NABiRoS: Non Anthropomorphic Bipedal Robotic System RoMeLa 2016-11-15 | Traditional humanoid robots are complex machines whose practical uses are yet limited due to their prohibitive complexity, cost, slow speed, and lack of stability. This video presents an experimental feasibility study on a novel bipedal robot concept and prototype that takes inspiration from humanoids but features fundamental differences that drastically improve its agility and stability while reducing its complexity and cost. This Non-Anthropomorphic Bipedal Robotic System (NABiRoS) modifies the traditional bipedal form by aligning the legs in the sagittal plane and adding compliance to the feet, reducing the total number of actuated degrees of freedom to four. The platform is comparable in height to a human, but weighs much less because of its lightweight architecture and novel leg configuration. The inclusion of the compliant element showed immense improvements in the stability and robustness of walking gaits on the prototype, allowing the robot to remain stable during locomotion without any inertial feedback control. The platform was also able to traverse shallow ramps and steps and portray a certain level of emotion through the dynamic motions it performs. NABiRoS was able to achieve walking speeds of up to 0.75km/h (0.21m/s) using a simple pre-processed ZMP based gait and a positioning accuracy of +/- 0.04m with a preprocessed quasi-static algorithm. Strategies for changing the walking direction and traversing uneven terrain are currently being investigated.
Say hi to Kid COSMO! The new Russo Brothers movie The Electric State premiering March 14 on Netflix RoMeLa 2024-10-27 | ...
Project Food Angel: Development & Preliminary Observations of a Food Delivery Robot for the Homeless RoMeLa 2024-08-02 | [Project Food Angel: Development and Preliminary Observations of a Food Delivery Robot for the Homeless]By Ethan Hong, Geffen Academy at UCLAFood Angel is a food delivery robot to help with the problems of “food insecurity” and “homelessness.” Food insecurity refers to the condition of not having access to sufficient food, or food of an adequate quality, to meet one's basic needs. Together with homelessness, these are prominent issues globally, especially in the urban areas around the world. Currently, food banks and other charity organizations provide food for the needed, however due to the lack of manpower and stigma surrounding the homeless including fear and concerns for safety and hygiene, food insecurity for the homeless is still a significant problem that needs to be addressed. Utilizing autonomous wheeled robots for this application may seem to be a good approach, especially with a number of successful commercial robotic delivery services. However, besides technical considerations such as range, payload, operation time, autonomy, etc. there are a number of important aspects that still need to be investigated, such as how the general public and the receiving end may feel about using robots for such application, or human-robot interaction issues such as how to communicate the intent of the robot to the homeless. Feedback from early interviews indicate that technology (such as monitor screens with messages, speakers with sound cues or voice announcements, or an automatically opening top) is not preferred by the homeless. Thus the first prototype of Food Angel uses a simple cardboard box with a clear handwritten sign for communication. Through this work, we would like to test what is possible using robotics technology, to establish a design guideline for future robots for this application, and to bring awareness about the problem of food insecurity. This video presents our first prototype of Food Angel and the preliminary results and observations from its first deployment.The author would like to thank the Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at UCLA and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank for their support.Contact: ehong15@geffenacademy.ucla.edu
RoboCup 2024: Team RoMeLa Finals, Humanoid AdultSize LeagueRoboCup 2024 Finals RoMeLa 2024-07-22 | RoboCup 2024: Team RoMeLa Finals, Humanoid AdultSize LeagueRoboCup 2024: Humanoid AdultSize League Finals Team RoMeLa vs. Team NimbRo AdultSizeFeaturing RoMeLa's ARTEMIS humanoid robotFully autonomous humanoid robot soccer match with the official goal of beating the human WorldCup Champions by the year 2050.Team RoMeLa UCLA wins every single match at the tournament and becomes World Champions at RoboCup 2024, Eindhoven, Netherlands in the adult-size humanoid division. This is RoMeLa’s 6th win at RoboCup.🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆#RoboCup2024 #Eindhoven#ARTEMIS #Humanoid #robot#RoMeLa #Soccer #Football
RoboCup 2024: Team RoMeLa Semi-finals, Humanoid AdultSize League RoMeLa 2024-07-21 | RoboCup 2024: Humanoid AdultSize League Semi-finals Team RoMeLa vs. Team HERoEHSFeaturing RoMeLa's ARTEMIS humanoid robotFully autonomous humanoid robot soccer match with the official goal of beating the human WorldCup Champions by the year 2050.
RoboCup 2024: Team RoMeLa Practice, Humanoid AdultSize League RoMeLa 2024-07-18 | RoboCup 2024: Humanoid AdultSize LeagueTeam RoMeLa Practice with ARTEMIS humanoid robotFeaturing Tsinghua Hephaestus (Booster Alpha)Fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer match with the official goal of beating the human WorldCup Champions by the year 2050.Note:* Ethernet cables still attached due to WiFi problems of the game controllers at the venue.* ARTEMIS' kick is too string, she broke her foot.
