Overview

Robot locomotion planning and control based on dynamic motion primitives provides an intuitive yet challenging approach for achieving fast and energy efficient motions. In legged robotics, these primitives take the form of limit cycles corresponding to certain walking or running gaits; in aerial robotics, these primitive behaviors correspond to trajectory maneuvers. To achieve high-level motion planning objectives, these basic locomotion behaviors must be realized, shaped, sequenced and “glued” according to a desired motion plan. Such tasks require seamless integration of low-level controllers with high-level planning algorithms so that the capabilities of a robot are fully exploited.

The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers from different fields to discuss bridging the divide between high-level motion planning objectives and low-level locomotion control of dynamic robots. The following topics are of particular interest:

• Locomotion primitives: Suitable characterizations of motion primitives that capture the low-level dynamics in a computationally amenable manner and make maximum use of the platform's locomotion capabilities.
• Safe and faithful execution of the plan: Conditions to be respected by the planner under which locomotion controllers can be composed to guarantee safe and faithful execution of motion plans.
• Planning and adaptation under uncertainty: Online planning and adaptation under persistent disturbances or exogenous commands to successfully accomplish the high-level objectives.

We look forward to seeing you at the workshop!

Ioannis Poulakakis, Katie Byl and Sushant Veer