Interactive control of humanoid navigation

We present a method for interactively guiding the navigation of a humanoid robot through complex terrain via an intuitive path-drawing interface. In contrast to full autonomy or direct teleoperation of the robot, the user suggests an overall global navigation route by “drawing” a path onto the environment while the robot is walking. The path is used by a footstep planner that searches online for a sequence of suitable footstep locations that follow the indicated path as closely as possible while respecting the robot dynamics and overall navigation safety. In this way, the planner provides the robot partial autonomy in selecting precise footstep sequences while the human operator retains high-level control of the global navigation route. We present experimental results of the complete system on the biped humanoid HRP-2 navigating on and around various platforms, chairs, and stairs. We use an augmented reality system so that interactively drawing paths on the world is intuitive and natural.