Obstacle-Avoidant Leader Following with a Quadruped Robot
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Date
2025
Publication Type
Conference Paper
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
Personal mobile robotic assistants are expected to find wide applications in industry and healthcare. For example, people with limited mobility can benefit from robots helping with daily tasks, or construction workers can have robots perform precision monitoring tasks on-site. However, manually steering a robot while in motion requires significant concentration from the operator, especially in tight or crowded spaces. This reduces walking speed, and the constant need for vigilance increases fatigue and, thus, the risk of accidents. This work presents a virtual leash with which a robot can naturally follow an operator. We use a sensor fusion based on a custom-built RF transponder, RGB cameras, and a LiDAR. In addition, we customize a local avoidance planner for legged platforms, which enables us to navigate dynamic and narrow environments. We successfully validate on the ANYmal platform [1] the robustness and performance of our entire pipeline in real-world experiments. The video is available at: obstacle-avoidant-leader-following.
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Publication status
published
Editor
Book title
2025 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
Journal / series
Volume
Pages / Article No.
1407 - 1413
Publisher
IEEE
Event
42nd IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025)
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Methods
Software
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Subject
Organisational unit
09570 - Hutter, Marco / Hutter, Marco
Notes
RSL
Funding
101121321 - A novel integrated SYstem of Systems streNgthening tEchnical and logistical capacities to ensure better Response to emerGencies by synergIStically addrEssing FRs capabiltiy gaps (SBFI)
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