Team RoMeLa: Robot Soccer Practice with Autonomous Humanoid Robot ARTEMIS for RoboCup 2024 RoMeLa 2024-07-16 | This video shows Team RoMeLa's autonomous robot soccer practice with ARTEMIS humanoid robots in preparation for RoboCup 2024.* ARTEMIS (Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability) is a full-sized humanoid robot developed at RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory) at UCLA, designed from ground up for highly dynamic locomotion with new technical innovations.* ARTEMIS is being developed as a “general-purpose humanoid,” with a focus on studying dynamic bipedal locomotion on unstructured environments.* ARTEMIS is also being developed as a soccer player robot for the autonomous robot soccer competition, RoboCup. The official goal of RoboCup is to have a team of robots play against the human WorldCup champions and win by the year 2050. RoMeLa is a 5 time World Champion in RoboCup.
ARTEMIS humanoid update RoMeLa 2024-04-22 | ARTEMIS update 2024.04.20* ARTEMIS (Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability) is a full-sized humanoid robot developed at RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory) at UCLA, designed from ground up for highly dynamic locomotion with new technical innovations.* ARTEMIS is being developed as a “general-purpose humanoid,” with a focus on studying dynamic bipedal locomotion on unstructured environments.* ARTEMIS is also being developed as a soccer player robot for the autonomous robot soccer competition, RoboCup. The official goal of RoboCup is to have a team of robots play against the human WorldCup champions and win by the year 2050. RoMeLa is a 5 time World Champion in RoboCup.Notable Performances:* ARTEMIS can walk up to 2.1 m/s* ARTEMIS can walk on uneven, rough, unstructured terrain - can walk on a rubble pile with randomly scattered wooden planks, blocks and boxes, etc.* ARTEMIS is very robust against external disturbances - can balance even when pushed or kicked ‘very strongly.’* ARTEMIS can run (with a flight phase with both feet off the ground). She is first humanoid robot in academia that can run, and the 3rd in the world (after Honda and Boston Dynamics.)* ARTEMIS operates untethered, with all power (battery) and computations (computers) onboard.Notable Technical Innovations:* ARTEMIS uses custom designed torque-controlled, “proprioceptive actuators” (vs position controlled servo motors) which behaves more like biological muscles. This enables it to make it run and walk on uneven terrain.* ARTEMIS is 100% electric actuation (vs. hydraulic actuation like Boston Dynamics’ ATLAS humanoid robot)ARTEMIS Specification:* Height: 1.42 m (4 ft 8 in)* Weight (mass): 37 kg (82 lbs) * 20 Degree of Freedom (DoF) - 5 DoF per leg- 4 DoF per arm- 2 DoF neck * Actuators: custom designed torque-controlled proprioceptive actuators* Power: x4 100Wh Lithium battery* Sensors - x1 ZED 2i stereo camera- x2 RealSense D435i- x1 Microstrain IMU- x2 Custom foot loadcell Fun facts:* ARTEMIS is considered female (In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Artemis is the goddess of chastity, hunting, and the moon)* Officially, ARTEMIS stands for “Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability”* Internally, ARTEMIS stands for “A Robot That Exceeds Messi In Soccer”* ARTEMIS is partially funded by ONR (Office of Naval Research) and funds raised by a successful UCLA Spark Fund campaign.
Boston Dynamics’s “Hydraulic” Atlas is retiring today RoMeLa 2024-04-16 | Boston Dynamics’s “Hydraulic” Atlas is retiring today. RoMeLa’s #ARTEMIS #humanoid #robot wants to thank you for sparking our imagination and for the inspiration. 🤖❤️Looking forward to seeing the next generation “fully electric” Atlas soon! I hope our ARTEMIS robot was able to inspire you in that area. Can’t wait to see what surprises awaits us…
A Climbing Robot with Long Extending and Bending Tape Measure Limb - EEWOC RoMeLa 2024-04-14 | EEWOC: Extended-reach Enhanced Wheeled Orb for ClimbingOur modern world is filled with many large vertical structures, including towers, factories, bridges, power stations, and ships. These vital pieces of infrastructure require regular inspections and maintenance to ensure safety, but can be dangerous for humans. Climbing robots can be deployed to help protect human inspectors from electrical, chemical, and fall hazards, and can help automate these tedious and labor-intensive tasks. Existing climbing robots generally use wheeled locomotion, which offers poor adaptability and cannot overcome small features, or legged movement, which are often slow and bulky due to their overly complex designs that mimic ground-based animals and manipulator arms.EEWOC uses a unique locomotion scheme to climb complex steel structures with its magnetic grippers. Its lightweight and highly extendable tape spring limb can reach over 1.2m, allowing it to traverse gaps and obstacles much larger than other existing climbing robots. Its ability to bend allows it to reach around corners and over ledges, and it can transition between surfaces easily thanks to assistance from its wheels. The wheels also let it to