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:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Field Robotics, 2017, 34 (5), pp. 912 - 939
Issue Date:: 2017-08-01

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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	2017-08-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Field Robotics, 2017, 34 (5), pp. 912 - 939	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1556-4959	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/124922
dc.description.abstract	© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 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 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 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 that are critical for transitioning research contributions to a fielded robot. Empirical data collected before, during, and after the DRC Finals validate ESCHER's performance in fielded environments.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Field Robotics	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1002/rob.21697	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	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	5	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	34	en_US
utslib.for	0801 Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing	en_US
utslib.for	0906 Electrical and Electronic Engineering	en_US
utslib.for	0913 Mechanical Engineering	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.issue	5	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	34	en_US

Abstract:

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 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 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 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 that are critical for transitioning research contributions to a fielded robot. Empirical data collected before, during, and after the DRC Finals validate ESCHER's performance in fielded environments.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/124922