timeline
    History of Robotics: Timeline This history of robotics is intertwined with the histories of technology, science and the basic principle of progress. Technology used in computing, electricity, even pneumatics and hydraulics can all be considered a part of the history of robotics. The timeline presented is therefore far from complete. Robotics currently represents one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments and is the single greatest attempt of mankind to produce an artificial, sentient being. It is only in recent years that manufacturers are making robotics increasingly available and attainable to the general public. The focus of this timeline is to provide the reader with a general overview of robotics (with a focus more on mobile robots) and to give an appreciation for the inventors and innovators in this field who have helped robotics to become what it is today. RobotShop Distribution Inc., 2008 www.robotshop.ca www.robotshop.us Greek Times Some historians affirm that Talos, a giant creature written about in ancient greek literature, was a creature (either a man or a bull) made of bronze, given by Zeus to Europa. [6] According to one version of the myths he was created in Sardinia by Hephaestus on Zeus' command, who gave him to the Cretan king Minos. In another version Talos came to Crete with Zeus to watch over his love Europa, and Minos received him as a gift from her. There are suppositions that his name Talos in the old Cretan language meant the "Sun" and that Zeus was known in Crete by the similar name of Zeus Tallaios.
    [Show full text]
  • Ph. D. Thesis Stable Locomotion of Humanoid Robots Based
    Ph. D. Thesis Stable locomotion of humanoid robots based on mass concentrated model Author: Mario Ricardo Arbul´uSaavedra Director: Carlos Balaguer Bernaldo de Quiros, Ph. D. Department of System and Automation Engineering Legan´es, October 2008 i Ph. D. Thesis Stable locomotion of humanoid robots based on mass concentrated model Author: Mario Ricardo Arbul´uSaavedra Director: Carlos Balaguer Bernaldo de Quiros, Ph. D. Signature of the board: Signature President Vocal Vocal Vocal Secretary Rating: Legan´es, de de Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 HistoryofRobots........................... 2 1.1.1 Industrialrobotsstory. 2 1.1.2 Servicerobots......................... 4 1.1.3 Science fiction and robots currently . 10 1.2 Walkingrobots ............................ 10 1.2.1 Outline ............................ 10 1.2.2 Themes of legged robots . 13 1.2.3 Alternative mechanisms of locomotion: Wheeled robots, tracked robots, active cords . 15 1.3 Why study legged machines? . 20 1.4 What control mechanisms do humans and animals use? . 25 1.5 What are problems of biped control? . 27 1.6 Features and applications of humanoid robots with biped loco- motion................................. 29 1.7 Objectives............................... 30 1.8 Thesiscontents ............................ 33 2 Humanoid robots 35 2.1 Human evolution to biped locomotion, intelligence and bipedalism 36 2.2 Types of researches on humanoid robots . 37 2.3 Main humanoid robot research projects . 38 2.3.1 The Humanoid Robot at Waseda University . 38 2.3.2 Hondarobots......................... 47 2.3.3 TheHRPproject....................... 51 2.4 Other humanoids . 54 2.4.1 The Johnnie project . 54 2.4.2 The Robonaut project . 55 2.4.3 The COG project .
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2011
    Contents 02-19 Letter to Shareholders: A Message from Howard Stringer, CEO Dear Shareholders Operating Results in Fiscal Year 2010 Focus Areas for Growth Networked Products and Services 3D World Competitive Advantages through Differentiated Technologies Emerging Markets 06 10 Expanding 3D World Networked Products 3D World and Services 12 15 Competitive Advantages through Emerging Markets Differentiated Technologies 20 26 Special Feature: Special Feature: Sony’s “Exmor RTM” Sony in India 34 40 Financial Highlights Products, Services and Content 50 51 Board of Directors and Financial Section Corporate Executive Officers 64 65 Stock Information Investor Information ©2011 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., All Rights Reserved. For more information on Sony’s financial performance, corporate governance, CSR and Financial Services business, please refer to the following websites. 2011 Annual Report on Form 20-F http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/library/sec.html Corporate Governance Structure http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/governance/index.html CSR Report http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/Environment/index.html Financial Services Business http://www.sonyfh.co.jp/index_en.html (Sony Financial Holdings Inc.) Artist: Adele Photo credit: Mari Sarai 01 Letter to Shareholders: A Message from Howard Stringer, CEO 02 Dear Shareholders, A review of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 (fiscal year 2010) must first mention the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred near the end of the fiscal year. On March 11, at 2:46 p.m. local time, East Japan was struck by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, immedi- ately followed by a giant tsunami, which had, in addition to the tragic loss of life and property, a profound psychological and financial impact on the people of Japan.
