The control of complex robotic platforms is a challenging task, especially in designs with high levels of kinematic redundancy. Novel variable impedance actuators (VIAs) have recently demonstrated that, by allowing the ability to simultaneously modulate the output torque and impedance, one can achieve energetically more efficient and safer behaviour. However, this adds further levels of actuation redundancy, making planning and control of such systems even more complicated. VIAs are designed with the ability to mechanically modulate impedance during movement. Recent work from our group, employing the optimal control (OC) formulation to generate impedance policies, has shown the potential benefit of VIAs in tasks requiring energy storage, natural dynamic exploitation and robustness against perturbation. These approaches were, however, restricted to systems with smooth, continuous dynamics, performing tasks over a predefined time horizon. When considering tasks involving multiple phases of movement, including switching dynamics with discrete state transitions (resulting from interactions with the environment), traditional approaches such as independent phase optimisation would result in a potentially suboptimal behaviour. Our work addresses these issues by extending the OC formulation to a multiphase scenario and incorporating temporal optimisation capabilities (for robotic systems with VIAs). Given a predefined switching sequence, the developed methodology computes the optimal torque and impedance profile, alongside the optimal switching times and total movement duration. The resultant solution minimises the control effort by exploiting the actuation redundancy and modulating the natural dynamics of the system to match those of the desired movement. We use a monopod hopper and a brachiation system in numerical simulations and a hardware implementation of the latter to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our approach on a variety of dynamic tasks. The performance of model-based control relies on the accuracy of the dynamics model. This can deteriorate significantly due to elements that cannot be fully captured by analytic dynamics functions and/or due to changes in the dynamics. To circumvent these issues, we improve the performance of the developed framework by incorporating an adaptive learning algorithm. This performs continuous data-driven adjustments to the dynamics model while re-planning optimal policies that reflect this adaptation. The results presented show that the augmented approach is able to handle a range of model discrepancies, in both simulation and hardware experiments using the developed robotic brachiation system.

Humans have a complex musculoskeletal arrangement which gives them great behavioural flexibility. As well as simply moving their legs, they can modulate the impedance of them. Variable impedance has become a large field in robotics, and tailoring the impedance of a robot to a particular task can improve efficiency, stability, and potentially safety. Locomotion of a bipedal robot is a perfect example of a task for which variable impedance may provide such advantages, since it is a dynamic movement which involves periodic ground impacts. This thesis explores the creation of two novel bipedal robots with variable impedance joints. These robots aim to achieve some of the benefits of compliance, while retaining the behavioural flexibility to be truly versatile machines. The field of variable impedance actuators is explored and evaluated, before the design of the robots is presented. Of the two robots, BLUE (Bipedal Locomotion at the University of Edinburgh) has a 700mm hip rotation height, and is a saggital plane biped. miniBLUE has a hip rotation height of 465mm, and includes additional joints to allow hip adduction and abduction. Rapid prototyping techniques were utilised in the creation of both robots, and both robots are based around a custom, high performance electronics and communication architecture. The human walking cycle is analysed and a simple, parameterised representation developed. Walking trajectories gathered from human motion capture data, and generated from high level gait determinants are evaluated in dynamic simulation, and then on BLUE. With the robot being capable of locomotion, we explore the effect of varying stiffness on efficiency, and find that changing the stiffness can have an effect on the energy efficiency of the movement. Finally, we introduce a system for goal-based teleoperation of the robots, in which parameters are extracted from a user in a motion capture suit and replicated by the robot. In this way, the robot produces the same overall locomotion as the human, but with joint trajectories and stiffnesses that are more suited for its dynamics.

