Floating-base robots constitute one of the most general and important classes of robotic systems. In particular, they have become increasingly relevant in recent years in the context of human-robot or multi-robot collaboration, which is why the modelling of their mechanical interaction with external agents is of special interest. The goal of this project is to determine if it is possible to establish a comprehensive framework that enables geometric, energy-based modelling of redundant floating base manipulators in the task space. The intended approach is to combine the recently developed port-Hamiltonian formulation of Vehicle-Manipulator System (VMS) dynamics [1] with the insights provided by task-space and null-space energy decomposition for redundant systems [2].
The aim is that the resulting framework produces models that expose the energetic structure of the system and its interaction port, and that such models can be applied to design controllers based on this structure (such as IDA-PBC).
[1] R. Rashad, “The Port-Hamiltonian Structure of Vehicle Manipulator Systems,” arXiv: submit/7300506, 2026.
[2] F. Califano, C. Rota, R. Zanella, and A. Franchi, “A Geometric Task-Space Port-Hamiltonian Formulation for Redundant Manipulators,” arXiv:2512.14349, 2025