Workshop on Legged and Multi-modal Locomotion

Tuesday, June 21, 2016, 9:30-17:00

Organizers

Evangelos G. Papadopoulos
National Technical University of Athens, Greece

Ioannis Poulakakis
University of Delaware, USA

Dimitris P. Tsakiris
FORTH, Greece

Program [pdf]

Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Edessa Room, Divani Caravel Hotel, Athens, Greece

Program

(Click on paper title to see extended abstract.)

9:30 – 9:45:         Organizers – welcome, workshop overview
Bipedal locomotion – A
9:45 – 10:15:       David V. Lee, Michael R. Isaacs and Tudor N. Comanescu, University of Nevada Las Vegas
Step length influences compliance in the human walking leg
10:15 – 10:45:    Matan Karklinsky and Tamar Flash, The Weizmann Institute of Science
Conservation laws of optimization criteria for segmentation and time prediction of locomotion trajectories]

10:45 – 11:15:    Coffee break

Bipedal locomotion – B
11:15 – 11:45:    Andre Seyfarth, TU Darmstadt
Locomotor sub-functions — A model-based approach for describing legged locomotion
11:45 – 12:15:    Guoping Zhao, TU Darmstadt
Human leg adjustments to ground dropping perturbations during walking
12:15 – 12:45:    Przemyslaw Kryczka, The Italian Institute of Technology
Real-time humanoid gait pattern generation optimizing footstep placement and timing
12:45 – 13:00:    Poster brief presentations

13:00 – 14:30:    Lunch break

Quadrupedal and polypedal locomotion
14:30 – 15:00:    Benny Hochner and Guy Levy, Hebrew University
The embodied organization of arms coordination in octopus locomotion
15:00 – 15:30:    Letizia Zullo, The Italian Institute of Technology
The octopus arm muscles: bio inspiration for soft robotics
15:30 – 16:00:    K. Machairas, K. Koutsoukis, and Evangelos G. Papadopoulos, NTUA
Quadruped running using a flexible torso and momentum management techniques
16:00 – 16:30:    Dimitris P. Tsakiris, Institute of Computer Science – FORTH
Bio-inspired motion control for soft-body pedundulatory robotic locomotors

16:30 – 16:55:    Poster session
16:55 – 17:00:    Organizers – closing remarks

Aim

The aim of this workshop is to present and discuss the state of the art in legged and multimodal locomotion research, from the biological, biomechanical and robotic viewpoints. Research focusing on locomotion in unstructured, rugged and yielding terrain, on sand, on mud and in aquatic environments, on the combination of various modes of locomotion for different environments, as well as on the exploration of the role of compliance in locomotion, will be of particular interest.

Intended audience: The workshop will attempt to bring together researchers and practitioners with interests at the interface of biology, biomechanics and robotics, and, in particular, on theoretical and practical issues related to the control and development of multi-dof, underactuated/overactuated, hybrid, constrained, legged/multi-appendage robotic locomotors in unstructured environments.

The presentations will deal with both theoretical and practical aspects of modeling, control and development of legged and multi-modal robotic locomotion: practical robotic systems that demonstrate reliable, robust behavior, novel materials and state of the art techniques and algorithms for modeling and control, for improving the performance of these systems.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Biological inspiration for locomotion on land (unstructured, rugged and yielding terrain, sand, mud, etc.) or in aquatic environments,
• Exploitation of appendages in locomotion (legs, parapodia, tails, caudal/lateral fins, etc.),
• Exploitation of compliance (active/passive) for terrain adaptation,
• Exploitation of compliant materials for robotic locomotor bodies and appendages,
• Motion control and stability on unstructured, yielding or aquatic environments,
• Control and planning of dynamic locomotion through unstructured terrains,
• Dynamics modeling, gait generation and control for legged robots,
• Body state estimation and balance control for legged robots,
• Foot step generation and locomotion planning.

The workshop includes invited talks and posters on the state of the art in different areas of legged and multi-modal locomotion research.