An active perception scheme for control of manipulation and locomotion in unstructured environments

Active sensing and perception of material properties and of phenomena like slip and contact are proposed as a basis for efficient control and execution of tasks in unknown and unstructured environments. The author proposes that force/torque and displacement sensing be combined with the motion capabilities of robotic manipulators to actively sense material properties like penetrability, compliance, and surface friction and phenomena like slip and contact to simultaneously determine and follow desired force and motion trajectories for a given task. The applicability of such an active perception scheme is demonstrated for the case of legged locomotion. Possible extension and application of the scheme to manipulation are also proposed