Goto

Collaborating Authors

 follower robot


Disentangled Control of Multi-Agent Systems

Lin, Ruoyu, Notomista, Gennaro, Egerstedt, Magnus

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

This paper develops a general framework for multi-agent control synthesis, which applies to a wide range of problems with convergence guarantees, regardless of the complexity of the underlying graph topology and the explicit time dependence of the objective function. The proposed framework systematically addresses a particularly challenging problem in multi-agent systems, i.e., decentralization of entangled dynamics among different agents, and it naturally supports multi-objective robotics and real-time implementations. To demonstrate its generality and effectiveness, the framework is implemented across three experiments, namely time-varying leader-follower formation control, decentralized coverage control for time-varying density functions without any approximations, which is a long-standing open problem, and safe formation navigation in dense environments.


Encoding Biomechanical Energy Margin into Passivity-based Synchronization for Networked Telerobotic Systems

Zhou, Xingyuan, Paik, Peter, Atashzar, S. Farokh

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Abstract--aintaining system stability and accurate position tracking is imperative in networked robotic systems, particularly for haptics-enabled human-robot interaction. Recent literature have integrated human biomechanics into the stabilizers implemented for teleoperation, enhancing force preservation while guaranteeing convergence and safety. However, position desynchronization due to imperfect communication and non-passive behaviors remains a challenge. We provide the mathematical design synthesis of the stabilizer and the proof of stability. We also conducted a series of grid simulations and systematic experiments and compared the performance with state-of-the-art solutions regarding varying time delays and environmental conditions. The proposed stabilizer is effective for various telerobotic applications requiring precise position synchronization.aintaining Recent literature have integrated human biomechanics into the stabilizers implemented for teleoperation, enhancing force preservation while guaranteeing convergence and safety. However, position desynchronization due to imperfect communication and non-passive behaviors remains a challenge. We provide the mathematical design synthesis of the stabilizer and the proof of stability.


Decoupled Scaling 4ch Bilateral Control on the Cartesian coordinate by 6-DoF Manipulator using Rotation Matrix

Yamane, Koki, Sakaino, Sho, Tsuji, Toshiaki

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Four-channel bilateral control is a method for achieving remote control with force feedback and adjustment operability by synchronizing the positions and forces of two manipulators. It is expected to significantly improve the operability of remote control for contact-rich tasks, and in recent years, it has also been used as a data collection method in imitation learning. Among these, the 4-channel bilateral control on the Cartesian coordinate system is advantageous in that it can be used for manipulators with different structures and that the dynamics in the Cartesian coordinate system can be adjusted by adjusting the control parameters, thus achieving intuitive operability for humans. However, achieving high operability by controlling a Cartesian coordinate system remains challenging. In the case of joint space control, all complex interactions between joints are treated as unknown disturbances, and a certain degree of control can be achieved by combining a linear control system with a classical single-input single-output (SISO) system. However, when designing a control system in the Cartesian coordinate system, the position and posture of the manipulator's end-effector are expressed in a three-dimensional special Euclidean group (SE(3)), which has different properties from the vector spaces commonly used in traditional control methods, such as noncommutativity and the fact that addition is not defined. Therefore, it is not possible to use classical control design methods that assume vector spaces as they are. It is possible to approximate the vector space and perform control based on the assumption that the posi-a) Correspondence to: yamane.koki.td@alumni.tsukuba.ac.jp


CHILD (Controller for Humanoid Imitation and Live Demonstration): a Whole-Body Humanoid Teleoperation System

Myers, Noboru, Kwon, Obin, Yamsani, Sankalp, Kim, Joohyung

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Abstract-- Recent advances in teleoperation have demonstrated robots performing complex manipulation tasks. However, existing works rarely support whole-body joint-level teleoperation for humanoid robots, limiting the diversity of tasks that can be accomplished. This work presents Controller for Humanoid Imitation and Live Demonstration (CHILD), a compact reconfigurable teleoperation system that enables joint level control over humanoid robots. CHILD fits within a standard baby carrier, allowing the operator control over all four limbs, and supports both direct joint mapping for full-body control and loco-manipulation. Adaptive force feedback is incorporated to enhance operator experience and prevent unsafe joint movements. I. INTRODUCTION Teleoperation is a commonly used technique to bridge the gap between robots' current autonomous and physical capabilities. More recently, teleoperation has become a popular method to collect demonstration data for learning-based policies.


Robust Docking Maneuvers for Autonomous Trolley Collection: An Optimization-Based Visual Servoing Scheme

Pang, Yuhan, Xia, Bingyi, Zhang, Zhe, Sun, Zhirui, Xie, Peijia, Zhu, Bike, Xu, Wenjun, Wang, Jiankun

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Abstract-- Service robots have demonstrated significant potential for autonomous trolley collection and redistribution in public spaces like airports or warehouses to improve efficiency and reduce cost. Usually, a fully autonomous system for the collection and transportation of multiple trolleys is based on a Leader-Follower formation of mobile manipulators, where reliable docking maneuvers of the mobile base are essential to align trolleys into organized queues. However, developing a vision-based robotic docking system faces significant challenges: high precision requirements, environmental disturbances, and inherent robot constraints. T o address these challenges, we propose an optimization-based Visual Servoing scheme that incorporates active infrared markers for robust feature extraction across diverse lighting conditions. This framework explicitly models nonholonomic kinematics and visibility constraints within the Hybrid Visual Servoing problem, augmented with an observer for disturbance rejection to ensure precise and stable docking. Experimental results across diverse environments demonstrate the robustness of this system, with quantitative evaluations confirming high docking accuracy. Mobile manipulation robots are revolutionizing automated transportation by taking over repetitive and heavy-load tasks from humans [1]-[3].


