Patents by Inventor Pascal Lafourcade

Pascal Lafourcade has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9724823
    Abstract: A computer program and a system for controlling walking of a mobile robot, notably a humanoid robot moving on two legs. Conventionally, control was guided by driving a zero moment point. Such driving was performed within a fixed coordinate system connected to a progression surface and assumed knowledge of the characteristics of said surface and the creation of a provisional trajectory. Such driving encountered significant limitations due to the nature of the progression surfaces on which walking can effectively be controlled and an obligation to have a perfect knowledge of their geometry; and also in respect to the necessary computing power, and the appearance of the walk which bore little resemblance to an actual human walk. The invention overcomes such limitations by providing a walk which includes a pseudo-free or ballistic phase, an impulse phase imparted by the heel of the robot, and a landing phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: Softbank Robotics Europe
    Inventors: Bruno Maisonnier, Pascal Lafourcade, Alain Berthoz
  • Publication number: 20150142170
    Abstract: A computer program and a system for controlling walking of a mobile robot, notably a humanoid robot moving on two legs. Conventionally, control was guided by driving a zero moment point. Such driving was performed within a fixed coordinate system connected to a progression surface and assumed knowledge of the characteristics of said surface and the creation of a provisional trajectory. Such driving encountered significant limitations due to the nature of the progression surfaces on which walking can effectively be controlled and an obligation to have a perfect knowledge of their geometry; and also in respect to the necessary computing power, and the appearance of the walk which bore little resemblance to an actual human walk. The invention overcomes such limitations by providing a walk which includes a pseudo-free or ballistic phase, an impulse phase imparted by the heel of the robot, and a landing phase.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2015
    Publication date: May 21, 2015
    Inventors: Bruno MAISONNIER, Pascal LAFOURCADE, Alain BERTHOZ
  • Patent number: 8997599
    Abstract: A motorized joint having two degrees of freedom in rotation connecting two elements is provided. The joint includes two pivot connections such that a first one of the pivot connections establishes a first pivot axis, and a second one of the pivot connections establishes a second pivot axis. The first pivot axis is not parallel to the second pivot axis. A first motor is disposed in fixed relation to a first one of the two elements and has a drive shaft aligned with a first drive axis so as to cause by means of a first speed reducer with parallel axes the two elements to rotate about the first pivot axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Aldebaran Robotics
    Inventors: Bruno Maisonnier, Pascal Lafourcade, Romain Fischesser
  • Patent number: 8965573
    Abstract: A computer program and a system for controlling walking of a mobile robot, notably a humanoid robot moving on two legs. Conventionally, control was guided by driving a zero moment point. Such driving was performed within a fixed coordinate system connected to a progression surface and assumed knowledge of the characteristics of said surface and the creation of a provisional trajectory. Such driving encountered significant limitations due to the nature of the progression surfaces on which walking can effectively be controlled and an obligation to have a perfect knowledge of their geometry; and also in respect to the necessary computing power, and the appearance of the walk which bore little resemblance to an actual human walk. The invention overcomes such limitations by providing a walk which includes a pseudo-free or ballistic phase, an impulse phase imparted by the heel of the robot, and a landing phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Aldebaran Robotics
    Inventors: Bruno Maisonnier, Pascal Lafourcade, Alain Berthoz
  • Publication number: 20120197435
    Abstract: A computer program and a system for controlling walking of a mobile robot, notably a humanoid robot moving on two legs. Conventionally, control was guided by driving a zero moment point. Such driving was performed within a fixed coordinate system connected to a progression surface and assumed knowledge of the characteristics of said surface and the creation of a provisional trajectory. Such driving encountered significant limitations due to the nature of the progression surfaces on which walking can effectively be controlled and an obligation to have a perfect knowledge of their geometry; and also in respect to the necessary computing power, and the appearance of the walk which bore little resemblance to an actual human walk. The invention overcomes such limitations by providing a walk which includes a pseudo-free or ballistic phase, an impulse phase imparted by the heel of the robot, and a landing phase.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2010
    Publication date: August 2, 2012
    Applicant: ALDEBARAN ROBOTICS
    Inventors: Bruno Maisonnier, Pascal Lafourcade, Alain Berthoz