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Dynamic Locomotion Conference Paper Trunk Pitch Oscillations for Joint Load Redistribution in Humans and Humanoid Robots Drama, Ö., Badri-Spröwitz, A. Proceedings of 2019 IEEE-RAS 19th International Conference on Humanoid Robots, 531-536, IEEE, Humanoids, October 2019 (Published)
Creating natural-looking running gaits for humanoid robots is a complex task due to the underactuated degree of freedom in the trunk, which makes the motion planning and control difficult. The research on trunk movements in human locomotion is insufficient, and no formalism is known to transfer human motion patterns onto robots. Related work mostly focuses on the lower extremities, and simplifies the problem by stabilizing the trunk at a fixed angle. In contrast, humans display significant trunk motions that follow the natural dynamics of the gait. In this work, we use a spring-loaded inverted pendulum model with a trunk (TSLIP) together with a virtual point (VP) target to create trunk oscillations and investigate the impact of these movements. We analyze how the VP location and forward speed determine the direction and magnitude of the trunk oscillations. We show that positioning the VP below the center of mass (CoM) can explain the forward trunk pitching observed in human running. The VP below the CoM leads to a synergistic work between the hip and leg, reducing the leg loading. However, it comes at the cost of increased peak hip torque. Our results provide insights for leveraging the trunk motion to redistribute joint loads and potentially improve the energy efficiency in humanoid robots.
DOI URL BibTeX
Dynamic Locomotion Article Beyond Basins of Attraction: Quantifying Robustness of Natural Dynamics Steve Heim, , Spröwitz, A. IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO) , 35(4):939-952, August 2019 (Published)
Properly designing a system to exhibit favorable natural dynamics can greatly simplify designing or learning the control policy. However, it is still unclear what constitutes favorable natural dynamics and how to quantify its effect. Most studies of simple walking and running models have focused on the basins of attraction of passive limit cycles and the notion of self-stability. We instead emphasize the importance of stepping beyond basins of attraction. In this paper, we show an approach based on viability theory to quantify robust sets in state-action space. These sets are valid for the family of all robust control policies, which allows us to quantify the robustness inherent to the natural dynamics before designing the control policy or specifying a control objective. We illustrate our formulation using spring-mass models, simple low-dimensional models of running systems. We then show an example application by optimizing robustness of a simulated planar monoped, using a gradient-free optimization scheme. Both case studies result in a nonlinear effective stiffness providing more robustness.
arXiv preprint arXiv:1806.08081 T-RO DOI URL BibTeX
Dynamic Locomotion Article Series Elastic Behavior of Biarticular Muscle-Tendon Structure in a Robotic Leg Ruppert, F., Badri-Spröwitz, A. Frontiers in Neurorobotics, 64:13, 13, August 2019 (Published) Frontiers YouTube DOI URL BibTeX
Dynamic Locomotion Conference Paper The positive side of damping Heim, S., Millard, M., Le Mouel, C., Sproewitz, A. Proceedings of AMAM, The 9th International Symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines, August 2019 (Published) BibTeX
Dynamic Locomotion Book Chapter Das Tier als Modell für Roboter, und Roboter als Modell für Tiere Badri-Spröwitz, A. In 167-175, Springer, 2019 DOI BibTeX
Dynamic Locomotion Master Thesis Electronics, Software and Analysis of a Bioinspired Sensorized Quadrupedal Robot Petereit, R. Technische Universität München, 2019 BibTeX
Dynamic Locomotion Master Thesis Entwicklung und Analyse neuartiger fluidischer Aktoren mit Rollmembran Hepp, J. Technische Universität München, 2019 BibTeX
Dynamic Locomotion Conference Paper Quantifying the Robustness of Natural Dynamics: a Viability Approach Heim, S., Sproewitz, A. Proceedings of Dynamic Walking , Dynamic Walking , 2019 (Published) Submission DW2019 BibTeX