2024/07/15 by Insung Yang, Yang, Insung, Jemin Hwangbo +1 · 1 citation
Engineering · #Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Robot Manipulation and Learning #Robotic Mechanisms and Dynamics #Robotics (cs.RO) #Teleoperation and Haptic Systems
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2407.10420
openalex publication_date 2024/07/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In this research, we investigated the innovative use of a manipulator as a tail in quadruped robots to augment their physical capabilities. Previous studies have primarily focused on enhancing various abilities by attaching robotic tails that function solely as tails on quadruped robots. While these tails improve the performance of the robots, they come with several disadvantages, such as increased overall weight and higher costs. To mitigate these limitations, we propose the use of a 6-DoF manipulator as a tail, allowing it to serve both as a tail and as a manipulator. To control this highly complex robot, we developed a controller based on reinforcement learning for the robot equipped with the manipulator. Our experimental results demonstrate that robots equipped with a manipulator outperform those without a manipulator in tasks such as rapid turning, aerial reorientation, and balancing. These results indicate that the manipulator can improve the agility and stability of quadruped robots, similar to a tail, in addition to its manipulation capabilities.