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LEVA: A high-mobility logistic vehicle with legged suspension

Marco Arnold, Lukas Hildebrandt, Kaspar Janssen, Efe Ongan, Pascal Bürge, Ádám Gyula Gábriel, James Kennedy, Rishi Lolla, Quanisha Oppliger, Micha Schaaf, Joseph Church, Michael Fritsche, Victor Klemm, Turcan Tuna, Giorgio Valsecchi, Cedric Weibel, Michael Wüthrich, Marco Hutter

TL;DR

LEVA addresses autonomous logistics on challenging terrain by combining legged suspension with steerable wheels to enable both stepping and rolling. It introduces a dedicated box pickup mechanism and an RL-based controller for stairs, coupled with LiDAR-inertial odometry and apriltag-based EuroBox detection for autonomy. Key contributions include the system design of 4x parallelogram legs with a shoulder gearbox, autonomous box loading/unloading, and extensive experimental validation on varied terrains including a Cost of Transport energy-efficiency evaluation. The work broadens autonomous logistics to semi-structured environments and demonstrates viable payload transport with high autonomy.

Abstract

The autonomous transportation of materials over challenging terrain is a challenge with major economic implications and remains unsolved. This paper introduces LEVA, a high-payload, high-mobility robot designed for autonomous logistics across varied terrains, including those typical in agriculture, construction, and search and rescue operations. LEVA uniquely integrates an advanced legged suspension system using parallel kinematics. It is capable of traversing stairs using a rl controller, has steerable wheels, and includes a specialized box pickup mechanism that enables autonomous payload loading as well as precise and reliable cargo transportation of up to 85 kg across uneven surfaces, steps and inclines while maintaining a cot of as low as 0.15. Through extensive experimental validation, LEVA demonstrates its off-road capabilities and reliability regarding payload loading and transport.

LEVA: A high-mobility logistic vehicle with legged suspension

TL;DR

LEVA addresses autonomous logistics on challenging terrain by combining legged suspension with steerable wheels to enable both stepping and rolling. It introduces a dedicated box pickup mechanism and an RL-based controller for stairs, coupled with LiDAR-inertial odometry and apriltag-based EuroBox detection for autonomy. Key contributions include the system design of 4x parallelogram legs with a shoulder gearbox, autonomous box loading/unloading, and extensive experimental validation on varied terrains including a Cost of Transport energy-efficiency evaluation. The work broadens autonomous logistics to semi-structured environments and demonstrates viable payload transport with high autonomy.

Abstract

The autonomous transportation of materials over challenging terrain is a challenge with major economic implications and remains unsolved. This paper introduces LEVA, a high-payload, high-mobility robot designed for autonomous logistics across varied terrains, including those typical in agriculture, construction, and search and rescue operations. LEVA uniquely integrates an advanced legged suspension system using parallel kinematics. It is capable of traversing stairs using a rl controller, has steerable wheels, and includes a specialized box pickup mechanism that enables autonomous payload loading as well as precise and reliable cargo transportation of up to 85 kg across uneven surfaces, steps and inclines while maintaining a cot of as low as 0.15. Through extensive experimental validation, LEVA demonstrates its off-road capabilities and reliability regarding payload loading and transport.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 23 sections, 1 equation, 10 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related work
  3. System Design
  4. System Overview
  5. Leg Design
  6. Shoulder Design
  7. Steering Design
  8. Body Design
  9. Box Pickup Design
  10. Control System Overview
  11. Sensors and State Estimation
  12. Odometry Estimation
  13. EuroBox Detection
  14. Rolling Controller
  15. RL Controller
  16. ...and 8 more sections

Figures (10)

  • Figure 1: The high payload robot LEVA, shown in multiple environments
  • Figure 2: Explosion of shoulder gearbox, belts not included
  • Figure 3: Mechanical system overview, shell not included. Sensors are further explained in Fig. \ref{['fig:Sensors']}.
  • Figure 4: Pickup mechanism; hook system (orange) and alignment pins (green) are shown.
  • Figure 5: 1. Maximal possible in light blue, 2. used during box pickup and locomotion in dark blue, 3. Area optimized for low motor torques during stair climbing is shown inside the black ellipse.
  • ...and 5 more figures