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Ambler
This project is no longer active.

Head: William Red L. Whittaker
Contact: William Red L. Whittaker (red@ri.cmu.edu)

Mailing address:
Carnegie Mellon University
Robotics Institute
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Associated center: FRC

The Amber's legged configuration overcomes three significant liabilities of precedent walkers: complexity of coordination control, resultant energy losses, and redundancy for continued function after loss of some motions. The Amber's actuator groups are orthogonal; the Ambler can thus level without propelling, can propel without leveling, and exhibits no power coupling between the two. This configuration enables a tractable control model and eliminates the energy loss of actuator conflict. In addition, the Ambler enables energy-efficient overlapping gaits unprecedented by animals and other robot walkers. The Ambler incorporates true functional redundancy it can lose up to two legs and still walk. Other critical issues in the project include perception and locomotion of rugged terrain, self-assessment, safeguarding, gait planning, control, and ultimate self-reliance.

Name - Title <Email Address>
• John Bares - Research Professor/Director of NREC <bares@cs.cmu.edu>
• [Home] Martial Hebert - Professor <hebert@ri.cmu.edu>
• [Home] Takeo Kanade - U.A. and Helen Whitaker University Prof., RI/CS <tk@cs.cmu.edu>
• [Home] Eric Krotkov - Courtesy Adjunct Faculty (Adjunct) <krotkov@cytometrics.com>
• [Home] James Martin - Operations Manager - NREC <jmartin@rec.ri.cmu.edu>
• [Home] Tom Mitchell - Director-Mld/Fredkin Prof. of Comp.Sci., CS <tom.mitchell@cmu.edu>
• Peter V. Nagy - PhD Student, RI
• [Home] Reid Simmons - Research Prof/Assoc Dir Educ/PhD Chair, RI/CS <reids@cs.cmu.edu>
• Chuck Thorpe - Dean, Qatar Campus <thorpe@qatar.cmu.edu>
• [Home] David Wettergreen - Assoc. Research Professor <dsw@ri.cmu.edu>
• [Home] William Red L. Whittaker - University Professor <red@ri.cmu.edu>

• Perception for Rock Sampling - We are developing a set of perception modules for extracting the potential samples from visual data, building models of their shapes, and using the models to pick up and store the sample.
• Terrain Mapping - We have developed an algorithm to build elevation maps from range images, accounting for the desired resolution and the current sensor orientation.

• Perception, Planning, and Control for Autonomous Walking with the Ambler Planetary Rover
  E. Krotkov and R. Simmons
  Intl. Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 15, No. 2, April, 1996, pp. 155-180.

• Ambler: Performance of a Six-Legged Planetary Rover
  E. Krotkov, R. Simmons, and W.L. Whittaker
  Acta Astonautica, Vol. 35, No. 1, 1995, pp. 75-81. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [178 KB] copyrighted

• Autonomous Walking in Natural Terrain: A Retrospective on the Performance of the Ambler
  E. Krotkov and R. Simmons
  3rd International Symposium of Experimental Robotics III, October, 1993.
  Download: pdf [607 KB] copyrighted

• Autonomous Walking Results with the Ambler Hexapod Planetary Rover
  E. Krotkov, R. Simmons, and W.L. Whittaker
  International Conference of Intelligent Autonomous Systems, 1993, pp. 46 - 53. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [301 KB] copyrighted

• Terrain Mapping For Long-duration Autonomous Walking
  R. Hoffman and E. Krotkov
  Proceedings of the 1992 IEEE/RSJ International Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS '92), Vol. 1, July, 1992, pp. 563 - 568.
  Download: pdf [677 KB] copyrighted

• Performance of a six-legged planetary rover: power, positioning, and autonomous walking
  E. Krotkov and R. Simmons
  IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 1, May, 1992, pp. 169 - 174. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [603 KB] copyrighted

• 1991 Year End Report Autonomous Planetary Rover
  E. Krotkov, R. Simmons, and W.L. Whittaker
  tech. report CMU-RI-TR-92-02, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, February, 1992. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [2782 KB] copyrighted

• Dead Reckoning Navigation for Walking Robots
  G.P. Roston and E. Krotkov
  tech. report CMU-RI-TR-91-27, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, November, 1991. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [1091 KB] copyrighted

• Perception of rugged terrain for a walking robot: true confessions and new directions
  R. Hoffman and E. Krotkov
  Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems '91, Intelligence for Mechanical Systems, Vol. 3, November, 1991, pp. 1505 - 1510. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [505 KB] copyrighted

• Leveling of the AMBLER Walking Machine: A Comparison of Methods
  P.G. de Santos, P.V. Nagy, and W.L. Whittaker
  tech. report CMU-RI-TR-91-13, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, July, 1991. [Abstract]
  Download: pdf [1108 KB] copyrighted