A generic walking pattern generation method for humanoid robot walking on the slopes

Purpose Walking on inclined ground is an important ability for humanoid robots. In general, conventional strategies for walking on slopes lack technical analysis in, first, the waist posture with respect to actual robot and, second, the landing impact, which weakens the walking stability. The purpose of this paper is to propose a generic method for walking pattern generation considering these issues with the aim of enabling humanoid robot to walk dynamically on a slope. Design/methodology/approach First, a virtual ground method (VGM) is proposed to give a continuous and intuitive zero-moment point (ZMP) on slopes. Then, the dynamic motion equations are derived based on 2D and 3D models, respectively, by using VGM. Furthermore, the waist posture with respect to the actual robot is analyzed. Finally, a reformative linear inverted pendulum (LIP) named the asymmetric linear inverted pendulum (ALIP) is proposed to achieve stable and dynamical walking in any direction on a slope with lower landing impact. Findings Simulations and experiments are carried out using the DRC-XT humanoid robot platform with the aim of verifying the validity and feasibility of these new methods. ALIP with consideration of waist posture is practical in extending the ability of walking on slopes for humanoid robots. Originality/value A generic method called ALIP for humanoid robots walking on slopes is proposed. ALIP is based on LIP and several changes, including model analysis, motion equations and ZMP functions, are discussed.

[1]  Guanzheng Tan.  Study on mechanics laws for anthropomorphic biped robots to walk dynamically on sloping surface , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[2]  Changjiu Zhou,et al.  Dynamically stable gait planning for a humanoid robot to climb sloping surface , 2004, IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics, 2004..

[3]  Chee-Meng Chew,et al.  Blind walking of a planar bipedal robot on sloped terrain , 1999, Proceedings 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.99CH36288C).

[4]  Ching-Long Shih,et al.  The motion control of a statically stable biped robot on an uneven floor , 1998, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B.

[5]  Yuan F. Zheng,et al.  A motion control scheme for a biped robot to climb sloping surfaces , 1988, Proceedings. 1988 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[6]  Hiroshi Shimizu,et al.  Self-organized control of bipedal locomotion by neural oscillators in unpredictable environment , 1991, Biological Cybernetics.

[7]  Takeo Kanade,et al.  Vision-guided humanoid footstep planning for dynamic environments , 2005, 5th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, 2005..

[8]  G. Schmidt,et al.  Vision-Guided Walking in a Structured Indoor Scenario , 2005 .

[9]  Kazuhito Yokoi,et al.  Biped walking pattern generation by using preview control of zero-moment point , 2003, 2003 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.03CH37422).

[10]  Toshiyuki Murakami,et al.  An approach to biped robot control according to surface condition of ground , 1998, AMC'98 - Coimbra. 1998 5th International Workshop on Advanced Motion Control. Proceedings (Cat. No.98TH8354).

[11]  Jun-Ho Oh,et al.  Walking Control Algorithm of Biped Humanoid Robot on Uneven and Inclined Floor , 2007, J. Intell. Robotic Syst..

[12]  Dilip Kumar Pratihar,et al.  Soft computing-based gait planners for a dynamically balanced biped robot negotiating sloping surfaces , 2009, Appl. Soft Comput..

[13]  Chee-Meng Chew,et al.  A uniform biped gait generator with offline optimization and online adjustable parameters , 2007, Robotica.

[14]  Shinya Aoi,et al.  Locomotion Control of a Biped Robot Using Nonlinear Oscillators , 2005, Auton. Robots.

[15]  Yuan F. Zheng,et al.  Gait synthesis for the SD-2 biped robot to climb sloping surface , 1990, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[16]  Yasuhisa Hasegawa,et al.  Trajectory generation for biped locomotion robot , 2000 .

[17]  Yuan F. Zheng,et al.  Reinforcement learning for a biped robot to climb sloping surfaces , 1997 .

[18]  Shuuji Kajita,et al.  Pattern Generation of Biped Walking Constrained on Parametric Surface , 2005, Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[19]  Satoshi Kagami,et al.  Autonomous navigation of a humanoid robot over unknown rough terrain using a laser range sensor , 2012, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[20]  Shuuji Kajita,et al.  Experimentation of Humanoid Walking Allowing Immediate Modification of Foot Place Based on Analytical Solution , 2007, Proceedings 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[21]  Satoshi Kagami,et al.  Biped navigation in rough environments using on-board sensing , 2009, 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[22]  Sani Irwan Md Salim,et al.  3-D Biped Robot Walking along Slope with Dual Length Linear Inverted Pendulum Method (DLLIPM) , 2013 .

[23]  Jong-Hwan Kim,et al.  Command State-Based Modifiable Walking Pattern Generation on an Inclined Plane in Pitch and Roll Directions for Humanoid Robots , 2011, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[24]  Satoshi Kagami,et al.  Frequent walking pattern generation that uses estimated actual posture for robust walking control , 2009, 2009 9th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots.

[25]  Kazuhito Yokoi,et al.  The 3D linear inverted pendulum mode: a simple modeling for a biped walking pattern generation , 2001, Proceedings 2001 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Expanding the Societal Role of Robotics in the the Next Millennium (Cat. No.01CH37180).