Bipedal robotic walking control derived from analysis of human locomotion

Lin Meng,Bernd Porr,Henrik Gollee,Catherine A Macleod

doi:10.1007/s00422-018-0750-5

Lin Meng, Bernd Porr + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-018-0750-5

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Abstract

This paper proposes the design of a bipedal robotic controller where the function between the sensory input and motor output is treated as a black box derived from human data. In order to achieve this, we investigated the causal relationship between ground contact information from the feet and leg muscle activity n human walking and calculated filter functions which transform sensory signals to motor actions. A minimal, nonlinear, and robust control system was created and subsequently analysed by applying it to our bipedal robot RunBot III without any central pattern generators or precise trajectory control. The results demonstrate that our controller can generate stable robotic walking. This indicates that complex locomotion patterns can result from a simple model based on reflexes and supports the premise that human-derived control strategies have potential applications in robotics or assistive devices.

Highlights

Human walking is an inherently complicated task requiring the coordination of several degrees of freedom coupled with highly nonlinear dynamics (Inman et al 1981)
We argue that the existence of these biomechanical constraints can be exploited to simplify the problem of locomotion control
Walking can be considered as a nominally periodic sequence of steps which not locally stable at every instant time, is stable at a whole, so-called limit cycle walking (Hobbelen and Wisse 2008). This allows a robot to adapt its gait to changing natural dynamics producing a convergence to a desired motion using low or no feedback gains (Collins and Ruina 2005; Wisse 2005; Wisse and Van Frankenhuyzen 2006)

Summary

Introduction

Human walking is an inherently complicated task requiring the coordination of several degrees of freedom coupled with highly nonlinear dynamics (Inman et al 1981). Locomotion arises through the interaction of neural activity and the biomechanical body with the environment. The human must be understood as an integrated system, in motor control, where the behavioural consequences of neural activity depend on the muscle properties, limb geometry and mechanics. We argue that the existence of these biomechanical constraints can be exploited to simplify the problem of locomotion control.

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