Enabling Remote Whole-Body Control with 5G Edge Computing

TL;DR

This paper explores cloud-based whole-body control of legged robots over 5G networks, proposing a hybrid control approach that enhances robustness and reduces on-board computation amidst communication delays.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hybrid control framework combining edge optimization and local linear control for reliable robot locomotion over 5G links.

Findings

Significant improvement in robot stability under 5G communication delays.

Enhanced robustness to jitter and packet loss in simulated humanoid tasks.

Reduction in on-board computational requirements for control.

Abstract

Real-world applications require light-weight, energy-efficient, fully autonomous robots. Yet, increasing autonomy is oftentimes synonymous with escalating computational requirements. It might thus be desirable to offload intensive computation--not only sensing and planning, but also low-level whole-body control--to remote servers in order to reduce on-board computational needs. Fifth Generation (5G) wireless cellular technology, with its low latency and high bandwidth capabilities, has the potential to unlock cloud-based high performance control of complex robots. However, state-of-the-art control algorithms for legged robots can only tolerate very low control delays, which even ultra-low latency 5G edge computing can sometimes fail to achieve. In this work, we investigate the problem of cloud-based whole-body control of legged robots over a 5G link. We propose a novel approach that consists of a standard optimization-based controller on the network edge and a local linear, approximately optimal controller that significantly reduces on-board computational needs while increasing robustness to delay and possible loss of communication. Simulation experiments on humanoid balancing and walking tasks that includes a realistic 5G communication model demonstrate significant improvement of the reliability of robot locomotion under jitter and delays likely to experienced in 5G wireless links.