Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:40:20.907Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The mechanics of biped running and a stable control strategy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

Muhammad E. Abdallah*
Affiliation:
General Motors Research, Warren, MI 48090, USA
Kenneth J. Waldron
Affiliation:
Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. E-mail: kwaldron@stanford.edu
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: muhammad.abdallah@gm.com

Summary

This work presents an analysis of the mechanics of biped running with a heuristic control strategy for stable running. A tractable model of the mechanics is presented through principles, measures, and a time-distributed perspective. This model motivates the control strategy and provides a basis for extending the strategy to more general systems. The control strategy consists of a simple set of four rules, where the key rule considers the leg length upon liftoff. The Steady-State Index is proposed as a characterization of biped running. It identifies and relates the parameters affecting running and has broad applicability to both biological and robotic systems.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Raibert, M., Legged Robots that Balance (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1986).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Blickhan, R., “The spring-mass model for running and hopping,” J. Biomech. 22 (11/12), 12171227 (1989).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. McMahon, T. A. and Cheng, G. C., “The mechanics of running: How does stiffness couple with speed?J. Biomech. 23 (Suppl. 1), 6578 (1990).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Schwind, W., Spring Loaded Inverted Pendulum Running: A Plant Model, Ph.D. Dissertation (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1998).Google Scholar
5. Abdallah, M., Mechanics Motivated Control and Design of Biped Running, Ph.D. Dissertation (Stanford University, Stanford, CA, Jun. 2007).Google Scholar
6. Koditscheck, D. and Buehler, M., “Analysis of a simplified hopping robot,” Int. J. Rob. Res. 12 (3), 587605 (Dec. 1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7. Schwind, W. J. and Koditschek, D. E., “Control of Forward Velocity for a Simplified Planar Hopping Robot,” IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Nagoya, Japan (May 1995) pp. 691696.Google Scholar
8. M'Closkey, R. T. and Burdick, J. W., “Periodic motions of a hopping robot with vertical and forward motion,” Int. J. Rob. Res. 12, 197218 (Jun. 1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Seyfarth, A., Geyer, H., Gunther, M. and Blickhan, R., “A movement criterion for running,” J. Biomech. 35, 649655 (2002).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Saranli, U., Schwind, J. and Koditschek, D., “Toward the Control of a Multi-Jointed, Monoped Runner,” IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Leuven, Belgium (May 1998).Google Scholar
11. Raibert, M. and Hodgins, J., “Animation of dynamic legged locomotion,” Comput. Graph. 25, 349358 (Jul. 1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Hodgins, J., “Three-Dimensional Human Running,” IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Minneapolis, MN (Apr. 1996) pp. 32713276.Google Scholar
13. Hodgins, J. and Wooten, W., “Animating Human Athletes,” In: Robotics Research: The Eighth International Symposium (Shirai, Y. and Hirose, S., eds.) (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1998) pp. 356367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14. Chevallereau, C., Abba, G., Aoustin, Y., Plestan, F., Westervelt, E., de Wit, C. C. and Grizzle, J., “Rabbit: A Testbed for Advanced Control Theory,” IEEE Control Systems Magazine (Oct. 2003) pp. 57–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Nagasaka, K., Kuroki, Y., Suzuki, S., Itoh, Y. and Yamaguchi, J., “Integrated Motion Control for Walking, Jumping, and Running on a Small Bipedal Entertainment Robot,” IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, New Orleans, LA (Apr. 2004).Google Scholar
16. Kajita, S., Nagasaki, T., Yokoi, K., Kaneko, K. and Tanie, K., “Running Pattern Generation for a Humanoid Robot,” IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Washington, DC (May 2002).Google Scholar
17. Lewis, M. and Simo, L., “Certain principles of biomorphic robots,” Autonom. Rob. 11, 221226 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Chevallereau, C., Westervelt, E. and Grizzle, J., “Asymptotically stable running for a five-link, four-actuator, planar bipedal robot,” Int. J. Rob. Res. 24 (6), 431464 (Jun. 2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Morris, B., Westervelt, E., Chevallereau, C., Buche, G. and Grizzle, J., “Achieving Bipedal Running with RABBIT: Six Steps Towards Infinity,” In: Fast Motions in Biomechanics and Robotics: Optimization and Feedback Control (Springer, Berlin, Germany, Aug. 2005).Google Scholar
20. Hutchinson, J., “Biomechanical modeling and sensitivity analysis of bipedal running ability. i. Extant taxa,” J. Morphol. 262, 421440 (2004).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21. Weyand, P. G., Sternlight, D. B., Bellizzi, M. J. and Wright, S., “Faster top running speeds are achieved with greater ground forces not more rapid leg movements,” J. Appl. Physiol. 89, 19911999 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22. Farley, C. T. and Gonzalez, O., “Leg stiffness and stride frequency in human running,” J. Biomech. 29 (2), 181186 (1996).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23. Singh, S. P., Self-Contained Measurement of Dynamic Legged Locomotion: Design for Robot and Field Environments, Ph.D. Dissertation (Stanford University, Mar. 2006).Google Scholar
24. Alexander, R., “Mechanics and Scaling of Terrestrial Locomotion,” In: cale Effects in Animal Locomotion (Pedley, T. J., ed.) (Academic Press, London, 1977) ch. 6, pp. 93110.Google Scholar
25. Barclay, O. R., “Some aspects of the mechanics of mammalian locomotion,” J. Exp. Biol. 30, 116120 (1953).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26. Biewener, A. A., “Locomotory stresses in the limb bones of two small mammals: the ground squirrel and chipmunk,” J. Exp. Biol. 103, 131154 (1983).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27. Full, R., Blickhan, R. and Ting, L., “Leg design in hexapedal runners,” J. Exp. Biol. 158, 369390 (1991).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28. Biewener, A. A., Animal Locomotion (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003).Google Scholar
29. Koechling, J., The Limits of Running Speed: Experiments with a Legged Robot, Ph.D. Dissertation (Carnegie Mellon University, 1989).Google Scholar
30. Farley, C. T., Glasheen, J. and McMahon, T. A., “Running springs: Speed and animal size,” J. Exp. Biol. 185, 7186 (1993).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31. Schmiedeler, J. P. and Waldron, K. J., “The mechanics of quadrupedal galloping and the future of legged vehicles,” Int. J. Rob. Res. 18 (12), 12241234 (Dec. 1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32. Kane, T. and Levinson, D., Dynamics Online: Theory and Implementation with AUTOLEV (Online Dynamics, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, 1996).Google Scholar