    [Show full text]
  • Learning CPG Sensory Feedback with Policy Gradient for Biped Locomotion for a Full-Body Humanoid
    Learning CPG Sensory Feedback with Policy Gradient for Biped Locomotion for a Full-body Humanoid Gen Endo*†,JunMorimoto†‡, Takamitsu Matsubara†§, Jun Nakanishi†‡ and Gordon Cheng†‡ *Sony Intelligence Dynamics Laboratories, Inc., 3-14-13 Higashigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 141-0022, Japan † ‡ ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories, Computational Brain Project, ICORP, Japan Science and Technology Agency 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619-0288, Japan § Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama-cho, Ikoma-shi, Nara, 630-0192, Japan [email protected], {xmorimo, takam-m, jun, gordon}@atr.jp Abstract This paper describes a learning framework for a central pattern generator based biped locomotion controller us- ing a policy gradient method. Our goals in this study are to achieve biped walking with a 3D hardware humanoid, and to develop an efficient learning algorithm with CPG by reducing the dimensionality of the state space used for learning. We demonstrate that an appropriate feed- back controller can be acquired within a thousand tri- als by numerical simulations and the obtained controller in numerical simulation achieves stable walking with a physical robot in the real world. Numerical simulations and hardware experiments evaluated walking velocity and stability. Furthermore, we present the possibility of an additional online learning using a hardware robot to improve the controller within 200 iterations. Figure 1: Entertainment Robot QRIO (SDR-4X II) their specific mechanical design to embed an intrinsic walk- Introduction ing pattern with the passive dynamics, the state space for learning was drastically reduced from 18 to 2 in spite of Humanoid research and development has made remarkable the complexity of the 3D biped model, which usually suf- progress during the past 10 years.
    [Show full text]
  • Change Is in the Air the Technology of Smoother, Smarter Air Travel
    Will mobile phones The digital divide, Dispensing justice kill off the iPod? seen from below through software page 16 page 22 page 34 TechnologyQuarterly March 12th 2005 Change is in the air The technology of smoother, smarter air travel Republication, copying or redistribution by any means is expressly prohibited without the prior written permission of The Economist The Economist Technology Quarterly March 12th 2005 Monitor 1 Contents Humanoids on the march Robotics: Humanoid robots are becoming ever more advanced. Are the rms making them just interested in publicity, or are they chasing a new market? IRST came Asimo, Honda’s childlike ruthless assassin of Terminator. Hu- Frobot, which was introduced to the manoid robots have walked into our col- world in 2000. Sony responded with lective subconscious, colouring our On the cover QRIO (pronounced curio) in 2003. Now views of the future. New technologies, from a competition has broken out between But now Japan’s industrial giants are mobile-phone check-in to Japan’s industrial rms to see which of spending billions of yen to make such ro- wireless luggage tags and them can produce the most advanced hu- bots a reality. Their new humanoids rep- on-board mobile telephony, manoid robotand South Korean rms resent impressive feats of engineering: will make air travel smoother are getting involved, too. They are seri- when Honda introduced Asimo, a four- and swifter for passengers, ous about humanoids, says Dan Kara of foot robot that had been in development while also boosting the Robotics Trends, a consultancy. They for some 15 years, it walked so uidly that fortunes of beleaguered have made a conscious decision to head its white, articulated exterior seemed to airlines.
    [Show full text]
  • Fact Sheet: History of Robotics
    Fact Sheet: History of Robotics www.RazorRobotics.com ≈250 B.C. - Ctesibius, an ancient Greek engineer and mathematician, invented a water clock which was the most accurate for nearly 2000 years. ≈60 A.D. - Hero of Alexandria designs the first automated programmable machine. These 'Automata' were made from a container of gradually releasing sand connected to a spindle via a string. By using different configurations of these pulleys, it was possible to repeatably move a statue on a pre-defined path. 1898 - The first radio-controlled submersible boat was invented by Nikola Tesla. 1921 - The term 'Robot' was coined by Karel Capek in the play 'Rossum's Universal Robots'. 1941 - Isaac Asimov introduced the word 'Robotics' in the science fiction short story 'Liar!' 1948 - William Grey Walter builds Elmer and Elsie, two of the earliest autonomous robots with the appearance of turtles. The robots used simple rules to produce complex behaviours. 1954 - The first silicon transistor was produced by Texas Instruments. 1956 - George Devol applied for a patent for the first programmable robot, later named 'Unimate'. 1957 - Launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. I, Robot Turtle robot Sputnik 1 1961 - First Unimate robot installed at General Motors. Used for welding and die casting. 1965 - Gordon E. Moore introduces the concept 'Moore's law', which predicts the number of components on a single chip would double every two years. 1966 - Work began on the 'Shakey' robot at Stanford Research Institute. 'Shakey' was capable of planning, route-finding and moving objects. 1969 - The Apollo 11 mission, puts the first man on the moon.
