The robotics field has long had the goal of performing tasks in precarious work environments where human laborers are at risk of bodily harm. Recently, quadruped robots have begun to make this goal a reality, being deployed to serve areas such as construction sites, offshore electrical substations, and mine tunnels. In these situations, robots may be required to navigate complex terrain such as steep slopes and narrow pathways. Not only do robots need to be able to plan feasible trajectories through these environments, but they must also do so safely in the presence of disturbances and errors. While many algorithms have been produced to improve robustness of legged locomotion, these methods still rely on non-trivial tuning of many parameters like contact sequence, contact timings, gait period, speed, etc.

Read the workshop paper here.

Full paper is in preparation.