Papers by Philipp Allgeuer
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Dec 31, 2022
The paper introduces CycleIK, a neuro-robotic approach that wraps two novel neuro-inspired method... more The paper introduces CycleIK, a neuro-robotic approach that wraps two novel neuro-inspired methods for the inverse kinematics (IK) task-a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN), and a Multi-Layer Perceptron architecture. These methods can be used in a standalone fashion, but we also show how embedding these into a hybrid neuro-genetic IK pipeline allows for further optimization via sequential least-squares programming (SLSQP) or a genetic algorithm (GA). The models are trained and tested on dense datasets that were collected from random robot configurations of the new Neuro-Inspired COLlaborator (NICOL), a semi-humanoid robot with two redundant 8-DoF manipulators. We utilize the weighted multi-objective function from the state-of-the-art BioIK method to support the training process and our hybrid neurogenetic architecture. We show that the neural models can compete with state-of-the-art IK approaches, which allows for deployment directly to robotic hardware. Additionally, it is shown that the incorporation of the genetic algorithm improves the precision while simultaneously reducing the overall runtime.
arXiv (Cornell University), Sep 28, 2018
In recent years, the introduction of affordable platforms in the KidSize class of the Humanoid Le... more In recent years, the introduction of affordable platforms in the KidSize class of the Humanoid League has had a positive impact on the performance of soccer robots. The lack of readily available larger robots, however, severely affects the number of participants in Teenand AdultSize and consequently the progress of research that focuses on the challenges arising with robots of larger weight and size. This paper presents the first hardware release of a low cost Humanoid TeenSize open platform for research, the first software release, and the current state of ROS-based software development. The NimbRo-OP robot was designed to be easily manufactured, assembled, repaired, and modified. It is equipped with a wide-angle camera, ample computing power, and enough torque to enable full-body motions, such as dynamic bipedal locomotion, kicking, and getting up.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2017
The trend in the RoboCup Humanoid League rules over the past few years has been towards a more re... more The trend in the RoboCup Humanoid League rules over the past few years has been towards a more realistic and challenging game environment. Elementary skills such as visual perception and walking, which had become mature enough for exciting gameplay, are now once again core challenges. The field goals are both white, and the walking surface is artificial grass, which constitutes a much more irregular surface than the carpet used before. In this paper, team NimbRo TeenSize, the winner of the TeenSize class of the RoboCup 2016 Humanoid League, presents its robotic platforms, the adaptations that had to be made to them, and the newest developments in visual perception and soccer behaviour.
International Journal of Humanoid Robotics, Oct 1, 2020
For several years, high development and production costs of humanoid robots restricted researcher... more For several years, high development and production costs of humanoid robots restricted researchers interested in working in the field. To overcome this problem, several research groups have opted to work with simulated or smaller robots, whose acquisition costs are significantly lower. However, due to scale differences and imperfect simulation replicability, results may not be directly reproducible on real, adult-sized robots. In this paper, we present the NimbRo-OP2X, a capable and affordable adult-sized humanoid platform aiming to significantly lower the entry barrier for humanoid robot research. With a height of 135 cm and weight of only 19 kg, the robot can interact in an unmodified, human environment without special safety equipment. Modularity in hardware and software allow this platform enough flexibility to operate in different scenarios and applications with minimal effort. The robot is equipped with an on-board computer with GPU, which enables the implementation of state-of-the-art approaches for object detection and human perception demanded by areas such as manipulation and human-robot interaction. Finally, the capabilities of the NimbRo-OP2X, especially in terms of locomotion stability and visual perception, are evaluated. This includes the performance at RoboCup 2018, where NimbRo-OP2X won all possible awards in the AdultSize class.
arXiv (Cornell University), Sep 28, 2018
Humanoid soccer robots perceive their environment exclusively through cameras. This paper present... more Humanoid soccer robots perceive their environment exclusively through cameras. This paper presents a monocular vision system that was originally developed for use in the RoboCup Humanoid League, but is expected to be transferable to other soccer leagues. Recent changes in the Humanoid League rules resulted in a soccer environment with less color coding than in previous years, which makes perception of the game situation more challenging. The proposed vision system addresses these challenges by using brightness and texture for the detection of the required field features and objects. Our system is robust to changes in lighting conditions, and is designed for real-time use on a humanoid soccer robot. This paper describes the main components of the detection algorithms in use, and presents experimental results from the soccer field, using ROS and the igus Humanoid Open Platform as a testbed. The proposed vision system was used successfully at RoboCup 2015.