drive more quickly and efficiently on the ground. These features make EEWOC well-suited for climbing the complex steel structures seen in real-world environments.EEWOC fits within a 260mm diameter sphere and weighs only 2.1kg. It can travel at 0.24m/s (0.79 ft/s) or around 0.9 bodylengths/s, making it one of the fastest climbing robots. It can also lift 3.4kg with a payload-to-weight ratio of 1.62, also making it one of the strongest. Its long limb length helps simplify the process of identifying suitable grasping points and coordinating limbs, steps which cause other legged climbing robots to be very slow. EEWOC represents a minimalist morphology that reduces the actuators and structures necessary for climbing, using passive, compliant, and switchable mechanisms.For more information, see our published works:ASME-IDETC 2023: A Lightweight Mobile Robot for Climbing Steel Structures With An Extending and Bending_Tape Spring Limbasmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IDETC-CIE/proceedings-abstract/IDETC-CIE2023/87363/V008T08A084/1170807ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics 2023: Extending and Bending Robotic Limbs Using Tape Springs for Mobility and Manipulation: Preliminary Investigationsasmedigitalcollection.asme.org/mechanismsrobotics/article-abstract/15/3/031009/1160176/Flexible-Long-Reach-Robotic-Limbs-Using-Tape?redirectedFrom=fulltextContact:Justin Quan (justinquan@ucla.edu)Dennis Hong (dennishong@ucla.edu)
Team RoMeLa ARTEMIS: Humanoid Locomotion Competition 2023 RoMeLa 2023-12-15 | Failure is just a necessary stepping stone towards success. Follow Team RoMeLa’s journey with our humanoid robot ARTEMIS!Humanoid Locomotion Competition IEEE Humanoid Conference 2023Dec 12-14, Austin, TXLet the best bot win! 🤖👍
Cooking Robot, Project YORI RoMeLa 2023-09-25 | Introducing Project YORI, a flexible and expandable cooking robot system prototype being developed by RoMeLa in collaboration with Woowa Brothers. YORI stands for “Yummy Operations Robot Initiative” but it also means “cooking” in Korean.Unlike most other cooking robot systems, YORI is designed to be expandable to cook almost any type of dishes. At this point, YORI can cook steak frites, fried chicken, pasta, and brownies to name a few. With its proprioceptive actuators, the robot can perform tasks that other conventional robot arms cannot, such as kneading dough which requires force control, or tenderizing meat by pounding which requires impact mitigation. Instead of trying to mimic how humans cook, we approached the problem by thinking how cooking would be accomplished if a robot cooks. Thus the YORI system does not use the typical cooking methods, tools or utensils which are developed for humans. For example, the YORI system utilizes unique chemical sensors to make sure the food is cooked to perfection and the ingredients are fresh. The system does not have hands either - it uses custom tools for each tasks which are automatically installed at the end of the robot arm via a tool changer mechanism.
RoboCup 2023: RoMeLa (ARTEMIS) vs. NimbRo, Exhibition Game RoMeLa 2023-07-16 | At RoboCup 2023, Bordeaux, France.Team RoMeLa's ARTEMIS vs. RoboCup Champions Team NimbRo. This is an exhibition game generously offered by Team NimbRo after an unfortunate incident of an illegal Game Controller that interfered with Team RoMeLa’s last official game.Team RoMeLa would like to thank team NimbRo for the generous offer for an exhibition game, for admirable sportsmanship, and most of all, for your friendship. You have shown us the true spirit of RoboCup. Danke schön!
ARTEMIS Turbo Mode RoMeLa 2023-07-11 | Showing ARTEMIS’ secret Turbo mode for the first time!Under Turbo mode, every motion becomes more dynamic including the kick. It can also do the can-can dance! This highly dynamic behavior is technically very challenging to implement, but the flexible yet sold control foundation of ARTEMIS allows us to push the limit and some more.
RoboCup 2023: RoMeLa (ARTEMIS) vs. HERoEHS, 2nd Half RoMeLa 2023-07-10 | Team RoMeLa (UCLA) vs. HERoEHS (Hanyang Uni.) at RoboCup2023, 2nd half.RoMeLa’s ARTEMIS is the quickest, strongest, and newest robot in the competition, but it takes more than speed and strength to win a game. The game ends as a tie with a score of 0:0.JK, the team leader of HERoEHS, is a former student of Dr. Dennis Hong at RoMeLa. JK had lead Team RoMeLa to victory 12 years ago at RoboCup2011 under Dr. Hong’s guidance. It is interesting to see JK now lead a team against his former advisor.Let the best team win!
RoboCup 2023: RoMeLa (ARTEMIS) vs. HERoEHS, 1st Half RoMeLa 2023-07-10 | Team RoMeLa (UCLA) vs. HERoEHS (Hanyang Uni.) at RoboCup2023, 1st halfRoMeLa’s ARTEMIS is the quickest, strongest, and newest robot in the competition, but it takes more than speed and strength to win a game. The game ends as a tie with a score of 0:0.JK, the team leader of HERoEHS, is a former student of Dr. Dennis Hong at RoMeLa. JK had lead Team RoMeLa to victory 12 years ago at RoboCup2011 under Dr. Hong’s guidance. It is interesting to see JK now lead a team against his former advisor.Let the best team win!
