Rock Skipping Robot ⭐

Tools: PyDrake, Physics-based simulation, Trajectory optimization, Dynamic modeling

Rock skipping is a very complex task that can be completed by most humans. My classmate and I wanted to see if we could get a robot to mimic this task in simulation. Then, we could rigorously test which parameters were most important for effective rock skipping. This was done as the final project for a graduate class at MIT called “Robotic Manipulation”.

To simulate, we imposed contact dynamics of rock skipping between a disk-shaped rock and simulated water surface. This was a great learning experience for real-2-sim robotics. Then, we commanded a pickup of the rock and ran trajectory optimization to throw the rock at a desired speed.

The system had some limitations and could not properly grip the rock for speeds greater than 25 m/s. In the future, we’d hope to create a specialized gripper for this task.

Awarded an Outstanding Project Award from the class staff!

The final paper for the project can be accessed here.