Bi-LAT: Bilateral Control-Based Imitation Learning via Natural Language and Action Chunking with Transformers

Kobayashi, Takumi, Kobayashi, Masato, Buamanee, Thanpimon, Uranishi, Yuki

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

-- We present Bi-LA T, a novel imitation learning framework that unifies bilateral control with natural language processing to achieve precise force modulation in robotic manipulation. Bi-LA T leverages joint position, velocity, and torque data from leader-follower teleoperation while also integrating visual and linguistic cues to dynamically adjust applied force. By encoding human instructions such as "softly grasp the cup" or "strongly twist the sponge" through a multimodal Transformer-based model, Bi-LA T learns to distinguish nuanced force requirements in real-world tasks. We demonstrate Bi-LA T's performance in (1) unimanual cup-stacking scenario where the robot accurately modulates grasp force based on language commands, and (2) bimanual sponge-twisting task that requires coordinated force control. Experimental results show that Bi-LA T effectively reproduces the instructed force levels, particularly when incorporating SigLIP among tested language encoders. Our findings demonstrate the potential of integrating natural language cues into imitation learning, paving the way for more intuitive and adaptive human-robot interaction. I. INTRODUCTION In today's rapidly evolving landscape of robotics, integrating advanced manipulation capabilities with social intelligence is pivotal to shaping our hybrid future.


PAPRLE (Plug-And-Play Robotic Limb Environment): A Modular Ecosystem for Robotic Limbs

Kwon, Obin, Yamsani, Sankalp, Myers, Noboru, Taylor, Sean, Hong, Jooyoung, Park, Kyungseo, Alspach, Alex, Kim, Joohyung

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

--We introduce PAPRLE (Plug-And-Play Robotic Limb Environment), a modular ecosystem that enables flexible placement and control of robotic limbs. With PAPRLE, a user can change the arrangement of the robotic limbs, and control them using a variety of input devices, including puppeteers, gaming controllers, and VR-based interfaces. This versatility supports a wide range of teleoperation scenarios and promotes adaptability to different task requirements. T o further enhance configurability, we introduce a pluggable puppeteer device that can be easily mounted and adapted to match the target robot configurations. PAPRLE supports bilateral teleoperation through these puppeteer devices, agnostic to the type or configuration of the follower robot. By supporting both joint-space and task-space control, the system provides real-time force feedback, improving user fidelity and physical interaction awareness. The modular design of PAPRLE facilitates novel spatial arrangements of the limbs and enables scalable data collection, thereby advancing research in embodied AI and learning-based control. The system will be released as open source, including both hardware and software components, to support broader adoption and community-driven extension. In many research and deployment scenarios, the flexible arrangement of robotic limbs is often required to support a wide range of task configurations.


SharedAssembly: A Data Collection Approach via Shared Tele-Assembly

Wu, Yansong, Chen, Xiao, Chen, Yu, Sadeghian, Hamid, Wu, Fan, Bing, Zhenshan, Haddadin, Sami, König, Alexander, Knoll, Alois

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Assembly is a fundamental skill for robots in both modern manufacturing and service robotics. Existing datasets aim to address the data bottleneck in training general-purpose robot models, falling short of capturing contact-rich assembly tasks. To bridge this gap, we introduce SharedAssembly, a novel bilateral teleoperation approach with shared autonomy for scalable assembly execution and data collection. User studies demonstrate that the proposed approach enhances both success rates and efficiency, achieving a 97.0% success rate across various sub-millimeter-level assembly tasks. Notably, novice and intermediate users achieve performance comparable to experts using baseline teleoperation methods, significantly enhancing large-scale data collection.


Motion ReTouch: Motion Modification Using Four-Channel Bilateral Control

Inami, Koki, Sakaino, Sho, Tsuji, Toshiaki

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

--Recent research has demonstrated the usefulness of imitation learning in autonomous robot operation. In particular, teaching using four-channel bilateral control, which can obtain position and force information, has been proven effective. However, control performance that can easily execute high-speed, complex tasks in one go has not yet been achieved. We propose a method called Motion ReT ouch, which retroactively modifies motion data obtained using four-channel bilateral control. The proposed method enables modification of not only position but also force information. This was achieved by the combination of multilateral control and motion-copying system. The proposed method was verified in experiments with a real robot, and the success rate of the test tube transfer task was improved, demonstrating the possibility of modification force information. I. INTRODUCTION In recent years, imitation learning [1] [2] [3], a learning-based approach that enables robots to imitate human behavior, has been attracting attention.


Visual-Haptic Model Mediated Teleoperation for Remote Ultrasound

Black, David, Tirindelli, Maria, Salcudean, Septimiu, Wein, Wolfgang, Esposito, Marco

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Tele-ultrasound has the potential greatly to improve health equity for countless remote communities. However, practical scenarios involve potentially large time delays which cause current implementations of telerobotic ultrasound (US) to fail. Using a local model of the remote environment to provide haptics to the expert operator can decrease teleoperation instability, but the delayed visual feedback remains problematic. This paper introduces a robotic tele-US system in which the local model is not only haptic, but also visual, by re-slicing and rendering a pre-acquired US sweep in real time to provide the operator a preview of what the delayed image will resemble. A prototype system is presented and tested with 15 volunteer operators. It is found that visual-haptic model-mediated teleoperation (MMT) compensates completely for time delays up to 1000 ms round trip in terms of operator effort and completion time while conventional MMT does not. Visual-haptic MMT also significantly outperforms MMT for longer time delays in terms of motion accuracy and force control. This proof-of-concept study suggests that visual-haptic MMT may facilitate remote robotic tele-US.