Course Description
6.894 SPECIAL SUBJECT (3-0-9)
Legged Locomotion in Robots and Animals (H-Level Grad)
Tuesday 2-5pm, NE43-941
Gill Pratt x3-2037
Jerry Pratt x3-2475
Prerequisites: Permission of Instructor
Intensive introduction to the principles of legged locomotion, as they
apply to robots and animals. Topics: selection and coordination of
gait, energetics and speed, mechanical design, evolution of legged
creatures, control of balance, algorithms for rough terrain, and
gymnastics. Students required to complete a project on a related
topic.
Handouts:
September 14, 1999: Introduction
September 21, 1999: Biomechanics, Energetics, and Control
September 28, 1999: Passive Dynamics
October 5, 1999: Bipedal Walking Robots I
- Problem Set #4
- Kajita, et al. (1992)
- Dunn & Howe (1996)
- Pratt & Pratt (1998)
October 12, 1999: Bipedal Walking Robots II
October 19, 1999: Running: Role of Compliance
October 26, 1999: Is Gait a Coupled Oscillation?
- McMahon (1975)
- Alexander (1977)
- Alexander (1990)
November 2, 1999: Scaling
November 9, 1999: Design
November 16, 1999: Evolution and Learning
- Problem Set #9
- Miller (1994). Real-Time Neural Network Control of a Biped Walking Robot
- Sims (1994, 1994). Evolving Virtual Creatures & Evolving 3D Morphology
and Behavior by Competition.
Creature Library Tutorial Handouts:
Special Notes:
Enrollment is limited to 25 students.
Preference will be given to graduate students and upperclassmen.
A lottery will be held on the first day of class if it is oversubscribed.
Grading will be based on attendance, discussion participation,
performance on weekly assignments, and a final project.
No exams, no finals.
Weekly assignments will include reading
3 technical papers,
writing/presenting a summary of the reading or doing a related problem set.
For more information contact Jerry Pratt jpratt@ai.mit.edu or
Gill
Pratt gill@ai.mit.edu
Pictures by Eadweard
Muybridge