Integrated Control and Mechanical Design of Biped Robots for Stable and Efficient Dynamic Walking

Ohio State University Research Foundation -Do Not Use, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

0408348 Abstract Integrated Control and Mechanical Design of Biped Robots for Stable and Efficient Dynamic Walking: E.R. Westervelt and J. Schmiedeler, The Ohio State University, Columbus. The investigators propose to formulate and experimentally validate the first framework that formally integrates controller design and mechanical design for the development of biped robots that walk with gaits that are a priori known to be stable, robust, and energy efficient. Current biped control design is decoupled from mechanical design due to a lack of formal understanding of how to systematically generate controllers that induce dynamic walking in a given mechanical design. By devising a procedure to generate such controllers, an iterative design framework will be possible. The ability to quantify closed-loop system characteristics will enable the development of superior designs and the identification of principles upon which they are based. The framework will be applied to design a prototype biped for experimental validation of the methodology. Furthermore, the framework will be used to investigate the control and design issues related to joint compliance, foot utility, and learning. The proposed work enable researchers to develop biped prototypes of different morphologies that walk with dynamically stable gaits more robust and more efficient than any achieved to date. The framework will provide the foundation for the systematic development of autonomous bipeds endowed with a variety of useful behaviors ranging from walking and running to stair climbing and crawling.