First Steps in Passive Dynamic Walking

Passive dynamic walking is a promising concept for the design of efficient, natural two-legged walking robots. Research on this topic requires an initial point of departure; a stability analysis can be executed only after the first successful walking motion has been found. Experience indicates that it is difficult to find this first successful walking motion. Therefore, this paper provides the basic tools to simulate a simple, two-dimensional walking model, to find its natural cyclic motion, to analyze the stability, and to investigate the effect of parameter changes on the walking motion and the stability. Especially in conjunction with the accompanying MATLAB files, this paper can serve as a quick and effective start with the concept of passive dynamic walking.