RoboCup 2023: RoMeLa (ARTEMIS) vs. SWEATY RoMeLa 2023-07-08 | At RoboCup 2023, Bordeaux, France.Team RoMeLa's ARTEMIS' very first official debut game at RoboCup!The slow and steady humanoid SWEATY (Univ. of Applied Sciences Offenburg, Germany)vs.The extremely fast and aggressive, yet very unreliable ARTEMIS (Team RoMeLa, UCLA)ARTEMIS' very first goal at RoboCup!But SWEATY wins over Team RoMeLa, 3:2At the end, reliability wins over speed… Lesson learned.Looking forward to RoboCup 2024! GG!
RoboCup 2023 Day 0: Team RoMeLa, Robot ARTEMIS 2 Goalie Behavior Testing RoMeLa 2023-07-07 | RoboCup 2023 in Bordeaux, France.International autonomous robot soccer competition.Goalie behavior testing for Robot ARTEMIS 2, Team RoMeLa UCLA.
RoboCup 2023 Autonomous soccer testing footage and POV from robot ARTEMIS1, Team RoMeLa. RoMeLa 2023-07-07 | RoboCup 2023Autonomous robot soccer testing footage and POV from robot.Robot ARTEMIS1.Team RoMeLa.
Training ARTEMIS: Autonomous Soccer Playing Humanoid Robot RoMeLa 2023-06-24 | [Training ARTEMIS]Humanoid robot ARTEMIS training for RoboCup. Fully autonomous soccer playing outdoors. Testing outdoors is always a challenge because;- Strong sun rays, glare and shadows make it difficult for the vision system.- Uneven ground and deep pile of artificial grass make locomotion challenging.- Robot overheating from direct sunlight.- Environmental noise affects the perception.- Instabilities caused by strong wind gusts.- Operational challenges such as limited access to equipment and tools for quick calibration and repairs, and limited access to power.Still a long way to go to play against humans, but it’s always fascinating to watch it practice on the field.See you at RoboCup 2023 in Bordeaux, France! 🤖👍Team #RoMeLa for #RoboCup #autonomous #soccer #robot#ARTEMIS #humanoid humanoidrobot #humanoidrobots
ARTEMIS: Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability RoMeLa 2023-03-06 | * Please consider contributing to our crowd funding campaign for the next generation ARTEMIS! *UCLA SPARK Fund Campaign 👇https://spark.ucla.edu/project/36794ARTEMIS Humanoid Robot• ARTEMIS (Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability) is a full-sized humanoid robot developed at RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory) at UCLA, designed from ground up for highly dynamic locomotion with new technical innovations.• ARTEMIS is being developed as a “general-purpose humanoid,” with a focus on studying dynamic bipedal locomotion on unstructured environments.• ARTEMIS is also being developed as a soccer player robot for the autonomous robot soccer competition, RoboCup. The official goal of RoboCup is to have a team of robots play against the human WorldCup champions and win by the year 2050. RoMeLa is a 5-time World Champion in RoboCup.Notable Performances:• ARTEMIS can walk up to 2.1 m/s (fastest walking humanoid robot in the world s far as we know)• ARTEMIS can walk on uneven, rough, unstructured terrain - can walk on a rubble pile with randomly scattered wooden planks, blocks and boxes, etc.• ARTEMIS is very robust against external disturbances - can balance even when pushed or kicked ‘very strongly.’• ARTEMIS can run (with a flight phase with both feet off the ground) and is the 4th in the world as far as we know.• ARTEMIS can jump with a ‘significant air phase.’• ARTEMIS operates untethered, with all power (battery) and computations (computers) onboard.Notable Technical Innovations:• ARTEMIS uses custom designed torque-controlled, “proprioceptive actuators” (vs position-controlled servo motors) which behaves more like biological muscles. This enables it to make it run and walk on uneven terrain.• ARTEMIS is 100% electromechanical actuation.Additional Technical Innovations:• Topology optimization-based structure design, analysis and manufacturing.• Unconventional hip orientation for better torque distribution between yaw and roll actuators.• Optimized inertia for dynamic locomotion: Minimize distal mass, Relocate actuators using linkages.• Robust touchdown sensing: New type of front and back single-axis foot force sensor that replaces the conventional fragile F/T sensors. Overload protected.ARTEMIS Specification:• Height: 1.42 m• Weight (mass): 37 kg• 20 Degree of Freedom (DoF)⁃ 5 DoF per leg⁃ 4 DoF per arm⁃ 2 DoF neck• Actuators: custom designed torque-controlled proprioceptive actuators• Power: x4 100Wh Lithium battery• Sensors⁃ x1 ZED 2i stereo camera⁃ x2 RealSense D435i⁃ x1 Microstrain IMU⁃ x2 Custom foot loadcellFun facts:• ARTEMIS is considered female (In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Artemis is the goddess of chastity, hunting, and the moon)• Officially, ARTEMIS stands for “Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability”• Internally, ARTEMIS stands for “A Robot That Exceeds Messi In Soccer”• ARTEMIS wears regular shoes made for human, and she wears size 4. ARTEMIS prefers #Nike. #justdoit• ARTEMIS is partially funded by ONR (Office of Naval Research) and funds raised by a successful UCLA Spark Fund campaign. • ARTEMIS will be participating in the Adult size Humanoid division for RoboCup 2023 in Bordeaux, France July 4-10, 2023. She shall bring the converted “Louis Vuitton” trophy to the United States by becoming World Champions. (RoMeLa is a 5-times World Champions in RoboCup)• ARTEMIS will be taking regular bi-weekly strolls on UCLA campus to meet and inspire students in STEM. ARTEMIS will also be practicing her soccer skills on the UCLA Intramural Playing Field starting this Spring. • First introduction of ARTEMIS: ted.com/talks/dennis_hong_7_new_species_of_robot_that_jump_dance_and_walk_on_water#humanoid #robot #ARTEMIS #bipedal #locomotion #RoMeLa #UCLA #robotics #engineering
