Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
IROS '90
Abstract: One of the primary motivations for designing a biped robot is to perform tasks in environments that are too dangerous for human beings. To
be a satisfactory substitute for a human being the robot must be able to enter a region originally designed
for human access and perform tasks that are not already automated and normally require the capabilities of a person. One measure of the success of a
biped design is how well it can emulate the agility of
a human being. This paper examines the degrees of
freedom required for a biped robot to emulate the
"most significant" gaits and standing reflexes of a human counterpart. The first concern is the number of
degrees of freedom required to provide a stable platform. Additional degrees-of-freedom will be added
to enable the biped to perform locomotion gaits that
permit human agility. The actuator torque required
for each degree of freedom is also considered.
1. INTRODUCTION
External Force F
1
h
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Stability
Margin
Unstable
Margin
In addition to movements required to maintain stability, the same joints must be able to exert torques to
resist external forces that tend to topple the biped. It
should be noted that the stability index becomes important when the biped is required to perform useful
work that either resists or exerts horizontal forces.
For example, if a horizontal force is exerted to pull
on a wrench, the joints may be locked and the mass
of the biped, the supporting surface friction against
the feet, and the stability index determine the amount
of horizontal force that can be exerted. If the feet do
not slide, equation (2) derived earlier shows that the
force that can be exerted on the wrench handle is
equal to SI x W where W is the weight of the robot.
The SD-2 prototype biped (known as CURnI) was
constructed at Clemson University in 1986 with four
degrees of freedom in each leg. Using this biped,
static and dynamic gaits have been demonstrated as
well as slope and stair climbing [4][5][6]17]. While
all of the above gaits have been achieved with only
four degrees of freedom in each leg, some of the
movements are very awkward due to the absence of
a knee joint. While walking, the leg must be swung
sideways to lift a non-supporting foot instead of
merely lifting the foot by bending the knee. In ad298 -
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dition, very awkward movements of the torso are required to maintain a suitable stability margin while
climbing stairs or a slope.
3. FIVE DEGREE OF FREEDOM LEGS
A knee joint, resulting in two five degree of freedom
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We have demonstrated that at least hip rotation is required to permit the biped to change walking direc- 300
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9. CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
Based on the above findings in typical males, it
would be reasonable to design hip flexor/extensor,
hip abduction/adduction, knee extensor, and ankle
flexor actuators to produce about 250 foot pounds
of torque if the robot weight is similar to an average
man (e.g., 154 pounds or 70 kilograms). Hip rotason could be much less, for example 25 foot pounds,
since hip rotation is generally accomplished while the
!et is unloaded.
Ankle rotation also would be accomplished on an unIoaded limb so a design with a 25 foot pound torque
would be appropriate. Ankle movements in the frontal plane, however, are used fer balance corrections
-hat are similar to the to the hip abduction/adduction
novements. Thus a starting design would be to make
this joint as strong as the hip, or 250 foot pounds
:orque.
[ 11 R. B. McGhee and G. I. Iswandhi. "Adaptive Locomotion of a Multilegged Robot Over Rough Terrain". IEEE Trans. On Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Vol. SMC-9, No.4:176-182, 1979.
[2] Y. F. Zheng and F. R. Sias, Jr. "Design and Motion Control of Practical Biped Robots." fnternational Journal of Robotics and Automation. 3(2):7078, 1988.
[3] A. Morechi, J. Ekiel, K. Fidelus. Cybernetic
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