arXiv (Cornell University), Sep 28, 2018
In this paper, two behavior control architectures for autonomous agents in the form of cross-plat... more In this paper, two behavior control architectures for autonomous agents in the form of cross-platform C++ frameworks are presented, the State Controller Library and the Behavior Control Framework. While the former is state-based and generalizes the notion of states and finite state machines to allow for multi-action planning, the latter is behavior-based and exploits a hierarchical structure and the concept of inhibitions to allow for dynamic transitioning. The two frameworks have completely independent implementations, but can be used effectively in tandem to solve behavior control problems on all levels of granularity. Both frameworks have been used to control the NimbRo-OP, a humanoid soccer robot developed by team NimbRo of the University of Bonn.
arXiv (Cornell University), Sep 27, 2018
The use of standard platforms in the field of humanoid robotics can accelerate research, and lowe... more The use of standard platforms in the field of humanoid robotics can accelerate research, and lower the entry barrier for new research groups. While many affordable humanoid standard platforms exist in the lower size ranges of up to 60 cm, beyond this the few available standard platforms quickly become significantly more expensive, and difficult to operate and maintain. In this paper, the igus Humanoid Open Platform is presented-a new, affordable, versatile and easily customisable standard platform for humanoid robots in the child-sized range. At 90 cm, the robot is large enough to interact with a human-scale environment in a meaningful way, and is equipped with enough torque and computing power to foster research in many possible directions. The structure of the robot is entirely 3D printed, allowing for a lightweight and appealing design. The electrical and mechanical designs of the robot are presented, and the main features of the corresponding opensource ROS software are discussed. The 3D CAD files for all of the robot parts have been released open-source in conjunction with this paper.
arXiv (Cornell University), Oct 19, 2018
Humanoid robotics research depends on capable robot platforms, but recently developed advanced pl... more Humanoid robotics research depends on capable robot platforms, but recently developed advanced platforms are often not available to other research groups, expensive, dangerous to operate, or closed-source. The lack of available platforms forces researchers to work with smaller robots, which have less strict dynamic constraints or with simulations, which lack many real-world effects. We developed NimbRo-OP2X to address this need. At a height of 135 cm our robot is large enough to interact in a human environment. Its low weight of only 19 kg makes the operation of the robot safe and easy, as no special operational equipment is necessary. Our robot is equipped with a fast onboard computer and a GPU to accelerate parallel computations. We extend our already opensource software by a deep-learning based vision system and gait parameter optimisation. The NimbRo-OP2X was evaluated during RoboCup 2018 in Montreál, Canada, where it won all possible awards in the Humanoid AdultSize class.
arXiv (Cornell University), Sep 28, 2018
The use of standard platforms in the field of humanoid robotics can lower the entry barrier for n... more The use of standard platforms in the field of humanoid robotics can lower the entry barrier for new research groups, and accelerate research by the facilitation of code sharing. Numerous humanoid standard platforms exist in the lower size ranges of up to 60 cm, but beyond that humanoid robots scale up quickly in weight and price, becoming less affordable and more difficult to operate, maintain and modify. The igus Humanoid Open Platform is an affordable, fully open-source platform for humanoid research. At 92 cm, the robot is capable of acting in an environment meant for humans, and is equipped with enough sensors, actuators and computing power to support researchers in many fields. The structure of the robot is entirely 3D printed, leading to a lightweight and visually appealing design. This paper covers the mechanical and electrical aspects of the robot, as well as the main features of the corresponding open-source ROS software. At RoboCup 2016, the platform was awarded the first International HARTING Open Source Prize.
