Soccer playing humanoid robots: Processing architecture, gait generation and vision system

Research on humanoid robotics in Mechatronics and Automation (MA) Laboratory, Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), National University of Singapore (NUS) was started at the beginning of this decade. Various research prototypes for humanoid robots have been designed and are going through evolution over these years. These humanoids have been successfully participating in various robotic soccer competitions. In this paper, three major research and development aspects of the above humanoid research are discussed. The paper focuses on various practical and theoretical considerations involved in processing architecture, gait generation and vision systems.

[1]  S. Nakaura,et al.  Balance control analysis of humanoid robot based on ZMP feedback control , 2002, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[2]  Kazuhito Yokoi,et al.  Biped walking pattern generation by using preview control of zero-moment point , 2003, 2003 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.03CH37422).

[3]  Masaki Yamakita,et al.  An Unified Formulation and Solution to Gait Generation Problems Based on Passive Dynamic Walking , 2003 .

[4]  O. Faugeras.  Three-dimensional computer vision: a geometric viewpoint , 1993 .

[5]  Atsuo Takanishi,et al.  Control to realize human-like walking of a biped humanoid robot , 2000, Smc 2000 conference proceedings. 2000 ieee international conference on systems, man and cybernetics. 'cybernetics evolving to systems, humans, organizations, and their complex interactions' (cat. no.0.

[6]  W. T. Miller,et al.  CMAC: an associative neural network alternative to backpropagation , 1990, Proc. IEEE.

[7]  Michael Brady,et al.  Self-calibration of the intrinsic parameters of cameras for active vision systems , 1993, Proceedings of IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition.

[8]  J. Pratt,et al.  Exploiting Natural Dynamics in the Control of a 3 D Bipedal Walking Simulation , 1999 .

[9]  Yuan F. Zheng,et al.  Reinforcement learning for a biped robot to climb sloping surfaces , 1997 .

[10]  Roger Y. Tsai,et al.  A versatile camera calibration technique for high-accuracy 3D machine vision metrology using off-the-shelf TV cameras and lenses , 1987, IEEE J. Robotics Autom..

[11]  W.T. Miller.  Real-time neural network control of a biped walking robot , 1994, IEEE Control Systems.

[12]  James S. Albus,et al.  New Approach to Manipulator Control: The Cerebellar Model Articulation Controller (CMAC)1 , 1975 .

[13]  Jong Hyeon Park,et al.  Impedance control for biped robot locomotion , 2001, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[14]  Martin Buss,et al.  Development and control of autonomous, biped locomotion using efficient modeling, simulation, and optimization techniques , 2003, 2003 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.03CH37422).

[15]  Prahlad Vadakkepat,et al.  Disturbance rejection by online ZMP compensation , 2008, Robotica.

[16]  Prahlad Vadakkepat,et al.  Genetic algorithm-based optimal bipedal walking gait synthesis considering tradeoff between stability margin and speed , 2009, Robotica.

[17]  Yuan F. Zheng.  A neural gait synthesizer for autonomous biped robots , 1990, EEE International Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Towards a New Frontier of Applications.

[18]  W. T. Miller.  Learning dynamic balance of a biped walking robot , 1994, Proceedings of 1994 IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks (ICNN'94).

[19]  H. Inoue,et al.  Dynamic walking pattern generation for a humanoid robot based on optimal gradient method , 1999, IEEE SMC'99 Conference Proceedings. 1999 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (Cat. No.99CH37028).

[20]  Jih-Gau Juang,et al.  Fuzzy neural network approaches for robotic gait synthesis , 2000, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B.

[21]  Kazuhito Yokoi,et al.  Planning walking patterns for a biped robot , 2001, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[22]  S DeMa,et al.  A self-calibration technique for active vision systems , 1996 .

[23]  Hirochika Inoue,et al.  Real-time humanoid motion generation through ZMP manipulation based on inverted pendulum control , 2002, Proceedings 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.02CH37292).

[24]  Miomir Vukobratovic,et al.  Zero-Moment Point - Thirty Five Years of its Life , 2004, Int. J. Humanoid Robotics.

[25]  Shuuji Kajita,et al.  Real-time 3D walking pattern generation for a biped robot with telescopic legs , 2001, Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164).