Novel Extending and Bending Robotic Limb EEMMMa - ASME JMR 2022 Full Presentation RoMeLa 2023-03-06 | Title: Novel Extending and Bending Robotic Limb EEMMMa - ASME JMR 2022 Full PresentationDescription:Here's a detailed look at RoMeLa's novel robotic limb EEMMMa (Elastic Extending Mechanism for Mobility and Manipulation), a long-reach steel tentacle that can both extend and bend. It can be used to deploy grappling hooks for climbing, and morph its shape to bend around obstacles. This can allow it to place cameras and retrieve samples from hard-to-reach places. The limb's unique tape spring construction results in a versatile, lightweight, and compact system. This can enable future mobile robots to move easily and safely through highly unstructured terrain such as forests or cave systems. Journal paper accepted to ASME-JMR (American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics).00:11 Introduction00:42 Motivation02:39 Existing Work05:05 Design Overview06:18 Limb Design08:05 Climbing Demonstration09:12 Bending Demonstration10:11 Analysis11:56 Interesting Phenomena13:18 Discussion14:23 Future WorkPaper Title: "Extending and Bending Robotic Limbs Using Tape Springs for Mobility and Manipulation: Preliminary Investigations" JMR-22-1267Abstract: Conventional mobile robots have difficulty navigating highly unstructured spaces such as caves and forests. In these environments, a highly extendable limb could be useful for deploying hooks to climb over terrain, or for reaching hard-to-access sites for sample collection. This paper details a new form of multimodal mobile robot that utilizes a novel tape spring limb named EEMMMa (Elastic Extending Mechanism for Mobility and Manipulation). Its innovative U-shaped tape structure allows it to handle loads in tension as well as compression. It can also bend using mechanical multiplexing for a lightweight and compact design that is well-suited for mobile robots. For mobility, the limb can extend prismatically to deploy grappling hook anchors to suspend and transport the main body, or even serve as legs. For manipulation, the limb can morph its shape to bend around or over obstacles, allowing it to retrieve distant objects or position cameras around corners. The EEMMMa-1 prototype detailed in this paper successfully demonstrates climbing ladders and shelves in 1.5 bodylengths per second, and can bend up to 100deg. A simplified model of the bending kinematics is developed and analyzed. The paper concludes by detailing future EEMMMa applications and theories to strengthen the model in future studies.Keywords: Tape Springs, Mobile Robots, Compliant Mechanisms, Shell Mechanisms, Robot Design, Multimodal, Rough Terrain, Climbing Robots, Soft Robots, Robotics, Mechanisms, ExplorationContact:Justin Quan (justinquan@ucla.edu)
Novel Extending and Bending Robotic Limb EEMMMa - ASME JMR 2022 2-Minute Overview RoMeLa 2023-03-06 | Title: Novel Extending and Bending Robotic Limb EEMMMa - ASME JMR 2022 2-Minute OverviewDescription:Here's a quick look at RoMeLa's novel robotic limb EEMMMa (Elastic Extending Mechanism for Mobility and Manipulation), a long-reach steel tentacle that can both extend and bend. It can be used to deploy grappling hooks for climbing, and morph its shape to bend around obstacles. This can allow it to place cameras and retrieve samples from hard-to-reach places. The limb's unique tape spring construction results in a versatile, lightweight, and compact system. This can enable future mobile robots to move easily and safely through highly unstructured terrain such as forests or cave systems. Journal paper accepted to ASME-JMR (American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics).Paper Title: "Extending and Bending Robotic Limbs Using Tape Springs for Mobility and Manipulation: Preliminary Investigations" JMR-22-1267Abstract: Conventional mobile robots have difficulty navigating highly unstructured spaces such as caves and forests. In these environments, a highly extendable limb could be useful for deploying hooks to climb over terrain, or for reaching hard-to-access sites for sample collection. This paper details a new form of multimodal mobile robot that utilizes a novel tape spring limb named EEMMMa (Elastic Extending Mechanism for Mobility and Manipulation). Its innovative U-shaped tape structure allows it to handle loads in tension as well as compression. It can also bend using mechanical multiplexing for a lightweight and compact design that is well-suited for mobile robots. For mobility, the limb can extend prismatically to deploy grappling hook anchors to suspend and transport the main body, or even serve as legs. For manipulation, the limb can morph its shape to bend around or over obstacles, allowing it to retrieve distant objects or position cameras around corners. The EEMMMa-1 prototype detailed in this paper successfully demonstrates climbing ladders and shelves in 1.5 bodylengths per second, and can bend up to 100deg. A simplified model of the bending kinematics is developed and analyzed. The paper concludes by detailing future EEMMMa applications and theories to strengthen the model in future studies.Keywords: Tape Springs, Mobile Robots, Compliant Mechanisms, Shell Mechanisms, Robot Design, Multimodal, Rough Terrain, Climbing Robots, Soft Robots, Robotics, Mechanisms, ExplorationContact:Justin Quan (justinquan@ucla.edu)
Happy Valentines Day! If you see #ARTEMIS on campus, please say “Hi!” 🫶 #humanoid #robot #UCLA RoMeLa 2023-02-14 | ...