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Exploring the advancement of soft and variable impedance actuators (VIAs), the research focuses on their potential for enhancing safety and adaptability in physical human-robot interactions (pHRI). Despite the promising attributes of these technologies, their adoption in portable applications is still emerging. Addressing the challenges hindering the widespread implementation of soft actuators and VIAs, a multidisciplinary approach is employed, spanning materials science, chemistry, thermodynamics, and more. Novel compliant actuators utilizing phase-change materials and flexible thermoelectric devices are introduced, offering improved safety, adaptability, and efficiency. Thermo-active phase change soft actuators, integrating Peltier junctions, achieve precise thermal control and reversible actuation, overcoming traditional Joule heating limitations for more efficient and controlled thermal responses. The research also delves into thermal variable impedance actuators, using viscoelastic polymers like polycaprolactone (PCL) for variable stiffness and damping. This innovation enables rapid adaptation to changing load conditions, enhancing the dynamic performance of VIAs. Key contributions encompass the design of an agonist-antagonist system using thermo-active phase change materials, applications in soft robotic devices such as grippers and locomotion mechanisms, and the implementation of bidirectional heating elements within these actuators. The work also outlines the challenges encountered, such as gravity's influence on actuation and the frequency-dependent properties of PCL, setting the stage for future research directions to advance the field of soft robotics. Through these contributions, the research demonstrates practical applications of soft and variable impedance actuators in pHRI, paving the way for future innovations in soft robotics.

Dans le contexte de l’amélioration des modèles de prévision en acoustique extérieure, ces travaux de thèse se focalisent sur la modélisation des effets des irrégularités de la surface du sol sur la propagation acoustique. Pour ce faire, des méthodes numériques temporelles sont utilisées : d’une part, la méthode FDTD basée sur la résolution des équations de l’acoustique par des schémas aux différences finies, et d’autre part, la méthode des lignes de transmission (TLM). La modélisation des effets de la rugosité de surface est abordée en considérant le formalisme de l’impédance effective. Deux modèles d’impédance effective sont étudiés : le premier caractérise les effets d’une rugosité déterministe constituée de diffuseurs de géométrie constante, le second caractérise les effets moyens d’une rugosité aléatoire définie par un spectre de rugosité. Ce second modèle est validé expérimentalement par une campagne de mesures en salle semi-anéchoïque, audessus de surfaces rugueuses dont la rugosité a été définie très précisément. Les deux modèles d’impédance effective sont également validés par des simulations numériques FDTD et TLM. La possibilité d’implémenter ces conditions d’impédance effective dans les deux codes temporels est ainsi montrée, ce qui permet de modéliser les effets de la rugosité sans avoir à réaliser un maillage précis du profil des hauteurs de la surface du sol. Une campagne de mesures de l’impédance de différents terrains est réalisée afin d’étudier les effets de la variabilité spatiale et saisonnière de l’impédance sur la prévision des niveaux sonores. Les impédances mesurées lors de cette campagne sont également utilisées comme des données d’entrée réalistes pour le code TLM, afin de simuler et d’étudier les effets de la propagation acoustique au-dessus d’un sol hétérogène présentant une impédance spatialement variable. / In the context of prediction models improvement for outdoor sound propagation, this work focuses on the modelling of the effects of ground irregularities on sound propagation. Time-domain numerical methods are used: on one hand, the solving of the governing equations by finite difference schemes (FDTD method), and on the other hand, the transmission line matrix (TLM) method. Effective impedance is considered to model the effects of surface roughness. Two effective impedance models are studied: the first one takes into account the effects of a deterministic roughness formed by scatterers of constant geometry, the second one takes into account the mean effects of a random roughness defined by a roughness spectrum. This second model is validated experimentally by a measurements campaign carried out in a semi-anechoic chamber, above rough surfaces whose roughness profiles were precisely designed. The two effective impedance models are also validated by FDTD and TLM simulations. The possibility to use the effective impedances directly into the numerical methods is then shown, allowing the modelling of roughness effects without meshing the exact height profile of the ground surface. A measurements campaign of the impedance of different grounds is performed in order to assess the effects of space and seasonal variability of the impedance on the sound levels predictions. The results of this campaign are also used as realistic entry data for the TLM code, and the propagation above a heterogeneous ground showing spatially variable impedance is simulated.