arXiv (Cornell University), Feb 19, 2023
Figure : Overview of the Wrapyfi framework. From top to bottom: 1) Data types are encoded or deco... more Figure : Overview of the Wrapyfi framework. From top to bottom: 1) Data types are encoded or decoded depending on the transmission mode; 2) Encoded objects are prepared for transmission using the Request/Reply or Publish/Subscribe communication pattern; 3) Messages are transmitted through the selected middleware protocol; 4) Messages sequenced according to the communication scheme; 5) Messages exchanged between robots, applications, and sensors. ★ ★ The "nine dots" ROS and ROS 2 logos are trademarks of Open Source Robotics Foundation. TensorFlow, the TensorFlow logo, and any related marks are trademarks of Google Inc. The OpenCV logo is a trademark of . The NumPy logo is used in accordance with the NumPy logo guidelines. The pandas logo is used in accordance with the brand and logo guidelines. PyTorch, the PyTorch logo and any related marks are trademarks of The Linux Foundation. The name ZeroMQ and the "ØMQ" logo are used in compliance with creative commons license Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). The logos for Dask, Apache MXNet, paddlepaddle, PIL (Pillow), JAX, and YARP are included with respect to their trademark policies; we acknowledge that these are subject to copyrights, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective holders. We do not claim ownership of these copyrights or trademarks. The use of these logos does not indicate endorsement by the trademark or copyright holders, nor does
International Journal of Humanoid Robotics
For several years, high development and production costs of humanoid robots restricted researcher... more For several years, high development and production costs of humanoid robots restricted researchers interested in working in the field. To overcome this problem, several research groups have opted to work with simulated or smaller robots, whose acquisition costs are significantly lower. However, due to scale differences and imperfect simulation replicability, results may not be directly reproducible on real, adult-sized robots. In this paper, we present the NimbRo-OP2X, a capable and affordable adult-sized humanoid platform aiming to significantly lower the entry barrier for humanoid robot research. With a height of 135[Formula: see text]cm and weight of only 19[Formula: see text]kg, the robot can interact in an unmodified, human environment without special safety equipment. Modularity in hardware and software allows this platform enough flexibility to operate in different scenarios and applications with minimal effort. The robot is equipped with an on-board computer with GPU, which ...
2022 IEEE-RAS 21st International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids)
The act of reaching for an object is a fundamental yet complex skill for a robotic agent, requiri... more The act of reaching for an object is a fundamental yet complex skill for a robotic agent, requiring a high degree of visuomotor control and coordination. In consideration of dynamic environments, a robot capable of autonomously adapting to novel situations is desired. In this paper, a developmental robotics approach is used to autonomously learn visuomotor coordination on the NICO (Neuro-Inspired COmpanion) platform, for the task of object reaching. The robot interacts with its environment and learns associations between motor commands and temporally correlated sensory perceptions based on Hebbian learning. Multiple Grow-When-Required (GWR) networks are used to learn increasingly more complex motoric behaviors, by first learning how to direct the gaze towards a visual stimulus, followed by learning motor control of the arm, and finally learning how to reach for an object using eye-hand coordination. We demonstrate that the model is able to deal with an unforeseen mechanical change in the NICO's body, showing the adaptability of the proposed approach. In evaluations of our approach, we show that the humanoid robot NICO is able to reach objects with a 76% success rate.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI, Oct 7, 2022
We propose a neural learning approach for a humanoid exercise robot that can automatically analyz... more We propose a neural learning approach for a humanoid exercise robot that can automatically analyze and correct physical exercises. Such an exercise robot should be able to train many different human partners over time and thus requires the ability for lifelong learning. To this end, we develop a modified Grow-When-Required (GWR) network with recurrent connections, episodic memory and a novel subnode mechanism for learning spatiotemporal relationships of body movements and poses. Once an exercise is successfully demonstrated, the information of pose and movement per frame is stored in the Subnode-GWR network. For every frame, the current pose and motion pair is compared against a predicted output of the GWR, allowing for feedback not only on the pose but also on the velocity of the motion. Since both the pose and motion depend on a user's body morphology, the exercise demonstration by one individual cannot easily be used as a reference for further users. We allow the GWR to grow online with each further demonstration. The subnode mechanism ensures that exercise information for individual humans is stored and retrieved correctly and is not forgotten over time. In the application scenario, a physical exercise is performed in the presence of an expert like a physiotherapist and then used as a reference for a humanoid robot like Pepper to give feedback on further executions of the same exercise. For evaluation, we developed a new synthetic exercise dataset with virtual avatars. We also test our method on real-world data recorded in an office scenario. Overall, we claim that our novel GWR-based architecture can use a learned exercise reference for different body variations through incremental online learning while preventing catastrophic forgetting, enabling an engaging long-term human-robot experience with a humanoid robot.
arXiv (Cornell University), Sep 28, 2018
Over the past few years, a number of successful humanoid platforms have been developed, including... more Over the past few years, a number of successful humanoid platforms have been developed, including the Nao [1] and the DARwIn-OP [2], both of which are used by many research groups for the investigation of bipedal walking, fullbody motions, and human-robot interaction. The NimbRo-OP is an open humanoid platform under development by team NimbRo of the University of Bonn. Significantly larger than the two aforementioned humanoids, this platform has the potential to interact with a more human-scale environment. This paper describes a software framework for the NimbRo-OP that is based on the Robot Operating System (ROS) middleware. The software provides functionality for hardware abstraction, visual perception, and behavior generation, and has been used to implement basic soccer skills. These were demonstrated at RoboCup 2013, as part of the winning team of the Humanoid League competition.
