Abstract
Humanoid robots are expected to achieve stable walking on uneven terrains. In this paper, a control algorithm for humanoid robots walking on previously unknown terrains with terrain estimation is proposed, which requires only minimum modification to the original walking gait. The swing foot trajectory is redesigned to ensure that the foot lands at the desired horizontal positions under various terrain height. A compliant terrain adaptation method is applied to the landing foot to achieve a firm contact with the ground. Then a terrain estimation method that takes into account the deformations of the linkages is applied, providing the target for the following correction and adjustment. The algorithm was validated through walking experiments on uneven terrains with the full-size humanoid robot Kong.
Highlights
Achieving movements in human environments is one of the most important goals in humanoid robot research.walking on uneven terrains, especially on previously unknown terrains, is highly challenging
We propose a control algorithm that enables humanoid robots to walk on uneven terrains
The major difference between our algorithm and previous works is that our algorithm is based on an online terrain estimation, which brings the benefit that only minimum modification to the walking gait is required
Summary
Achieving movements in human environments is one of the most important goals in humanoid robot research. Walking on uneven terrains, especially on previously unknown terrains, is highly challenging. The DAPAR Robotics Challenge (DRC) for disaster response scenarios showed that the capability to traverse different types of terrains is crucial for robots to assist humans in harsh environments [1], and yet such capability is still quite limited. The capability of adapting to uneven terrains is raised as a key factor in the development of practical robots. Vision and laser sensors can be assists for robots to perceive the environments, the problems of inaccuracy, hardware and computational cost limit the effectiveness. It is still necessary to study biped walking on uneven terrains without complete and reliable information of the environment
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