SORELL: Shipboard Operations Robot with Enhanced Legged Locomotion
Abstract
SORELL: Shipboard Operations Robot with Enhanced Legged LocomotionAttachment for proposal for BAA: N00014-19-S-B001University of California, Los AngelesDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringRoMeLa (Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory)PI: Dr. Dennis HongAbstract:Modern, dynamic quadruped robots that can traverse a variety of terrain are becoming more and more prevalent in both the robotics research community and even starting to appear in the commercial robotics industry. These platforms are becoming very mobile and robust, and can be equipped with sensors for inspection and patrol. However, as impressive as they are, none of theserobots were designed specifically for the shipboard environment where the environment it needs to navigate is unique, tasks it needs to perform are special, and the requirements it needs to satisfy are different.To explore the capabilities of quadruped technology, RoMeLa developed the highly successful ALPHRED-2, a multi-modal quadruped robot featuring RoMeLas own proprioceptive BEAR modules and a unique limb configuration that allowed it to also perform certain manipulation tasks such as package delivery. ALPHRED-2 can walk with 4 legs, 2 legs, run very fast (up to 1.5 m/s),roll, hop, jump (up to about 1 m), and even use its legs as arms for picking up simple objects or pushing buttons. However, being a research prototype for investigation, it is not robust enough to be used in the real environment and more research and development is needed to address its many issues as well. Nonetheless, to develop a very realistic and useful robot for the unique shipboardenvironment, we believe ALPHRED-2 is the perfect platform to start with.The next quadruped RoMeLa would like to develop is called the Shipboard Operations Robot with Enhanced Legged Locomotion (SORELL): a quadruped that shares the configuration and core mobility platform of ALPHRED-2 but features many design improvements for robustness and to further extend its capabilities. The main design addition will be a pair of small, precise manipulator arms located at the top of the body dedicated to performing meticulous interaction tasks.Additional iterative improvements include updating the leg transmission design, increasing the torque output of the equipped BEAR modules, refining the body structure and liquid cooling setup, and designing end-effector tools for the main limbs. These improvements would allow SORELL to move large objects with its main limbs, or precisely interact with small console buttons and keyboards with its arms, while keeping ALPHRED-2s mobility capabilities which will allow it totraverse over knee-knockers or navigate tight and narrow hallways found on ships with the potential to climb up stairs. Furthermore, the body updates would allow for SORELL to invert itself, moving the arms to the underside the body and creating an entirely new workspace directly beneath the robot which would be ideal for precisely manipulating objects on the floor such as defusing bombs via teleoperation. Crucially, these additional features can be developed on arelatively short timeline (3 years) due to the fact that the design and control of the core quadruped platform has already been validated on ALPHRED-2.With its unique mobility and manipulation capabilities, we believe SORELL will become the ideal robotic platform for the shipboard environment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 08, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012401
Entities
People
- Dennis Hong
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, Los Angeles