Kenji Hashimoto, Yusuke Sugahara, Hun-ok Lim, and Atsuo Takanishi,

Abstract:
Many types of control have been studied assuming that soles of a biped robot's feet contact the ground at four points. The rigid, flat soles of most such robots rarely maintain four-point contact on uneven terrain, however, and may lose balance. Solving this problem requires that both control and the foot itself be studied. We developed a new foot system, Waseda Shoes - No.1 (WS-1) to maintain four-point contact on uneven terrain, followed by Waseda Shoes - No.1 Refined (WS-1R), which solved problems with WS-1. Hardware experiment confirmed WS-1R feasibility.

Keywords: biped walking, uneven terrain, locking mechanism, foot mechanism