Summary
This is a call for participation for the Workshop on Advances in Simulation of Robot and Task Dynamics to be held at the ETH Zurich as part of the Robotics: Science and Systems conference on June 28, 2008. Those interested should contact us here.Motivation
Fast algorithms for simulating robot dynamics using multibody mechanics have existed for decades. However, simulated robots are typically restricted to performing free-space motion or locomotive tasks; only within the past few years has simulation of grasping been achieved. Roboticists have yet to simulate performance of tasks that theoretically should be capable of simulation with rigid body dynamics alone, like some part assembly tasks; rigid body dynamics by itself is inadequate to simulate many other tasks, like welding, driving screws, cutting, and drilling.
The problems with the state-of-the-art are twofold. First, the numerous approximations employed- whether due to computational complexity requirements or modeling limitations- generally result in algorithms that are surprisingly brittle; significant parameter tuning is generally necessary to yield a stable simulation. Second, the predominant use of only rigid body dynamics strongly limits the types of tasks that can be simulated. Constraining the efforts to resolve these problems is hampered by the requirements to adhere to physical reality (as much as possible) and present low computational demands.
Purpose
The purpose of this workshop is to inform roboticists of recent advances that permit dynamic simulation of robots performing tasks with greater robustness, accuracy, and speed than previously available. This workshop will also survey work from the fields of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Graphics, and Robotics toward simulation of a wide range of tasks by robots.
Topics
The focus of the workshop will be on the following topics:
- Fast algorithms for rigid body and flexible body dynamics
- Stable, accurate, and fast contact models for dynamic simulation
- Combining simulation paradigms- rigid body, flexible body, and deformable body mechanics, fluid dynamics, etc.- toward simulating tasks
- Performance of novel tasks (i.e., tasks other than grasping
- Parallel computing of dynamic robotic simulation and locomotion that entail interaction within the environment) within simulation
- Fast and robust geometrical intersection construction and penetration depth queries
