LEARNING LEGGED LOCOMOTION OVER EXTREME TERRAIN
Currently, legged locomotion over obstacles remains a great challenge in robotics. The equations describing so-called “extreme” walks are highly complex, and the contact forces between the robot and its environment are not easily modeled. A major research goal in the field of robotics is to develop capacity for “extreme” walks while keeping computations tractable. This study was designed to create a method for making a Sony Aibo walk up a 1-inch step consistently. Project activities focused on finding ways to apply simple models for generating walks onto the step. Once the study identified a class of “extreme” walks in lower dimensions, parameters were hand-tuned in an effort to assess whether a prospective class of walks was appropriate or not.