Human-in-the-loop: MPC for shared control of a quadruped rescue robot

Abstract

In this paper, we present a control theoretic formulation for composing human control inputs with an automatic controller for shared control of a quadruped rescue robot. The formulation utilizes a model predictive controller to guide human controlled leg positions to satisfy state constraints that correspond to static stability for the robot. A hybrid control architecture that incorporates the model predictive controller is developed to implement a gait that guarantees stable foot-placements for the robot. The algorithm is applied to a simulation of a quadruped rescue robot with human input provided through haptic joysticks.