Design and control of a planar bipedal robot ERNIE with parallel knee compliance

Authors:
T. Yang;E. R. Westervelt;J. P. Schmiedeler;R. A. Bockbrader
Affiliations:
Digital Technology Laboratory Corporation, West Sacramento, USA 95605;General Electric Global Research Center, One Research Circle, Niskayuna, USA 12309;Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA 43210;Palmer Associates, Machine Engineering & Systems Design, Toledo, USA 43612
Venue:
Autonomous Robots
Year:
2008

Citing 10
Cited 3

Legged robots that balance

Legged robots that balance
Three uses for springs in legged locomotion

International Journal of Robotics Research
Passive dynamic walking

International Journal of Robotics Research
Generating globally optimised sagittal gait cycles of a biped robot

Robotica
Optimal reference trajectories for walking and running of a biped robot

Robotica
Sagittal gait of a biped robot during the single support phase. Part 2: optimal motion

Robotica
A 3D passive dynamic biped with yaw and roll compensation

Robotica
Applied optimal control for dynamically stable legged locomotion

Applied optimal control for dynamically stable legged locomotion
Exploiting Natural Dynamics to Reduce Energy Consumption by Controlling the Compliance of Soft Actuators

International Journal of Robotics Research
How to keep from falling forward: elementary swing leg action for passive dynamic walkers

IEEE Transactions on Robotics

Parallel Elastic Actuators as a Control Tool for Preplanned Trajectories of Underactuated Mechanical Systems

International Journal of Robotics Research
A Compliant Hybrid Zero Dynamics Controller for Stable, Efficient and Fast Bipedal Walking on MABEL

International Journal of Robotics Research
Human like trajectory generation for a biped robot with a four-bar linkage for the knees

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

This paper presents the development of the planar bipedal robot ERNIE as well as numerical and experimental studies of the influence of parallel knee joint compliance on the energetic efficiency of walking in ERNIE. ERNIE has 5 links--a torso, two femurs and two tibias--and is configured to walk on a treadmill so that it can walk indefinitely in a confined space. Springs can be attached across the knee joints in parallel with the knee actuators. The hybrid zero dynamics framework serves as the basis for control of ERNIE's walking. In the investigation of the effects of compliance on the energetic efficiency of walking, four cases were studied: one without springs and three with springs of different stiffnesses and preloads. It was found that for low-speed walking, the addition of soft springs may be used to increase energetic efficiency, while stiffer springs decrease the energetic efficiency. For high-speed walking, the addition of either soft or stiff springs increases the energetic efficiency of walking, while stiffer springs improve the energetic efficiency more than do softer springs.