Human-like Walking with Compliant Legs

This work presents a novel approach to robotic bipedal walking. Based on the bipedal spring-mass model, which is known to closely describe human-like walking behavior, a robot has been designed that approaches the ideal model as closely as possible. The compliance of the springs is controllable by means of variable stiffness actuators. The controllable stiffness allows the gait to be stabilized against external disturbances.