Yuta Hanazawa and Masaki Yamakita

Abstract:
In this paper, we present novel biped walking based on flat-footed Passive Dynamic Walking (PDW) with mechanical impedance at the ankles. To realize biped robot achieving high-efficient walking, PDW has attracted attention. Recently, flat-footed passive dynamic walkers with mechanical impedance at the ankles have been proposed. We show that this passive walker achieves fast, energy-efficient walking using ankle springs and inerters. For this reason, we propose novel biped walking control that mimics PDW to realize biped robots achieving fast, energy-efficient walking on level ground. First, we design a flat-footed biped robot that achieves fast, energy-efficient PDW. To achieve walking based on PDW, the biped robot then takes advantage of a virtual gravitational field that is generated by actuators. The biped robot also pushes off with the foot in the double-support phase to restore energy. By walking simulation, we show that a flat-footed biped robot achieves fast, energy-efficient walking on level ground by the proposed method.

Keywords: biped robot, passive walk, flat foot, mechanical impedance, inerter