RUNNING PATTERN GENERATION WITH A FIXED POINT IN A 2D PLANAR BIPED

Abstract

This paper discusses the generation of a running pattern for a biped and verifies the validity of the proposed method of running pattern generation via experiments. When a running pattern is created with resolved momentum control, the angular momentum of the robot at the Center of Mass (COM) is set to zero, as the angular momentum causes the robot to rotate. However, this also induces unnatural motion of the upper body of the robot. To resolve this problem, the biped was set to a virtual under-actuated robot with a free joint at its support ankle, and a fixed point for a virtual system was determined. Following this, a new periodic running pattern was formulated using the fixed point. The fixed point is easily determined using a numerical approach. In an experiment, the planar biped ran forward using the proposed pattern generation method for running. Its maximum velocity was 2.88 km/h. In the future, faster running of the biped will be realized in a planar plane and the biped will run in an actual environment.