ARTEMIS’ locomotion is becoming more robust everyday RoMeLa 2023-02-14 | We are having too much fun in the lab!And locomotion getting more robust everyday!#ARTEMIS #humanoid #robot
ARTEMIS humanoid robot taking a walk indoors RoMeLa 2023-02-14 | RoMeLa’s #ARTEMIS #humanoid #robot going for a walk along the hallway around the Engineering IV building. Walking speed was limited by humans rolling the large safety gantry through the narrow hallway.
RoMeLa’s #ARTEMIS #humanoid #robot #running with real-time #simulation on #SteamDeck controller RoMeLa 2023-01-21 | ...
BRUCE: Bipedal Robot Unit with Compliance Enhanced RoMeLa 2022-12-29 | Following the great success of the miniature humanoid robot DARwIn-OP we have developed, RoMeLa is proud to introduce the next generation humanoid robot for research and education, BRUCE (Bipedal Robot Unit with Compliance Enhanced.) BRUCE is an open-platform humanoid robot that utilizes the BEAR proprioceptive actuators, enabling it to have stunning dynamic performance capabilities never before seen in this class of robots. Originally developed at RoMeLa in joint effort with Westwood Robotics, BRUCE will be made open source to the robotics community and also be made available via Westwood Robotics westwoodrobotics.io/bruceBRUCE has a total 16 DoF, is 70cm in height and weights only 4.8kg. With a 3000mAh lithium battery it can lasts for about 20 minutes with continuous dynamic motions. Besides its excellent dynamic performance, BRUCE is very robust and user-friendly, along with great compatibility and expandability. BRUCE makes humanoid robotics research efficient, safe and fun.
Teaser: Contact-Rich Grasping & Locomotion via Distributed Optimization for Multi-Limbed Robots RoMeLa 2022-08-17 | Conference paper accepted for the 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2022) in Kyoto, Japan:Pre-print: arxiv.org/abs/2207.01418Authors: Yuki Shirai, Xuan Lin, Alexander Schperberg, Yusuke Tanaka, Hayato Kato, Varit Vichathorn, and Dennis Hong[Abstract]While motion planning of locomotion for legged robots has shown great success, motion planning for legged robots with dexterous multi-finger grasping is not mature yet. We present an efficient motion planning framework for simultaneously solving locomotion (e.g., centroidal dynamics), grasping (e.g., patch contact), and contact (e.g., gait) problems. To accelerate the planning process, we propose distributed optimization frameworks based on Alternating Direction Methods of Multipliers (ADMM) to solve the original large-scale Mixed-Integer NonLinear Programming (MINLP). The resulting frameworks use Mixed-Integer Quadratic Programming (MIQP) to solve contact and NonLinear Programming (NLP) to solve nonlinear dynamics, which are more computationally tractable and less sensitive to parameters. Also, we explicitly enforce patch contact constraints from limit surfaces with micro-spine grippers. We demonstrate our proposed framework in the hardware experiments, showing that the multi-limbed robot is able to realize various motions including free-climbing at a slope angle 45° with a much shorter planning time.
