Multi-limbed Robots empowered by whole-body Loco-manipulation – MeRLin

The MeRLin project addresses the challenge of replacing or assisting human workers in strenuous and hazardous tasks by developing advanced loco-manipulation skills in multi-limbed robotic platforms. These tasks, such as pushing/pulling heavy loads on uneven surfaces or operating hand-held power tools in confined spaces, pose health and safety risks to humans. To enable robots to perform these tasks effectively, the project focuses on enhancing their loco-manipulation skills by Whole-Body Control (WBC) approaches. Multi-limbed robots face complexities in planning and controlling their loco-manipulation skills, especially when dealing with redundancy in motions and contacts, simultaneous tasks, physical and hardware constraints, and non-linear dynamics. WBC approaches have emerged as a solution, but a comprehensive and robot-agnostic WBC approach for agile and heavy loco-manipulation tasks is lacking. The MeRLin project aims to fill this gap by developing a versatile WBC framework capable of handling loco-manipulation skills for tasks requiring high interaction forces and dynamic movements. The project's objectives include achieving long-term whole-body planning and short-term reactive control. This will be accomplished by integrating state-of-the-art model-based techniques from sample-based planning and optimal control, along with learning methodologies. The synergy between these approaches will be harnessed to maximize their strengths, resulting in a robot-agnostic framework solution. MeRLin seeks to create a seamless and efficient interaction between robots and their environment, ultimately improving safety and efficiency in various labor-intensive tasks.