Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Autodesk, Inc.

Eth Zurich

Pixar

Eth Zurich (eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich)

Eth Zurich (eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zurich)

Stelian Coros

Robert Walker Sumner

Bernhard Thomaszewski

Markus Gross

George William Fitzmaurice

Tovi Samuel Grossman

Justin Frank Matejka

Fraser Anderson

Lars Espen Knoop

Fabian Hahn

Ruta P Desai

Sebastian Martin

Alexander Sorkine Hornung

Markus H Gross

Gioacchino Noris

Bernd Bickel

Brian Whited

Martin Guay

Maryann Simmons

Moritz Niklaus Bächer

Ye Yuan

Daniel Sykora

Hongyi Xu

Rafael C Hostettler

Wojciech Matusik

Mark Joseph Meyer

Kenneth John Mitchell

Ilya Baran

Katsu Yamane

Kenny Mitchell

Ariel Shamir

Maurizio Nitti

Dominik Tobias Borer

Kyle Michael Cesare

Joohyung Kim

Michael Anthony Hopkins

Christian Gabriel Schumacher

Forrester Cole

Alexander Nicholas Alspach

Shayan Hoshyari

Fabian Andreas Hahn

Eitan Grinspun

Sehoon Ha

Sandro Mani

Xu Xianghao

Vittorio Megaro

Mubbasir Turab Kapadia

Shinjiro Sueda

Marie-Paule Cani

Antoine Milliez

Moritz Geilinger

Moritz Niklaus Bâcher

Gökçen Çimen

Simone Guggiari

Frederik Rudolf Mutzel

Damien Gauge

Anthony Derose

A new controller for use in robots with kinematic loops as well as in most other types of robots (such as those with fully actuated kinematic trees). The controller includes an inverse kinematics (IK) module that implements a versatile IK formulation for retargeting of motions, including expressive motions, onto mechanical systems (i.e., robots with loops and/or without loops). Further, the controller is configured to support the precise control of the position and orientation of end effectors and the center of mass (CoM) (such as of walking robots). The formulation of the algorithms carried out by the IK module safeguards against a disassembly when IK targets are moved outside the workspace of the robot. A regularizer is included in the controller that smoothly circumvents kinematic singularities where velocities go to infinity.

Robot with an inverse kinematics (IK)-based controller for retargeting input motions

An automated robot design pipeline facilitates the overall process of designing robots that perform various desired behaviors. The disclosed pipeline includes four stages. In the first stage, a generative engine samples a design space to generate a large number of robot designs. In the second stage, a metric engine generates behavioral metrics indicating a degree to which each robot design performs the desired behaviors. In the third stage, a mapping engine generates a behavior predictor that can predict the behavioral metrics for any given robot design. In the fourth stage, a design engine generates a graphical user interface (GUI) that guides the user in performing behavior-driven design of a robot. One advantage of the disclosed approach is that the user need not have specialized skills in either graphic design or programming to generate designs for robots that perform specific behaviors or express various emotions.

Generative design techniques for robot behavior

A robot control method, and associated robot controllers and robots operating with such methods and controllers, providing computational vibration suppression. Given a desired animation cycle for a robotic system or robot, the control method uses a dynamic simulation of the physical robot, which takes into account the flexible components of the robot, to predict if vibrations will be seen in the physical robot. If vibrations are predicted with the input animation cycle, the control method optimizes the set of motor trajectories to return a set of trajectories that are as close as possible to the artistic or original intent of the provider of the animation cycle, while minimizing unwanted vibration. The new control method or design tool suppresses unwanted vibrations and allows a robot designer to use lighter and/or softer (less stiff) and, therefore, less expensive systems in new robots.

Computational vibration suppression for robotic systems

In particular embodiments, a 2D representation of an object may be provided. A first method may comprise: receiving sketch input identifying a target position for a specified portion of the object; computing a deformation for the object within the context of a character rig specification for the object; and displaying an updated version of the object. A second method may comprise detecting sketch input; classifying the sketch input, based on the 2D representation, as an instantiation of the object; instantiating the object using a 3D model of the object; and displaying a 3D visual representation of the object.

Sketch-based abstraction for character posing and synthesis

Methods and corresponding systems that are useful in design and fabrication of kinetic wire mechanisms or characters. The method includes a computational technique for the design of kinetic wire mechanisms tailored for fabrication on consumer-grade hardware such as a desktop CNC bending device. The method takes as input a skeletal animation of the mechanism to be fabricated and estimates, from the skeletal animation, a cable-driven and compliant wire structure, which matches user-selected keyframes. To enable localized deformations, the technique involves shaping the mechanism's body (i.e., the wire) into functional spring-like entities at a set of locations along the length of the mechanism's body. The method involves determining where on the wire body to place these spring-like entities, determining which types or configurations of spring-like entities should be placed at each of these locations, and optimizing parameters of each user-selected spring-like entity for use at the locations on the wire mechanism.

