Learning-Based Motion Planning of a 14-DOF Biped Robot on 3D Uneven Terrain Containing a Ditch

Abstract

In this paper, a new method is proposed that integrates the 3D terrain information, ditch geometry, and biped dynamics for motion planning of a 14-DOF biped robot on 3D terrain containing a 3D ditch. The path planning is modeled as a wavefront propagation in Non-uniform medium represented by the Eikonal equation. A speed function expresses the inhomogeneity of uneven terrain. The Eikonal equation is solved by the Fast marching method (FMM) to obtain the global path. Ten Footstep variables (FSVs) characterize one step of walk on a 3D uneven terrain surface. The hip and foot trajectory parameters (HFTPs) are used to construct cubic spline-based hip and foot trajectories of the biped robot. The optimal value of HFTPs is obtained by a Genetic algorithm by minimization of energy and satisfying the constraint of dynamic balance. A walk-dataset is created that contains the optimal trajectories for different FSVs. The generated walk-dataset was used to train the biped to walk on rough terrain using a feed-forward Neural network for making a real-time estimate of optimal HFTPs. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method of ditch crossing on different uneven terrains.