WALK-MAN, humanoid robot, FP7 European Project
walk-man.eu
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Contributors:
Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Genova, Italy
Research Center “E.Piaggio”, Pisa, Italy
centropiaggio.unipi.it/projects/walk-man-whole-body-adaptive-locomotion-and-manipulation.html
Quote:
The WALK-MAN project aims to develop a humanoid robot that can operate in buildings that were damaged following natural and man-made disasters. The robot will demonstrate new skills:
dextrous, powerful manipulation skills - e.g. turning a heavy valve of lifting collapsed masonry,
robust balanced locomotion - walking, crawling over a debris pile, and
physical sturdiness - e.g. operating conventional hand tools such as pneumatic drills or cutters.
In addition, the robot will have the sufficient cognitive ability to allow it to operate autonomously or under tele-operation in case of severe communication limitations for remote control due to limited channel bandwidth and/or reliability).
The robot will show human levels of locomotion, balance and manipulation and operate outside the laboratory environment. Disaster sites may include buildings such as factories, offices, houses.
This project will significantly advance the current walking and locomotion capabilities of humanoid systems so that the robots will be able to walk in and through cluttered spaces (walking in a crowded environment) and maintain their balance against external disturbances, such as contact and impacts with objects or people. The robot will achieve this by exploiting all its limbs (hands, arms, legs, feet and trunk) to demonstrate whole-body motion dynamics and making use of surrounding workspace constraints (handrails, walls, furniture etc). In parallel, we plan to advance the manipulation capabilities of existing humanoids by developing new hand designs that combine robustness and adaptability. This will take advantage of recent developments in mechanical design and materials that allow the creation of less fragile and delicate end-effectors that are capable of grasping/manipulating traditional handtools.
