Enhancing speed recovery rapidity in bipedal walking with limited foot area using DCM predictions

Abstract

The research on bipedal robots with limited foot area is gaining increasing attention. To tackle the challenge of dealing with unknown disturbances in the environment, the adjustment of footstep placement plays a vital role in maintaining stable motion during bipedal walking. This paper introduces an innovative approach based on the relationship between the Divergent Component of Motion (DCM) and footstep. It utilizes a DCM prediction model to optimize the optimal speed for recovering the foothold position. The goal is to enable quick and relevant footstep selection for bipedal robots, thereby facilitating the swift recovery of robot speed. The paper provides insights into the process of designing the desired DCM for achieving an optimal average walking speed without relying on predefined footstep sequences. By establishing a state equation between the DCM and footstep placement, this approach enables the prediction of multiple footstep positions within a fixed walking cycle, thereby facilitating the desired average motion speed. Extensive numerical simulations are conducted to compare the proposed method with various conventional footstep adjustment algorithms. The results emphasize our method’s ability to converge more rapidly to the target speed, even with minor step adjustments. To validate the feasibility and robustness of the algorithm, we conduct experiments on the bipedal robot BHR-B2. These experiments further confirm the algorithm’s effectiveness. Given its promising performance, this algorithm holds potential for applications in legged robots with point feet.