Computer-assisted design and fabrication of kinetic wire mechanisms

A method of identifying locations in a virtual environment where a motion sequence can be performed by an animated character may include accessing the motion sequence for the animated character, identifying a plurality of contact locations in the motion sequence where the animated character contacts surfaces in virtual environments, accessing the virtual environment comprising a plurality of surfaces, and identifying the locations in the virtual environment where the motion sequence can be performed by the animated character by identifying surfaces in the plurality of surfaces that match the plurality of contact locations.

Precomputed environment semantics for contact-rich character animation

Techniques for generating locomotion data for animating a virtual quadruped model, starting at an origin point and travelling to a destination point along a defined path. A virtual skeletal structure for the virtual quadruped model is analyzed to identify a torso region, limbs each ending in a respective end effector, and limb attributes. A predefined locomotion template for virtual quadruped characters is retrieved and mapped to the virtual quadruped model by aligning the torso region and the plurality of limbs of the virtual skeletal structure for the virtual quadruped with a second torso region and a second plurality of limbs of the predefined locomotion template. Locomotion data is generated for the virtual quadruped model based on the defined path and by upscaling the mapped predefined locomotion template, based at least on the set of limb attributes determined by analyzing the virtual skeletal structure for the virtual quadruped model.

Automatically generating quadruped locomotion controllers

A simulation engine models interactions between a simulated character and real-world objects to produce a physically realistic augmented reality (AR) simulation. The simulation engine recognizes a given real-world object and then identifies, within a library of object models, an object model corresponding to that object. The simulation engine projects the object model onto the real-world object such that the object model is geometrically aligned with the real-world object. When the simulated character encounters the real-world object, the simulation engine models interactions between the simulated character and the real-world object by adjusting the kinematics of the simulated character relative to the object model associated with the real-world object.

Modeling interactions between simulated characters and real-world objects for more realistic augmented reality

There are provided systems and methods for the computational design of linkage-based characters. The system including a display, a memory storing a software application, and a processor configured to execute the software application to display a linkage on the display, the linkage including a plurality of links and a plurality of motors, each of the plurality of links being connected to at least another of the plurality of links using one of the plurality of motors, receive a user input selecting a first link and a second link from the plurality of links and a motor from the plurality of motors, the motor being located between the first link and the second link, and generate an updated linkage by connecting the first link to the second link using a new link and replacing the motor with a pin.

Computational design of linkage-based characters

Techniques for simulating interactions using an augmented reality device. A visual scene is captured using a camera device. The visual scene depicts of a first physical object within a physical environment. A dynamic interaction is simulated between the first physical object and one or more virtual objects and velocity of a first virtual object resulting from the simulated dynamic interaction is calculated. A predefined behavior for a virtual character to perform is selected in response to the dynamic interaction. The virtual character is distinct from the first virtual object, and the selection is based on the calculated velocity. A sequence of frames is rendered. The sequence of frames depicts the dynamic interaction between the first physical object and the virtual objects, and further depicts a representation of the virtual character performing the determined behavior. The sequence of frames is output for display using one or more display devices.

Augmented reality simulation continuum

A robot design system, and associated method, that is particularly well-suited for legged robots (e.g., monopods, bipeds, and quadrupeds). The system implements three stages or modules: (a) a motion optimization module; (b) a morphology optimization module; and (c) a link length optimization module. The motion optimization module outputs motion trajectories of the robot's center of mass (COM) and force effectors. The morphology optimization module uses as input the optimized motion trajectories and a library of modular robot components and outputs an optimized robot morphology, e.g., a parameterized mechanical design in which the number of links in each of the legs and other parameters are optimized. The link length optimization module takes this as input and outputs optimal link lengths for a particular task such that the design of a robot is more efficient. The system solves the problem of automatically designing legged robots for given locomotion tasks by numerical optimization.

Computational design of robots from high-level task specifications

Techniques are proposed for animating a deformable object. A geometric mesh comprising a plurality of vertices is retrieved, where the geometric mesh is related to a first rest state configuration corresponding to the deformable object. A motion goal associated with the deformable object is then retrieved. The motion goal is translated into a function of one or more state variables associated with the deformable object. A second rest state configuration corresponding to the deformable object is computed by adjusting the position of at least one vertex in the plurality of vertices based at least in part on the function.

Motion control of active deformable objects

A method is disclosed for applying physics-based simulation to an animator provided rig. The disclosure presents equations of motions for simulations performed in the subspace of deformations defined by an animator's rig. The method receives an input rig with a plurality of deformation parameters, and the dynamics of the character are simulated in the subspace of deformations described by the character's rig. Stiffness values defined on rig parameters are transformed to a non-homogeneous distribution of material parameters for the underlying rig.

Fast rig-based physics simulation

Growing community of inventors

Zurich, Switzerland

Stelian Coros