Distributed Robotic Manipulation: Experiments in Minimalism

Minimalism pursues the following agenda: For a given robotics task, nd the minimal con guration of resources required to solve the task. Thus, minimalism attempts to reduce the resource signature for a task, in the same way that say Stealth technology decreases the radar signature of an aircraft. Minimalism is interesting because doing task A without resource B proves that B is somehow inessential to the information structure of the task. We will present experimental demonstrations and show how they relate to our theoretical proofs of minimalist systems. In robotics, minimalism has become increasingly in uential. Marc Raibert showed that walking and running machines could be built without static stability. Erdmann and Mason showed how to do dextrous manipulation without sensing. Tad McGeer built a biped, kneed walker without sensors, computers, or actuators. Rod Brooks has developed online algorithms that rely less extensively on planning and world-models. Canny and Goldberg have de...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1995
• Where: ISER
• Authors: Karl-Friedrich Böhringer, Russell Brown, Bruce Randall Donald, James Jennings, Daniela Rus
• Keywords: Dextrous Manipulation, ISER 1995, Minimalism, Robotics