Stair climbing using virtual model control for 2D bipedal locomotion

Saiprasad Arkal, Prasanth Kotaru, Aditya Cherukumudi, and Aarudra Moudgalya
16-868 Biomechanics and Motor control for Legged Robots, Fall 2015

VMC-allTerrain

Stair climbing using virtual model control for 2D bipedal locomotion. Virtual model control (VMC) is a versatile and intuitive control approach for legged locomotion. This paper demonstrates a method to extend VMC to humanoid robots for tackling varying scenarios and a glimpse into the advantage of VMC over other methods in terms of parameter tuning. A simplified 5 link humanoid model was designed in SimMechanics and controlled using a virtual model with three components - a granny walker to control the height and orientation of the trunk, a horizontal dash-pot to maintain desired horizontal velocity, and a mechanical linkage to control swing leg motion. This model was made to traverse level grounds, inclined surfaces, and stairs successfully. The results section also describes the ground reaction forces observed. A brief discussion of the different aspects of developing the model is presented.

VMC-models

References

1. Pratt, J., Chew, C. M., Torres, A., Dilworth, P., & Pratt, G. (2001). Virtual model control: An intuitive approach for bipedal locomotion. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 20(2), 129-143.
2. Pratt, J., Chew, C. M., Torres, A., Dilworth, P., & Pratt, G. (2001). Virtual model control: An intuitive approach for bipedal locomotion. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 20(2), 129-143.
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