U.S.-France Cooperative Research: Nonlinear Control for Biped Walking Robots

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

9980227 Grizzle This three-year award for U.S.-France cooperative research in electrical and communication systems involves Jessy Grizzle, a graduate student from the University of Michigan, Claude Moog, Christine Chevallereux of the Institut de Recherche de Cybernetique, Nantes, France, and Franck Plestan of the University Louis Pasteur. The project, supported under a program of the National Science Foundation and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), will facilitate collaboration on automatic control of biped-walking robots. The investigators will focus on issues related to analytical methodology for designing these robots. The research builds on previous mathematical analysis of a periodic walking cycle of an under actuated, five degree of freedom biped robot, consisting of two rigid legs and a torso, but no knees. This research will extend the analysis to design of asymptotically stable walking motions for an under actuated, seven degree of freedom biped robot. It takes advantage of access to a 1.425 m biped robot, complete with a torso and knees, that has been developed by the French team. The U.S. investigator brings to this collaboration expertise in nonlinear control analysis and design. This is complemented by the experience and experimental testbed of the French team. The studies will advance our understanding of the analytical methodology involved in nonlinear control of robots and its potential for improving locomotion in rough terrain and uses in prosthesis development and testing.