Control method for floating-base robots including generating feasible motions using time warping

A robot, comprising:

• a floating-base body comprising a plurality of links and torque-controlled joints;
• and
• a tracking controller comprising a controller module computing a desired acceleration to track movement through a set of poses by operating the torque-controlled joints and a time warping module modifying one or more of the poses to generate the set of poses tracked by the controller module,
• wherein the time warping module modifies a timeline defined for providing the modified set of the poses.

A method for controlling a floating-base robot to track a given reference motion, comprising:

• providing a set of poses defining movement for the floating-base robot at a plurality of times along a predefined timeline;
• with a processor running a feasibility determination module, calculating a motion feasibility index for the movement and, based on the motion feasibility index, determining whether the movement is infeasible for the floating-base robot;
• and
• in response to the determining, with the processor running a reference motion adapter, modifying the set of poses based on the motion feasibility index whereby the movement becomes feasible for performance by the floating-base robot,
• wherein the modifying comprises changing one or more of the times for placing the floating-base movement in one or more of the poses.