Contact-implicit trajectory optimization using orthogonal collocation

A Patel, SL Shield, S Kazi, AM Johnson… - IEEE Robotics and …, 2019 - ieeexplore.ieee.org
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2019ieeexplore.ieee.org
In this letter, we propose a method to improve the accuracy of trajectory optimization for
dynamic robots with intermittent contact by using orthogonal collocation. Until recently, most
trajectory optimization methods for systems with contacts employ mode-scheduling, which
requires an a priori knowledge of the contact order and thus cannot produce complex or non-
intuitive behaviors. Contact-implicit trajectory optimization methods offer a solution to this by
allowing the optimization to make or break contacts as needed, but thus far have suffered …
In this letter, we propose a method to improve the accuracy of trajectory optimization for dynamic robots with intermittent contact by using orthogonal collocation. Until recently, most trajectory optimization methods for systems with contacts employ mode-scheduling, which requires an a priori knowledge of the contact order and thus cannot produce complex or non-intuitive behaviors. Contact-implicit trajectory optimization methods offer a solution to this by allowing the optimization to make or break contacts as needed, but thus far have suffered from poor accuracy. Here, we combine methods from direct collocation using higher order orthogonal polynomials with contact-implicit optimization to generate trajectories with significantly improved accuracy. The key insight is to increase the order of the polynomial representation while maintaining the assumption that impact occurs over the duration of one finite element.
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