Verbs and Adverbs as the Basis for Motion Generation in Humanoid Robots

Abstract

This thesis examines the suitability of the Verbs and Adverbs algorithm in the context of motion generation for humanoid robotic systems. The Verbs and Adverbs algorithm is a non-linear interpolation algorithm originally designed as a method for generating realistic motions in real-time for computer-animated figures. In this algorithm, Verbs represent a behavior and are parameterized by Adverbs. Motion examples are encoded as a matrix of linear and non-linear coefficients in adverb space. The suitability of the algorithm, in this context, is defined in terms of the ability to integrate this algorithm into a humanoid robotic system as well as the ability of the algorithm to rapidly generate new motions for playback on that platform.