    [Show full text]
  • Socialization Between Toddlers and Robots at an Early Childhood Education Center
    Socialization between toddlers and robots at an early childhood education center Fumihide Tanaka∗† ‡, Aaron Cicourel §, and Javier R. Movellan † †Institute for Neural Computation, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0523,§Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0515, and ‡Information Technologies Laboratories, Sony Corporation, 5-1-12 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawaku, Tokyo 141-0001, Japan Submitted to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America The goal of social robotics is to develop robots that interact with This paper presents results from a project in which a hu- people in a social manner and assist them in everyday life. Besides manoid robot was immersed in a classroom of 18 to 24 month its technological applications, social robotics offers unique scientific old toddlers for a prolonged period of time. Children of this opportunities to help understand the development of social interac- tion in humans. Here we present results of a project in which a small age were chosen because they have few preconceived notions humanoid robot was immersed in a classroom of 18-24 month old of robots, and because they rely on simpler forms of social toddlers for a period spanning more than 6 months. Three different interaction that are less dependent on speech. With the ex- studies are presented. In Study I we examine methods for evaluating ception of Study I, the robot was remotely controlled by a the quality of interaction between children and robots and for test- human operator that selected high-level behaviors, e.g., stand ing social robot algorithms.
    [Show full text]
  • CSR Report 2005 74
    Sony’s Views on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) The core responsibility of the Sony Group to society is to pursue the enhancement of corporate value through innovation and sound business practices. The Sony Group recognizes that its businesses have direct and indirect impact on the societies in which it operates. Sound business practices require that business decisions give due consideration to the interests of Sony stakehold- ers, including shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers, business partners, local communities and other organizations. The Sony Group will endeavor to conduct its business accordingly. Sony Stakeholders Shareholders Environment Products and services Customers through innovation Employees Suppliers Other Business organizations partners Sound business practices Local communities Contents Messages from Management 2 Sony Overview 4 Business at a Glance 6 Sony and Innovation 8 Management 10 Corporate Governance 12 Compliance 14 Quality Control Management 18 Supply Chain Management 19 Sony and People 20 For Shareholders 21 For Customers: Customer Satisfaction 22 For Employees: Employment and Employee–Management Relations 25 For Employees: Human Resources System 26 For Employees: Diversity and Equal Opportunities 27 For Employees: Education and Training 30 For Employees: Work Environment and Occupational Health & Safety 32 For the Community 35 Sony and the Global Environment 40 Sony Group Environmental Vision 41 Overview of Sony’s Environmental Impact 42 Progress of Green Management 2005 44 Environmental Management
    [Show full text]
  • An Integrative Framework of Time-Varying Affective Robotic Behavior
    AN INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK OF TIME-VARYING AFFECTIVE ROBOTIC BEHAVIOR A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty By Lilia V. Moshkina In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science Georgia Institute of Technology May, 2011 Copyright © Lilia V. Moshkina 2011 AN INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK OF TIME-VARYING AFFECTIVE ROBOTIC BEHAVIOR Approved by: Dr. Ronald C. Arkin, Advisor Dr. Arthur D. Fisk College of Computing School of Psychology Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Tucker Balch Dr. Ayanna M. Howard College of Computing School of Electrical and Computer Georgia Institute of Technology Engineering College of Computing, Adjunct Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Melody M. Jackson Date Approved: March 31, 2011 College of Computing Georgia Institute of Technology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is a product of many years of work, and would not be possible without those who lent me their support, knowledge, and inspiration. First of all, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my husband, friend and colleague, Eric Martinson, for his unfailing encouragement, insightful ideas, hands-on help, and superior editing, not to mention taking excellent care of our young daughter Maya during the times I had to be away in order to conduct my experiments. My academic advisor, Professor Ron Arkin, has been instrumental in bringing this research to completion, and I am very grateful for his direction, support, both intellectual and financial, and his almost infinite patience. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee for their guidance in a number of related domains and their invaluable comments. My special thanks go to Professor Melody Jackson, who has been a source of encouragement for many years, and who inspired me to enter into the Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Biasing Behavioral Activation with Intent
