Continuous Jumping for Legged Robots on Stepping Stones via Trajectory Optimization and Model Predictive Control

Performing highly agile dynamic motions, such as jumping or running, over uneven stepping stones has remained a challenging problem in legged robot locomotion. This paper presents a framework that combines trajectory optimization and model predictive control to perform consecutive jumping on stepping stones. In our approach, we firstly utilize trajectory optimization for full-nonlinear dynamics to formulate periodic jumps for various jumping distances. A jumping controller based on model predictive control is then designed for dynamic jumping transitions, enabling the robot to achieve continuous jumps on stepping stones. The proposed framework is also validated to be robust to platforms with unknown height perturbations and model uncertainty (e.g. unknown load). Moreover, experiments are also conducted to show the robustness of our jumping controller on an unknown uneven platform.