Team VALOR’s ESCHER: A novel electromechanical biped for the DARPA robotics challenge

Knabe, C; Griffin, R; Burton, J; Cantor-Cooke, G; Dantanarayana, L; Day, G; Ebeling-Koning, O; Hahn, E; Hopkins, M; Neal, J; Newton, J; Nogales, C; Orekhov, V; Peterson, J; Rouleau, M; Seminatore, J; Sung, Y; Webb, J; Wittenstein, N; Ziglar, J; Leonessa, A; Lattimer, B; Furukawa, T

Team VALOR’s ESCHER: A novel electromechanical biped for the DARPA robotics challenge

Knabe, C Griffin, R Burton, J Cantor-Cooke, G Dantanarayana, L

Day, G Ebeling-Koning, O Hahn, E Hopkins, M Neal, J Newton, J Nogales, C Orekhov, V Peterson, J Rouleau, M Seminatore, J Sung, Y Webb, J Wittenstein, N Ziglar, J Leonessa, A Lattimer, B Furukawa, T

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Publication Type:: Chapter
Citation:: Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, 2018, 121 pp. 583 - 629
Issue Date:: 2018-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Knabe, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Griffin, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Burton, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cantor-Cooke, G	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Dantanarayana, L https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8887-329X	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Day, G	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ebeling-Koning, O	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hahn, E	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hopkins, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Neal, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Newton, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Nogales, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Orekhov, V	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Peterson, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Rouleau, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Seminatore, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Sung, Y	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Webb, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wittenstein, N	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ziglar, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Leonessa, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Lattimer, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Furukawa, T	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, 2018, 121 pp. 583 - 629	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/133181
dc.description.abstract	© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018. The Electric Series Compliant Humanoid for Emergency Response (ESCHER) platform represents the culmination of four years of development at Virginia Tech to produce a full sized force controlled humanoid robot capable of operating in unstructured environments. ESCHER’s locomotion capability was demonstrated at the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Finals when it successfully navigated the 61 m loose dirt course. Team VALOR, a Track A team, developed ESCHER leveraging and improving upon bipedal humanoid technologies implemented in previous research efforts, specifically for traversing uneven terrain and sustained untethered operation. This paper presents the hardware platform, software, and control systems developed to field ESCHER at the DRC Finals. ESCHER’s unique features include custom linear series elastic actuators (SEAs) in both single and dual actuator configurations and a whole-body control framework supporting compliant locomotion across variable and shifting terrain. A high-level software system designed using the Robot Operating System (ROS) integrated various open-source packages and interfaced with the existing whole-body motion controller. The paper discusses a detailed analysis of challenges encountered during the competition, along with lessons learned critical for transitioning research contributions to a fielded robot. Empirical data collected before, during, and after the DRC Finals validates ESCHER’s performance in fielded environments.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/978-3-319-74666-1_15	en_US
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject.classification	Industrial Engineering & Automation	en_US
dc.title	Team VALOR’s ESCHER: A novel electromechanical biped for the DARPA robotics challenge	en_US
dc.type	Chapter
utslib.citation.volume	121	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	121	en_US

Abstract:

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018. The Electric Series Compliant Humanoid for Emergency Response (ESCHER) platform represents the culmination of four years of development at Virginia Tech to produce a full sized force controlled humanoid robot capable of operating in unstructured environments. ESCHER’s locomotion capability was demonstrated at the DARPA Robotics Challenge (DRC) Finals when it successfully navigated the 61 m loose dirt course. Team VALOR, a Track A team, developed ESCHER leveraging and improving upon bipedal humanoid technologies implemented in previous research efforts, specifically for traversing uneven terrain and sustained untethered operation. This paper presents the hardware platform, software, and control systems developed to field ESCHER at the DRC Finals. ESCHER’s unique features include custom linear series elastic actuators (SEAs) in both single and dual actuator configurations and a whole-body control framework supporting compliant locomotion across variable and shifting terrain. A high-level software system designed using the Robot Operating System (ROS) integrated various open-source packages and interfaced with the existing whole-body motion controller. The paper discusses a detailed analysis of challenges encountered during the competition, along with lessons learned critical for transitioning research contributions to a fielded robot. Empirical data collected before, during, and after the DRC Finals validates ESCHER’s performance in fielded environments.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/133181