Humanoid Motion Description Language

Abstract

In this paper we propose a description language for specifying motions for humanoid robots and for allowing humanoid robots to acquire motor skills. Locomotion greatly increases our ability to interact with our environments, which in turn increases our mental abilities. This principle also applies to humanoid robots. However, there are great difficulties to specify humanoid motions and to represent motor skills, which in most cases require four-dimensional space representations. We propose a representation framework that includes the following attributes: motion description layers, egocentric reference system, progressive quantized refinement, and automatic constraint satisfaction. We also outline strategies for acquiring new motor skills by learning from trial and error, macro approach, and programming. Then, we outline the development of a new humanoid motion description language called Cybele.