RoboCup 2017: Robot World Cup XXI, 2018
In order to pursue the vision of the RoboCup Humanoid League of beating the soccer world champion... more In order to pursue the vision of the RoboCup Humanoid League of beating the soccer world champion by 2050, new rules and competitions are added or modified each year fostering novel technological advances. In 2017, the number of players in the TeenSize class soccer games was increase to 3 vs. 3, which allowed for more team play strategies. Improvements in individual skills were also demanded through a set of technical challenges. This paper presents the latest individual skills and team play developments used in RoboCup 2017 that lead our team Nimbro winning the 2017 TeenSize soccer tournament, the technical challenges, and the drop-in games.
ArXiv, 2018
Humanoid soccer robots perceive their environment exclusively through cameras. This paper present... more Humanoid soccer robots perceive their environment exclusively through cameras. This paper presents a monocular vision system that was originally developed for use in the RoboCup Humanoid League, but is expected to be transferable to other soccer leagues. Recent changes in the Humanoid League rules resulted in a soccer environment with less color coding than in previous years, which makes perception of the game situation more challenging. The proposed vision system addresses these challenges by using brightness and texture for the detection of the required field features and objects. Our system is robust to changes in lighting conditions, and is designed for real-time use on a humanoid soccer robot. This paper describes the main components of the detection algorithms in use, and presents experimental results from the soccer field, using ROS and the igus Humanoid Open Platform as a testbed. The proposed vision system was used successfully at RoboCup 2015.
This paper describes the RoboCup Humanoid League team NimbRo TeenSize of Rheinische Friedrich-Wil... more This paper describes the RoboCup Humanoid League team NimbRo TeenSize of Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany, as required by the RoboCup qualification procedure for the 2016 competition held in Leipzig, Germany. Our team uses self-constructed robots for playing soccer. This paper describes the mechanical and electrical design of the robots, covers the software used for state estimation, computer vision and motion generation, and highlights some of our scientific achievements.
RoboCup 2016: Robot World Cup XX, 2017
The trend in the RoboCup Humanoid League rules over the past few years has been towards a more re... more The trend in the RoboCup Humanoid League rules over the past few years has been towards a more realistic and challenging game environment. Elementary skills such as visual perception and walking, which had become mature enough for exciting gameplay, are now once again core challenges. The field goals are both white, and the walking surface is artificial grass, which constitutes a much more irregular surface than the carpet used before. In this paper, team NimbRo Teen-Size, the winner of the TeenSize class of the RoboCup 2016 Humanoid League, presents its robotic platforms, the adaptations that had to be made to them, and the newest developments in visual perception and soccer behaviour.
2017 IEEE-RAS 17th International Conference on Humanoid Robotics (Humanoids), 2017
The versatility of humanoid robots in locomotion, full-body motion, interaction with unmodified h... more The versatility of humanoid robots in locomotion, full-body motion, interaction with unmodified human environments, and intuitive human-robot interaction led to increased research interest. Multiple smaller platforms are available for research, but these require a miniaturized environment to interact with-and often the small scale of the robot diminishes the influence of factors which would have affected larger robots. Unfortunately, many research platforms in the larger size range are less affordable, more difficult to operate, maintain and modify, and very often closed-source. In this work, we introduce NimbRo-OP2, an affordable, fully open-source platform in terms of both hardware and software. Being almost 135 cm tall and only 18 kg in weight, the robot is not only capable of interacting in an environment meant for humans, but also easy and safe to operate and does not require a gantry when doing so. The exoskeleton of the robot is 3D printed, which produces a lightweight and visually appealing design. We present all mechanical and electrical aspects of the robot, as well as some of the software features of our well-established open-source ROS software. The NimbRo-OP2 performed at RoboCup 2017 in Nagoya, Japan, where it won the Humanoid League AdultSize Soccer competition and Technical Challenge.
RoboCup 2018: Robot World Cup XXII, 2019
Over the past few years, the Humanoid League rules have changed towards more realistic and challe... more Over the past few years, the Humanoid League rules have changed towards more realistic and challenging game environments, which encourage teams to advance their robot soccer performances. In this paper, we present the software and hardware designs that led our team NimbRo to win the competitions in the AdultSize league -including the soccer tournament, the drop-in games, and the technical challenges at RoboCup 2018 in Montréal. Altogether, this resulted in NimbRo winning the Best Humanoid Award. In particular, we describe our deep-learning approaches for visual perception and our new fully 3D printed robot NimbRo-OP2X.
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Papers by Philipp Allgeuer