A Software Platform for Quadruped Robots with Advanced Manipulation Capabilities

Abstract

Recently, a diverse range of robots with various functionalities have become a part of our daily lives. However, these robots either lack an arm or have less capable arms, mainly used for gestures. Another characteristic of the robots is that they are wheeled-type robots, restricting their operation to even surfaces. Several software platforms proposed in prior research have often focused on quadrupedal robots equipped with manipulators. However, many of these platforms lacked a comprehensive system combining perception, navigation, locomotion, and manipulation. This research introduces a software framework for clearing household objects with a quadrupedal robot. The proposed software framework utilizes the perception of the robot’s environment through sensor inputs and organizes household objects to their designated locations. The proposed framework was verified by experiments within a simulation environment resembling the conditions of the RoboCup@Home 2021-virtual competition involving variations in objects and poses, where outcomes demonstrate promising performance.

Keywords

• quadruped robot
• organize objects
• mobile manipulation