Computational Design of Robotic Devices from High-Level Motion Specifications

Sehoon Ha, Stelian Coros, Alexander Alspach, James M. Bern, Joohyung Kim, Katsu Yamane

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We present a novel computational approach to design the robotic devices from high-level motion specifications. Our computational system uses a library of modular components - actuators, mounting brackets, and connectors - to define the space of possible robot designs. The process of creating a new robot begins with a set of input trajectories that specify how its end effectors and/or body should move. By searching through the combinatorial set of possible arrangements of modular components, our method generates a functional, as-simple-as-possible robotic device that is capable of tracking the input motion trajectories. To significantly improve the efficiency of this discrete optimization process, we propose a novel heuristic that guides the search for appropriate designs. Briefly, our heuristic function estimates how much an intermediate robot design needs to change before it becomes able to execute the target motion trajectories. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our computational design method by automatically creating a variety of robotic manipulators and legged robots. To generate these results, we define our own robotic kit that includes off-the-shelf actuators and 3-D printable connectors. We validate our results by fabricating two robotic devices designed with our method.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number8395009
Pages (from-to)1240-1251
Number of pages12
JournalIEEE Transactions on Robotics
Volume34
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2018
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Kinematics
  • legged robots
  • manipulation planning
  • mechanism design

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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