The task of performing locomotion and manipulation simultaneously poses several scientific challenges, such as how to deal with the coupling effects between them and how to cope with unknown disturbances introduced by manipulation. This paper presents an inverse dynamics-based whole-body controller for a torque-controlled quadrupedal manipulator capable of performing locomotion while executing manipulation tasks. Unlike existing methods that deal with locomotion and manipulation separately, the proposed controller can handle them uniformly, which can take into account the coupling effects between the base, limbs and manipulated object. The controller tracks the desired task–space motion references based on a hierarchical optimization algorithm, given a set of hierarchies that define strict priorities and the importance of weighting each task within a hierarchy. The simulation results show the robot is able to follow multiple task–space motion reference trajectories with reasonable deviation, which proved the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

In this work, we present a highly functional teleoperation system, that integrates a full-body inertia-based motion capture suit and three intuitive teleoperation strategies with a Whole-Body Control (WBC) framework, for quadrupedal legged manipulators. This enables the realisation of commands from the teleoperator that would otherwise not be possible, as the framework is able to utilise DoF redundancy to meet several objectives simultaneously, such as locking the gripper frame in position while the trunk completes a task. This is achieved through the WBC framework featuring a defined optimisation problem that solves a range of Cartesian and joint space tasks, while subject to a set of constraints (e.g. halt constraints). These tasks and constraints are highly modular and can be configured dynamically, allowing the teleoperator to switch between teleoperation strategies seamlessly. The overall system has been tested and validated through a physics-based simulation and a hardware test, demonstrating all functionality of the system, which in turn has been used to evaluate its effectiveness.

This paper outlines the process of opening a springloaded door with a quadrupedal mobile manipulator. A Cartesian trajectory planner based on manifold interpolation is developed to provide designed base and gripper trajectories, and a wholebody controller based on the hierarchical inverse dynamics approach is implemented to enable the robot to cope with unknown external disturbances. The spring-loaded door opening task is successfully achieved in simulation and robust interaction is established without creating undesired forces.

Visual feedback is the most important form of perception within teleoperation, therefore there is a need for a solution that allows for increased potential information gain that a camera can provide, this can be obtained by having a camera that is able to move its position relatively to the base robot. Therefore, this paper focuses on the use of a drone to act as dynamic camera in teleoperation scenarios. The drone control is performed via the use of hand tracking through a wearable motion capture suit and is built upon an existing teleoperation control framework. The usability of the dynamic camera is demonstrated through the use of a simulated drone to act as a dynamic camera in a simulated buzz wire task.

With teleoperation currently being the optimal method of controlling legged robots in real world applications, there presents the demand for a teleoperation framework offering extensive functionality. As such, this paper presents a teleoperation framework that, with the implementation of a set of teleoperation strategies, enables a teleoperator to control the gripper, trunk and front left (FL) foot frames of a legged manipulator while utilising the robot's redundancy through the use of a Whole-body controller (WBC). This enables the teleoperator to utilise these frames to complete real world tasks, as demonstrated in this paper with the teleoperation framework being used to dispose an item in a push peddle bin.