    1 Biasing Behavioral Activation with Intent Patrick Ulam and Ronald Arkin College of Computing Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, USA 30332 Email: pulam, [email protected] Abstract— Deliberate control of an entertainment robot While intelligent systems may be able to benefit from presents a special problem in balancing the requirement for in- handling all the deliberative tasks described above, the three tentional behavior with the existing mechanisms for autonomous most important, at least from the viewpoint of an entertainment action selection. We propose that the intentional biasing of activation in lower-level reactive behaviors is the proper mech- robot, are tasks requiring planning, tasks requiring novel anism for realizing such deliberative action. In addition, we sequences of actions, and tasks requiring the overriding of suggest that directed intentional bias can result in goal-oriented habitual responses. For example, a task that may be asked of an behavior without subsuming the underlying action selection used entertainment robot is the delivery of a newspaper to the user. to generate natural behavior. This objective is realized through This can be formulated as a typical planning activity in which a structure called the intentional bus. The intentional bus serves as the interface between deliberative and reactive control by a plan is generated to find, collect, and deliver a newspaper at realizing high-level goals through the modulation of intentional a particular time. In fact, many such systems have be created signals sent to the reactive layer. A deliberative architecture that to generate and execute such plans [5][6]. For an entertainment uses the intentional bus to realize planned behavior is described.
    [Show full text]
  • Sonyar05-E.Pdf
    Contents Financial Highlights 1 Operating Performance Highlights 2 To Our Shareholders 4 Review of Operations 8 Electronics 8 Game 13 Entertainment 16 Financial Services 20 Other 22 R&D Strategies and Selection of Key Technological Fields 23 The Sony Challenge: Seeing is Believing 26 Corporate Governance/New Directors and Corporate Executive Officers 32 Corporate Social Responsibility 34 Financial Section 35 Stock Information 130 Stock Acquisition Rights and Bond Information 131 Investor Information 132 Cautionary Statement Statements made in this annual report with respect to Sony’s current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future performance of Sony. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those statements using words such as “believe”, “expect”, “plans”, “strategy”, “prospects”, “forecast”, “estimate”, “project”, “anticipate”, “aim”, “may” or “might” and words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operations, finan- cial performance, events or conditions. From time to time, oral or written forward-looking statements may also be included in other materials released to the public. These statements are based on management’s assumptions and beliefs in light of the information cur- rently available to it. Sony cautions you that a number of important risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and there- fore you should not place undue reliance on them. You also should not rely on any obligation of Sony to update or revise any forward- looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
    [Show full text]
  • Design and Control Aspects of Humanoid Walking Robots
    Lehrstuhl fur¨ Steuerungs- und Regelungstechnik Technische Universit¨at Munc¨ hen Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing./Univ. Tokio Martin Buss Design and Control Aspects of Humanoid Walking Robots Dirk Wollherr Vollst¨andiger Abdruck der von der Fakult¨at fur¨ Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik der Technischen Universit¨at Munc¨ hen zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktor-Ingenieurs (Dr.-Ing.) genehmigten Dissertation. Vorsitzender: Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus Diepold Prufer¨ der Dissertation: 1. Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing./Univ. Tokio Martin Buss 2. Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing., Dr.-Ing. habil. Heinz Ulbrich Die Dissertation wurde am 31.3.2005 bei der Technischen Universit¨at Munc¨ hen eingereicht und durch die Fakult¨at fur¨ Elektrotechnik und Infromationstechnik 23.6.2005 angenommen 2 Foreword This thesis has emerged from four years of work at three different Labs. Both, the intel- lectual, and the physical journey left a significant imprint on my personality; all through the wide range of emotional experiences, ranging from the joyfull kick of success through anger and the crestfallen thought of giving up in times where nothing seems to work { in the retrospective, I do not want to miss any of it. The fundaments of this work have been laid at the Control Systems Group, Techni- sche Universit¨at Berlin, where the main task of assembling knowledge has been accom- plished and many practical experiences could be gained. With this know-how, I was given the chance to spend seven months at the Nakamura-Yamane-Lab, Department of Mechano-Informatics, University of Tokyo, where the humanoid robot UT-Theta has been developed1. This robot provided a relyable platform to experiment with walking control algorithms.
    [Show full text]