The objective of this project is to understand the principles of dynamics and control that intrinsically couple legged robots with bioinspired robotic tails to achieve agile animal-like locomotion. This research hypothesizes that spatial robotic tails can augment the performance of legged robots by enhancing their stability and maneuverability. The research will establish a firm analytical foundation that enables: (a) systematic investigation and analysis of the effects of robotic tails on the stability of highly-agile maneuvers of legged robots, and (b) development of control algorithms for agile legged locomotion with bioinspired robotic tails. The theoretical innovations will be reduced to practice by incorporating spatial robotic tails on legged robot testbeds. This research will enable to build legged robots with agility and stability that are seen in animals to effectively and rapidly navigate in unstructured, hazardous and complex environments which will lead to faster search and rescue or exploration of dangerous environments. Additional deliverables of this project include dissemination of research results, engineering education and research experiences for students and science teachers, new engineering curriculums, and outreach and diversity initiatives for students, teachers, and under-represented minorities.
The overarching goal of this project is to establish a strong foundation for a paradigm shift from traditional control algorithms that only address legged locomotion without bioinspired robotic tails to resilient control algorithms that intrinsically couple legged robots with bioinspired robotic tails to achieve agile and dexterous animal-like locomotion. The research draws upon robotics, controls, and hybrid systems theory to fuse observations from nature in the transformation of state-of-the-art methods for the control of agile legged locomotion. The research will create innovations in analysis by studying the effect of tails on the stability of legged locomotion and innovations in control by creating a systematic framework to design robust control algorithms that coordinate the robotic tail motion with that of the quadruped by enhancing its dexterity, agility, and maneuverability. The research has broad societal impacts by enabling the next generation of agile autonomous legged robots to efficiently overcome obstacles in natural environments and to effectively assist, or stand in for, humans in dangerous situations such as in disaster areas. The integrated education plan involves creation of new courses as well as STEM-based outreach initiative for K-12 students, teachers, and under-represented minorities.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
