Making Complex Articulated Agents Dance: An analysis of control methods drawn from robotics, animation, and biology

Abstract

We discuss the tradeoffs involved in control of complex articulated agents, and present three implemented controllers for a complex task: a physically-based humanoid torso dancing the Macarena. The three controllers are drawn from animation, biological models, and robotics, and illustrate the issues of joint-space vs. Cartesian space task specification and implementation. We evaluate the controllers along several qualitative and quantitative dimensions, considering naturalness of movement and controller flexibility. Finally, we propose a general combination approach to control, aimed at utilizing the strengths of each alternative within a general framework for addressing complex motor control of articulated agents.