Colloquia

Summary

There are many biped and quadruped robots that could take over human labor. One of the main challenges for these robots is maintaining balance while walking. The momentum-based control framework has been used to address this issue for both rigid bipeds and quadrupeds. However, there has yet to be an example of a biped or quadruped with a compliant body that uses a momentum-based control framework. Such compliant bodies can either be a result of cheaper and lighter production or a design choice to improve robot performance.

This research focuses on two challenges with the inclusion of flexible bodies in a quadruped: state observation and momentum-based control. Both are applied to a planar quadruped with a compliant spine. The results of this research demonstrate the importance of including the compliant spine in both the state observer and the momentum-based controller.