Design and Control of a Miniature Bipedal Robot with Proprioceptive Actuation for Dynamic Behaviors RoMeLa 2022-08-11 | Video Attachment of BRUCE ICRA 2022 Paper “Design and Control of a Miniature Bipedal Robot with Proprioceptive Actuation for Dynamic Behaviors”
ARTEMIS, the next generation humanoid robot from RoMeLa RoMeLa 2022-07-15 | Introducing ARTEMISThe next generation humanoid robot platform to serve us for the next 10 years. This is a sneak peek of what is to come. Stay tuned!ARTEMIS: Advanced Robotic Technology for Enhanced Mobility and Improved Stability
Feasibility Study of LIMMS (UR2022) RoMeLa 2022-07-04 | Feasibility Study of LIMMS,A Multi-Agent Modular Robotic Delivery System with Various Locomotion and Manipulation Modesby Taoyuanmin Zhu†, Gabriel I. Fernandez†, Colin Togashi, Yeting Liu, and Dennis Hong
Optimization Based Motion Planning for Multi-Limbed Vertical Climbing Robots-BestPaperAward IROS2019 RoMeLa 2019-07-25 | SiLVIA (Six Legged Vehicle with Intelligent Articulation) is a hexapod robot that can climb between non-flat walls, climb between non-parallel walls, climb up and avoid an obstacle, with the assistance of an optimization-based motion planner.* Winner of the "Best Paper Award on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics" at IROS 2019 *
ALPHRED (IROS 2018) RoMeLa 2019-07-25 | ALPHRED: Autonomous Legged Personal Helper Robot with Enhanced Dynamics (IROS 2018)This paper presents a multi-functioning light weightrobotic system, the Autonomous Legged Personal Helper Robotwith Enhanced Dynamics (ALPHRED), capable of both locomtionand manipulation. In addition, we extended a 2D zero momentpoint (ZMP) trajectory optimization (TO) algorithm to a 3Dimplementation. As well as adding the acceleration of thecenter of mass to the TO cost in order to smooth out themotion of the robot during trajectories with supportpolygons that do not intersect. By implementing thisversatile TO algorithm on a multi-modal robotic platform weshowed that many different forms of stable locomotion andmanipulation were possible including a dynamic 0.7 m/s trotgait.
ALPHRED2 Unofficial RoMeLa 2019-07-10 | ALPHRED2: Autonomous Legged Personal Helper Robot with Enhanced DynamicsUnofficial video of RoMeLa's newest robot ALPHRED2.ALPHRED2 is a multi-modal locomotion robot that can walk with 4 legs, 2 legs, hop, run, roll, and even use it's limbs for picking up objects or pushing buttons. It is fast (1.5 m/s) and can walk stably on uneven rough terrain. ALPHRED2 is powered by RoMeLa's BEAR (Back-drivable Electromechanical Actuator for Robots) actuators which is compliant and force controlled.
Happy Holidays from RoMeLa RoMeLa 2018-12-14 | Happy Holidays from RoMeLaFeaturing SiLVIA, DARwIn-OP, ALPHRD v2, ALPHRED v3 and some awesome humans, too!
Team CHARLI RoboCup 2011 Champions RoMeLa 2018-05-08 | Louis Vuitton Cup Best Humanoid AwardRoMeLa: Robotics & Mechanisms LaboratoryDr. Dennis Hong
RoMeLa: UCLA Optimist Dennis Hong 데니스홍 RoMeLa 2018-04-03 | HE’S BUILDING A BETTER SOCIETY WITH ROBOTS.DENNIS HONGDirector, Robotics & Mechanisms LaboratoryWhat if there was a robot car that enabled blind people to drive? Or a robot designed to put out fires on ships? A robot that plays soccer? Stamps its feet when it’s angry or dances when it’s happy? These are all real projects designed in UCLA’s Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory by Professor Dennis Hong and his intrepid team of undergraduate and graduate students. Hong’s against-the-grain approach has made him one of the most sought-after scientists in the field: he blends art with science, mixing playful humanoid characteristics with startling methods of locomotion inspired by the amoeba. And his infectious passion has earned the man who decided to make building robots his life’s work after watching Star Wars the sobriquet “the Leonardo Da Vinci of robotics.”Where will your imagination take you?#UCLA #Optimist #DennisHong #OptimismCan우리 학생들에게 한계를 넘어 보라고 이야기합니다.“좀 더 빨리 가게 해봐! 좀 더 무거운 것을 들게 해봐!”그리고 로봇을 고장 내뜨려 보라고 합니다!왜냐하면, 로봇이 넘어지지 않고 부서지지 않으면우리는 아무것도 배울 수 없기 때문이지요.저의 학생들은 저의 친구들입니다, 가족 같은 분위기이지요.나는 그들과 “함께” 일을 합니다.우리 로봇 연구소 RoMeLa에서는세상을 이롭게 할 로봇 기술들을 개발합니다. 화재진압용 로봇 "사파이어"재난구조 로봇 "토르"교육과 연구를 위한 로봇 "다윈" ... 하지만 우리 연구소의 가장 자랑스럽고 중요한 결과물들은우리가 만든 로봇들이 아닙니다.우리가 개발한 기술들도 아닙니다.우리가 발표한 논문들도 아니지요.우리 연구소의 가장 자랑스럽고 중요한 결과물들은바로 우리 학생들입니다.학생들은 로봇에 대해 배우러 우리 연구소로 옵니다.하지만 여기서 배우는 “지식”이 제일 중요한 것은 아니지요.바로 “지혜” 입니다. 우리가 하는 일이 사회에 어떤 영향을 미칠 것인가...실패 했을 때 포기하면 끝이지요. 하지만 그 실패에서 배운다면,그다음 성공으로 가는 디딤돌이 됩니다.저는 Optimism의 참뜻을 진정으로 이해하는 학생들을 원합니다.창의적인 생각, 끊임없는 에너지, 반짝이는 눈! 바로 그겁니다!이것이 제가 UCLA를 좋아하는 이유이지요.
