Dr Iordanis Chatzinikolaidis

Legged robots have improved mobility and are able to navigate a larger variety of terrains than wheeled robots. They are able to traverse environments, both continuous and discontinuous, e.g. with gaps, without requiring special consideration like roads, while at the same time they are able to exhibit comparable efficiency. Unfortunately, these benefits come with higher computational cost and complexity, which hinders their widespread adoption. In order to overcome this, past research was focused on using simple (template) models able to capture the most important aspects of the desired motion. These models are usually very particular and do not generalize across the situation in a straightforward manner. My research focuses on model-based optimization methods, able to create motions in a coherent manner that could be applied to a variety of situations and terrains.