Reinforcement learning (RL) offers a promising solution for controlling humanoid robots, particularly for bipedal locomotion, by learning adaptive and flexible control strategies. However, direct RL application is hindered by time-consuming trial-and-error processes, necessitating training in simulation before real-world transfer. This introduces a reality gap that degrades … [Read more...] about Bridging the Reality Gap: Analyzing Sim-to-Real Transfer Techniques for Reinforcement Learning in Humanoid Bipedal Locomotion
Service robots
The Open Stack of Tasks Library: OpenSoT: A Software Dedicated to Hierarchical Whole-Body Control of Robots Subject to Constraints
The Open Stack of Tasks (OpenSoT) library is a state-of-the-art framework for instantaneous whole-body motion planning and control based on quadratic programming optimization. The library is designed to enable users to easily write and solve a variety of complex instantaneous whole-body control problems with minimal input, facilitating the addition of new tasks, constraints, … [Read more...] about The Open Stack of Tasks Library: OpenSoT: A Software Dedicated to Hierarchical Whole-Body Control of Robots Subject to Constraints
Design and Control of the Humanoid Robot COMAN+: Hardware Capabilities and Software Implementations
Despite the prevalence of robots operating within controlled environments, such as industries, recent advancements in both autonomy and human–robot interaction have expanded the potential for their use within a diverse range of scenarios. Research efforts in humanoid robotics aim to develop platforms possessing the requisite versatility and dexterity to mimic human motion. This … [Read more...] about Design and Control of the Humanoid Robot COMAN+: Hardware Capabilities and Software Implementations
The Cluttered Environment Picking Benchmark (CEPB) for Advanced Warehouse Automation: Evaluating the Perception, Planning, Control, and Grasping of Manipulation Systems
Autonomous and reliable robotic grasping is a desirable functionality in robotic manipulation and is still an open problem. Standardized benchmarks are important tools for evaluating and comparing robotic grasping and manipulation systems among different research groups, and also for sharing with the community the best practices to learn from errors. An ideal benchmarking … [Read more...] about The Cluttered Environment Picking Benchmark (CEPB) for Advanced Warehouse Automation: Evaluating the Perception, Planning, Control, and Grasping of Manipulation Systems
A Multiarm Robotic Platform for Scientific Exploration: Its Design, Digital Twins, and Validation
There are a large number of robotic platforms with two or more arms targeting surgical applications. Despite that, very few groups have employed such platforms for scientific exploration. Possible applications of a multi-arm platform in scientific exploration involve the study of the mechanisms of intractable diseases by using organoids, i.e., miniature human organs) The study … [Read more...] about A Multiarm Robotic Platform for Scientific Exploration: Its Design, Digital Twins, and Validation