BALLU: Buoyancy Assisted Lightweight Legged Unit RoMeLa 2016-11-14 | Robots are often associated with being heavy, mechanized metal objects. In fact, most current bipedal robots are unsafe, unstable, complex, expensive, and slow. The risks, inefficiencies, and danger involved prevents their widespread use and interaction with humans. This video presents the initial feasibility study and testing done on BALLU (Buoyancy Assisted Lightweight Legged Unit). BALLU is a robotic system that uses buoyancy to aid its stability and increase safety. This unique approach makes it intrinsically stable at all times and prevents it from falling. As a matter of fact, it cannot fall. Helium filled balloons make up the upper body. Although the entire robot is not lighter than air and will not float, the buoyancy force from the body assists lightweight legs to stay upright keeping the robot in a stable, standing posture. All actuation, communication, and power components are built into the feet which make up the majority of the robots mass. The prototype shown in the video is a biped with two degrees of freedom. Only the knees are actuated (cable driven from the feet). Yet, with only one degree of freedom per leg, the robot can walk forwards, walk backwards, step sideways, turn, hop, and perform other types of motion. This is achieved with correct timing of the actuation of each knee along with careful consideration for momentum, drag, joint velocity, joint friction, and joint elasticity. For this early prototype, the actuation of the knees are triggered manually via wireless remote control (straight walking via software control). In addition to these locomotion capabilities, BALLUs stability and safety can potentially further advance various aspects of the human-robot interaction experience.
SAFFiR/THOR Prototype Lower Body - Compliant Terrain Walking RoMeLa 2013-09-20 | Demonstration of the lower body of SAFFiR / THOR walking on unstructured and compliant terrain including rubble and AstroTurf.
Prototype THOR Manipulation RoMeLa 2013-09-20 | Demonstration of the THOR prototype arms showing bi-manual manipulation.
SAFFiR/THOR Prototype Lower Body - Flat Terrain Walking RoMeLa 2013-09-20 | Demonstration of the lower body of SAFFiR / THOR walking on flat terrain.
Prototype THOR HMI RoMeLa 2013-09-20 | Prototype HMI for THOR to use at the DARPA Robotics Challenge.
THOR: Tactical Hazardous Operations Robot RoMeLa 2013-07-11 | THOR is an electromechanical, bi-pedal humanoid platform that has been designed to participate in the DARPA Robotics Challenge (Track A), which focuses on the development of robots for use by first responders in disaster response scenarios. At a high-level, the following four elements define the major accomplishments and features of the THOR platform:[Novel Leg and Actuation Design]The THOR platform uses a custom-built series elastic actuator that is extremely light weight (550 grams) and extremely powerful (peak force of 2000 N). These actuators are coupled with mechanical linkages which provide THOR's joints with nearly 100% mechanical advantage throughout a range of motion greater than that of a human.[Efficient Design, Power Efficient Actuators]The THOR platform is capable of over an hour of untethered operation under normal conditions. The efficiency of the linear actuators and the control system used to drive those actuators allows the THOR platform to use minimal amounts of power during locomotion while not diminishing the strength of the robot. [Intuitive Manipulation and Teleoperation Approach]The Human Machine Interface and Manipulation System have both been designed with first responders as the intended end user. The HMI uses a model predictive teleoperation approach so that even when bandwidth and connectivity to the robot degrades, operators can continue to use the platform. The manipulation control system builds off years of testing and experience with Harris's RedHawk Haptic Feedback device to create an interface which users will be able to pick up quickly and use effectively. [Spectrum of Autonomous Behaviors]THOR employs sliding autonomy to intelligently adapt to bandwidth and environmental constraints. THOR's user interface is designed to allow a finer degree of control over autonomy than is employed by traditional systems.
CHARLI Robot Gangnam Style RoMeLa 2012-10-19 | The CHARLI series humanoid robot is developed as a research platform to study bipedal walking and autonomous behaviors for humanoid robots. It is designed to be ultra light weight (under 15 kgs) for safety and low cost. As the next generation of the CHARLI series humanoid robots, CHARLI-2 improves stability and speed in walking, intelligence and autonomy, and soccer playing skills. CHARLI-L2 is also designed to participate in the autonomous robot soccer competition, RoboCup, in the Adult size league.CHARLI-2 implements an impressive active stabilization strategy based on sensory feedback (filtered IMU angles, gyro rate readings and proprioception information based on joint encoders.) Stabilizing torques at the ankle joints are applied based on this information, and successful ly rejects external disturbances. CHARLI-2 is honored "2011 Best Invention of the Year" by Time magazine, won the Louis Vuitton Best Humanoid Award (a.k.a. Louis Vuitton Cup) at RoboCup 2011, and won First Place in AdultSize league for autonomous soccer at both RoboCup 2011 and RoboCup 2012 among many awards.And now...CHARLI does Gangnam Style...
