Stable dynamic walking of a quadruped via phase modulations against small disturbances

— It is generally accepted that locomotion in animals is based on a trade-off between energy consumption and stability. However, this trade-off is the result of the interaction between complex mechanical and control systems. To gain insight into that issue, a step-by-step approach is needed. In this study, as a first step to investigate three dimensional quadrupedal walking, we aim at establishing a control system as “minimal” as possible, able to realize stable dynamic walk. Using a simple mechanical structure, we realized dynamic walk with a distributed control system, made of four independent leg controllers whose swing and stance phases durations are modulated based on leg loading information. Phase modulations contribute to stabilize the posture in the frontal plane via automatic duty ratios adjustments that tend to compensate perturbations of the body rolling motion. By applying lateral perturbations, we found that the control system withstands well perturbations increasin...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Christophe Maufroy, Hiroshi Kimura, Kunikatsu Takase
• Keywords: Control System, Dynamic Walk, ICRA 2009, Robotics, Rolling Motion