Whole Body Manipulation

Journal

• Satoshi Kagami, Koichi Nishiwaki, James Kuffner, Simon Thompson, Joel Chestnutt, Mike Stilman, and Philipp Michel Humanoid HRP2-DHRC for Autonomous and Interactive Behavior Robotics Research. 2007.

  Abstract BibTeX PDF

  Recently, research on humanoid-type robots has become increasingly active, and a broad array of fundamental issues are under investigation. However, in order to achieve a humanoid robot which can operate in human environ- ments, not only the fundamental components themselves, but also the suc- cessful integration of these components will be required. At present, almost all humanoid robots that have been developed have been designed for bipedal locomotion experiments. In order to satisfy the functional demands of loco- motion as well as high-level behaviors, humanoid robots require good me- chanical design, hardware, and software which can support the integration of tactile sensing, visual perception, and motor control. Autonomous behaviors are currently still very primitive for humanoid-type robots. It is difficult to conduct research on high-level autonomy and intelligence in humanoids due to the development and maintenance costs of the hardware. We believe low- level autonomous functions will be required in order to conduct research on higher-level autonomous behaviors for humanoids.

  @article{kagami2007hrp2,
    title = {Humanoid HRP2-DHRC for Autonomous and Interactive Behavior},
    volume = {28},
    pages = {103--117},
    journal = {Robotics Research},
    author = {Satoshi Kagami and Nishiwaki, Koichi and James Kuffner and Thompson, Simon and Chestnutt, Joel and Mike Stilman and Michel, Philipp},
    year = {2007}
  }
  

• Mike Stilman, Koichi Nishiwaki, Satoshi Kagami, and James Kuffner Planning and Executing Navigation Among Movable Obstacles Springer Journal of Advanced Robotics. no. 14. 2007.

  Abstract BibTeX PDF

  This paper explores autonomous locomotion, reaching, grasping and manipulation for the domain of Navigation Among Movable Obstacles (NAMO). The robot perceives and constructs a model of an environment filled with various fixed and movable obstacles, and automatically plans a navigation strategy to reach a desired goal location. The planned strategy consists of a sequence of walking and compliant manipulation operations. It is executed by the robot with online feedback. We give an overview of our NAMO system, as well as provide details of the autonomous planning, online grasping and compliant hand positioning during dynamically-stable walking. Finally, we present results of a successful implementation running on the Humanoid Robot HRP-2.

  @article{stilman2007planning,
    title = {Planning and Executing Navigation Among Movable Obstacles},
    number = {14},
    volume = {21},
    pages = {1617--1634},
    journal = {Springer Journal of Advanced Robotics},
    author = {Mike Stilman and Nishiwaki, Koichi and Satoshi Kagami and James Kuffner},
    year = {2007}
  }
  

Conference

• 2010
• Pushkar Kolhe, Neil T. Dantam, and Mike Stilman Dynamic Pushing Strategies for Dynamically Stable Mobile Manipulators IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. 2010.

  Abstract BibTeX PDF

  This paper presents three effective manipulation strategies for wheeled, dynamically balancing robots with articulated links. By comparing these strategies through analysis, simulation and robot experiments, we show that contact placement and body posture have a significant impact on the robot's ability to accelerate and displace environment objects. Given object geometry and friction parameters we determine the most effective methods for utilizing wheel torque to perform non-prehensile manipulation.

  @inproceedings{kolhe2010dynamic,
    title = {Dynamic Pushing Strategies for Dynamically Stable Mobile Manipulators},
    pages = {3745--3750},
    month = {May},
    booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation},
    author = {Pushkar Kolhe and Neil T. Dantam and Mike Stilman},
    year = {2010}
  }
  

• 2008
• Mike Stilman, Koichi Nishiwaki, and Satoshi Kagami Humanoid Teleoperation For Whole Body Manipulation IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. 2008.

  Abstract BibTeX PDF

  We present results of successful telemanipulation of large, heavy objects by a humanoid robot. Using a single joystick the operator controls walking and whole body manipulation along arbitrary paths for up to ten minutes of continuous execution. The robot grasps, walks, pushes, pulls, turns and re-grasps a 55kg range of loads on casters. Our telemanipulation framework changes reference frames online to let the operator steer the robot in free walking, its hands in grasping and the object during mobile manipulation. In the case of manipulation, our system computes a robot motion that satisfies the commanded object path as well as the kinematic and dynamic constraints of the robot. Furthermore, we achieve increased robot stability by learning dynamic friction models of manipulated objects

  @inproceedings{stilman2008humanoid,
    title = {Humanoid Teleoperation For Whole Body Manipulation},
    pages = {3175--3180},
    month = {May},
    booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation},
    author = {Mike Stilman and Nishiwaki, Koichi and Satoshi Kagami},
    year = {2008}
  }
  

• 2007
• Mike Stilman, Koichi Nishiwaki, and Satoshi Kagami Learning Object Models for Humanoid Manipulation IEEE/RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robotics. 2007.

  Abstract BibTeX PDF

  We present a successful implementation of rigid grasp manipulation for large objects moved along specified trajectories by a humanoid robot. HRP-2 manipulates tables on casters with a range of loads up to its own mass. The robot maintains dynamic balance by controlling its center of gravity to compensate for refiected forces. To achieve high performance for large objects with unspecified dynamics the robot learns a friction model for each object and applies it to torso trajectory generation. We empirically compare this method to a purely reactive strategy and show a significant increase in predictive power and stability.

  @inproceedings{stilman2007learning,
    title = {Learning Object Models for Humanoid Manipulation},
    pages = {174--179},
    month = {November},
    booktitle = {IEEE/RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robotics},
    author = {Mike Stilman and Nishiwaki, Koichi and Satoshi Kagami},
    year = {2007}
  }
  

• 2006
• Mike Stilman, Koichi Nishiwaki, Satoshi Kagami, and James Kuffner Planning and Executing Navigation Among Movable Obstacles IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. 2006.

  Abstract BibTeX PDF

  This paper explores autonomous locomotion, reaching, grasping and manipulation for the domain of Navigation Among Movable Obstacles (NAMO). The robot perceives and constructs a model of an environment filled with various fixed and movable obstacles, and automatically plans a navigation strategy to reach a desired goal location. The planned strategy consists of a sequence of walking and compliant manipulation operations. It is executed by the robot with online feedback. We give an overview of our NAMO system, as well as provide details of the autonomous planning, online grasping and compliant hand positioning during dynamically-stable walking. Finally, we present results of a successful implementation running on the Humanoid Robot HRP-2

  @inproceedings{stlman2006planning,
    title = {Planning and Executing Navigation Among Movable Obstacles},
    pages = {1617--1634},
    month = {October},
    booktitle = {IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems},
    author = {Mike Stilman and Nishiwaki, Koichi and Satoshi Kagami and James Kuffner},
    year = {2006}
  }
  

Technical Reports

• Neil T. Dantam, Pushkar Kolhe, and Mike Stilman Equations of Motion for Dynamically Stable Mobile Manipulators no. GT-GOLEM-2010-002. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA. 2010.

  Abstract BibTeX PDF

  Equations of motion for dynamically stable mobile manipulation

  @techreport{dantam2010equations,
    title = {Equations of Motion for Dynamically Stable Mobile Manipulators},
    number = {GT-GOLEM-2010-002},
    institution = {Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA},
    author = {Neil T. Dantam and Pushkar Kolhe and Mike Stilman},
    year = {2010}
  }