Award Date
12-1-2021
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Mechanical Engineering
First Committee Member
Paul Oh
Second Committee Member
Woosoon Yim
Third Committee Member
William Culbreth
Fourth Committee Member
Mohamed Trabia
Fifth Committee Member
Pushkin Kachroo
Number of Pages
148
Abstract
Material handling is an intrinsic component of disaster response. Typically, first responders, such as firefighters and/or paramedics, must carry, push, pull, and handle objects, facilitating the transportation of goods. For many years, researchers from around the globe have sought to enable full-sized humanoid robots to perform such essential material handling tasks. This work aims to tackle current limitations of humanoids in the realm of interaction with common objects such as carts, wheelbarrows, etc. Throughout this research, many methods will be applied to ensure a stable Zero Moment Point (ZMP) trajectory to allow a robust gait while loco-manipulating a cart. The examined objects range from simple carts (such as rolling and utility carts) to challenging carts (such as wheelbarrows). This work presents a comprehensive approach to addressing some of most convoluted material handling and loco-manipulation problems in field of humanoid robotics. Furthermore, towards the end of a five-year long research journey, the approach of telepresence and humanoid embodiment, via Avatar technology, was applied in the context of loco-manipulation and material handling. To understand the importance of this work, consider a scenario requiring human expertise to transcend the physical location of the human body (such as a surgeon not having enough time to travel to perform life-saving surgery); an approach—harnessing the innately long-range and precise abilities of robotic Avatar technologies—was successfully applied to material handling and loco-manipulation tasks, proving that humanoids may play an integral role in the future of industrial work, disaster response, and even life-saving surgery.
Keywords
Avatar Robotics; Embodiment; Hunanoids; Loco-manipulation; Material Handling; Virtual Reality
Disciplines
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics | Robotics
File Format
File Size
95400 KB
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Chagas Vaz, Jean, "Material Handling with Embodied Loco-Manipulation" (2021). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 4280.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/28340329
Rights
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