After IROS2022, many researchers who participated in the conference came to visit our lab. We introduced various kinds of interesting robots and advanced research developed in our lab. The structures and control methods of robots were explained in detail and their movement was demonstrated.

Below are the questions from researchers who joined the lab tour and the answers from us.

Q1:（Quadruped Robot）How to know the robot is stable when the robot lifts one foot?

A1: The robot is stable when the vertical projection of the center of gravity (COG) remains inside the support polygon formed by the robot’s feet.

Q2:（Gripper）Where does the object “absorbed” by the robot go?

A2: It depends on the application scenarios. For example, the absorbed object will be placed on a conveyor belt in the object transportation scene.

Q3: (Crawler) How does the crawler climb stairs?

A3: It is realized by an underactuated mechanism. When the crawler encounters a step or an obstacle, the rotation movement of the track will be switched to another kind of movement like a lift arm.

Q4: Are all the robots shown in slides developed in this lab?

A4: Yes. More precisely speaking, the original version or idea was derived from Malab. For example, after graduating from Malab, Prof. Kakogawa developed many kinds of pipeline robots with high performance applied in different fields.

If you are interested, please check the Ritsumeikan University Robotics webpage for more details.