Motion Design for Grasp-Based Dynamic Locomotion in Microgravity

2026-05-20

AI Summary

This work addresses the challenges of dynamic grasping locomotion for multi-limbed robots in microgravity environments, where motion is constrained by sparse anchoring points and tightly coupled kinematic and dynamic interactions. The authors propose a parametrizable motion planning framework that optimizes locomotion performance by modulating gait patterns, step length, velocity, and nominal body posture. The study demonstrates that expanding the feasible contact torque space and mitigating whole-body impulsive dynamics are critical for enhancing stability and reducing actuation demands, offering new strategies for contact configuration selection and full-body coordination. Validation through physics-based simulations on a quadrupedal robot confirms the efficacy of the approach, significantly improving dynamic locomotion stability in microgravity while lowering energy consumption.

Abstract

Locomotion in microgravity often relies on sparsely and irregularly arranged anchors, motivating grasp-based mobility with multiple limbs. In this setting, dynamic locomotion is feasible only through deliberate regulation of both anchored interactions and whole-body coordination under coupled dynamic and kinematic constraints. This paper presents design insights for grasp-based dynamic locomotion with multi-limbed robotic systems in microgravity, targeting scenarios that require 6D limb manipulation to establish contacts with candidate anchors. The investigated design parameters include gait pattern, stride length, locomotion speed, and nominal posture. A parameterizable locomotion planning framework is proposed to support variations of these parameters and to evaluate the resulting locomotion performance in terms of stability and actuation demand. Two representative quadruped morphologies are adopted for evaluation in physics-based simulation. The results demonstrate that enlarging the feasible contact wrench space and attenuating impulsive whole-body dynamics improve locomotion performance. These findings inform strategies for contact configuration selection and whole-body coordination in microgravity locomotion with multi-limbed systems.

Problem

• microgravity
• grasp-based locomotion
• multi-limbed robotic systems
• dynamic locomotion
• contact wrench space

Innovation

• grasp-based locomotion
• microgravity
• multi-limbed robotics
• contact wrench space
• whole-body coordination