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Locomotion skills for simulated quadrupeds

Published: 25 July 2011 Publication History

Abstract

We develop an integrated set of gaits and skills for a physics-based simulation of a quadruped. The motion repertoire for our simulated dog includes walk, trot, pace, canter, transverse gallop, rotary gallop, leaps capable of jumping on-and-off platforms and over obstacles, sitting, lying down, standing up, and getting up from a fall. The controllers use a representation based on gait graphs, a dual leg frame model, a flexible spine model, and the extensive use of internal virtual forces applied via the Jacobian transpose. Optimizations are applied to these control abstractions in order to achieve robust gaits and leaps with desired motion styles. The resulting gaits are evaluated for robustness with respect to push disturbances and the traversal of variable terrain. The simulated motions are also compared to motion data captured from a filmed dog.

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cover image ACM Transactions on Graphics
ACM Transactions on Graphics  Volume 30, Issue 4
July 2011
829 pages
ISSN:0730-0301
EISSN:1557-7368
DOI:10.1145/2010324
Issue’s Table of Contents
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Publication History

Published: 25 July 2011
Published in TOG Volume 30, Issue 4

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