The Open Stack of Tasks Library: OpenSoT: A Software Dedicated to Hierarchical Whole-Body Control of Robots Subject to Constraints

• Published in: IEEE robotics & automation magazine Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 24 - 34
• Main Authors: Hoffman, Enrico Mingo, Laurenzi, Arturo, Tsagarakis, Nikos G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.03.2025; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Computer Science; Constraints; Humanoid robots; Kinematics; Motion planning; Operating systems; Optimization methods; Quadratic programming; Real time; Robot control; Robot kinematics; Robots; Service robots; Software design; Constrained reactive control whole-body control model-based control software frameworks; software frameworks; Constrained reactive control; model-based control; whole-body control
• ISSN: 1070-9932; 1558-223X
• DOI: 10.1109/MRA.2024.3487395

The Open Stack of Tasks (OpenSoT) library is a state-of-the-art framework for instantaneous whole-body motion planning and control based on quadratic programming optimization. The library is designed to enable users to easily write and solve a variety of complex instantaneous whole-body control problems with minimal input, facilitating the addition of new tasks, constraints, and solvers. OpenSoT is designed to be real-time safe and can be conveniently interfaced with other software components, such as Robotic Operating System or other robotic-oriented frameworks. This article aims to present the use of the OpenSoT library to a large audience of researchers, engineers, and practitioners as well as provide insights into its software design, which has matured over nearly 10 years of development.