Active disturbance rejection for walking bipedal robots using the acceleration of the upper limbs

Abstract

SUMMARYA disturbance rejection controller is proposed based on the general dynamic model of 3D biped robots. For the first time, with this proposed approach, not only the Zero Moment Point (ZMP) location remains unchanged in presence of disturbances but also the longitudinal and lateral ground reaction forces and the vertical twist moment remain unchanged. This way, slipping as well as tipping is prevented by the controller. The swing phase of the robot's walking gait is considered. An integral sliding mode architecture is chosen for the disturbance rejection. The support forces and moments of the stance foot are the control outputs. The acceleration of the arm/body joints are chosen as the inputs. During the disturbance rejection, the leg joints remain at their desired trajectory. Since the leg joint trajectories are unaffected, the robot is still able to complete its step as planned, even when bounded disturbances are experienced. For simulations, the general method is applied to an 18-degree of freedom biped humanoid robot. Simulations show that the controller successfully mitigates bounded disturbances and maintains all of the support reactions extremely close to their desired values. Consequently, the shift in the position of the ZMP is negligible, and the robot foot does not slip.