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Control of aperiodic walking and the energetic effects of parallel joint compliance of planar bipedal robots

Yang, Tao
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1196203534

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Mechanical Engineering.
In this dissertation, two problems related to bipedal robot walking are presented. The first problem is the influence of parallel knee joint compliance on the average power cost of walking in an underactuated planar bipedal robot, ERNIE. The second problem is the design of walking controllers that induce aperiodic bipedal robot walking. It has been found that compliance plays important roles in walking and running in animals. Compliance has been used in robotic bipedal machines to improve energetic efficiency or reduce the peak power demand on the robot's actuators. This dissertation presents numerical and experimental studies of the influence of parallel knee joint compliance on the average power cost of walking in an underactuated planar bipedal robot, ERNIE. Four scenarios were studied: one without springs and three with springs of different stiffnesses and preloads. Optimal gaits in terms of average power cost for various speeds were designed for each scenario. It was found that for low-speed walking, soft springs are helpful to reduce power cost, while stiffer springs increase power cost. For high-speed walking, it was found that both soft and stiff springs reduce the average power cost of walking, but stiffer springs reduce the cost more than do softer springs. The second problem addressed in this dissertation is aperiodic walking controller design. The ability to walk stably in varying environments or with different tasks, such as stepping over stones, is of great interest in bipedal walking. In these scenarios, the walking is not periodic. This dissertation presents a new definition of stable walking that is not necessarily periodic for a class of biped robots. The inspiration for the definition is the commonly-held notion of stable walking: the biped does not fall. To make the definition useful, an algorithm is given to verify if a given controller induces stable walking. Also given is a framework to synthesize controllers that induce stable walking. The results are illustrated with numerical simulation and experiments. This dissertation also presents details of a modeling procedure for the experimental bipedal robot, ERNIE, and explores the possibility to apply iterative learning control to bipedal walking.
Eric Westervelt (Advisor)
214 p.
Engineering, Mechanical
Bipedal robots; Locomotion; Control; Aperiodic walking; Compliance

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Yang, T. (2007). Control of aperiodic walking and the energetic effects of parallel joint compliance of planar bipedal robots [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1196203534

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Yang, Tao. Control of aperiodic walking and the energetic effects of parallel joint compliance of planar bipedal robots. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1196203534.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Yang, Tao. "Control of aperiodic walking and the energetic effects of parallel joint compliance of planar bipedal robots." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1196203534

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1196203534
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.