Development of stable and energy-efficient bipedal walking robots - challenges in stability analysis and stability criteria

开发稳定、节能的双足步行机器人——稳定性分析和稳定性标准的挑战

• 批准号: 203449-2012
• 负责人: Wu, Christine
• 金额: $ 2.77万
• 依托单位: University of Manitoba
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=569950
• 关键词: Development; stable; energy; efficient; bipedal

BACKGROUND: Stability is the primary requirement for bipedal walking. Two distinguished yet relevant stability criteria (Lyapunov's stability and transient stability) are often used, but suffer from two drawbacks: lacking a tool for Lyapunov's stability analysis and overly stringent transient stability criteria. Such drawbacks cause high energy consumption of bipedal robots and prohibit stability analysis of many engineering systems. It is paramount to address the above issues and to develop adequate methodologies for stability analysis. RESEARCH PROGRAM: My research focuses on developing constructive tools for Lyapunov's stability analysis and new transient stability criteria for energy-efficient bipedal robots. The concept of Lyapunov exponents will be extended for stability analysis of nonlinear engineering systems. To ensure the generality, three distinct physical systems, namely a passive walker, human subjects walking on the treadmill and a durability testing system of machinery, are selected for the research. A less stringent transient stability criterion will also be developed based on the concept of ground reference points and the extended virtual contact surface. A passive dynamic walker, a simple mechanism, which can walk on a ramp remarkably similar to human gait without actuators, will be used. Such natural gait is stable and energy-efficient. A passive walker is more suited for developing new transient stability criteria than using human subjects in that it is simple in structure and has low measurement errors. Both theoretical and experimental approaches will be used. SIGNIFICANCE: The research can directly impact on the development of stable and energy-efficient bipedal walking robots. Its impact is beyond developing bipedal robots in that it advances the stability analysis and control of many real-world engineering systems.

背景：稳定性是双足行走的首要要求。经常使用两个著名但相关的稳定性准则（李亚普诺夫稳定性和暂态稳定性），但有两个缺点：缺乏李亚普诺夫稳定性分析工具和过于严格的暂态稳定性准则。这些缺点导致双足机器人能耗较高，并阻碍了许多工程系统的稳定性分析。解决上述问题并开发适当的稳定性分析方法至关重要。 研究计划：我的研究重点是开发用于李亚普诺夫稳定性分析的构造工具以及节能双足机器人的新瞬态稳定性标准。李亚普诺夫指数的概念将扩展到非线性工程系统的稳定性分析。为了确保通用性，选择了三个不同的物理系统进行研究，即被动步行器、在跑步机上行走的人体和机械耐久性测试系统。基于地面参考点和扩展虚拟接触面的概念，还将制定不太严格的瞬态稳定性标准。将使用被动动态步行器，这是一种简单的机构，无需执行器即可在与人类步态非常相似的坡道上行走。这样自然的步态既稳定又节能。被动步行器比使用人类受试者更适合开发新的瞬态稳定性标准，因为它结构简单且测量误差低。将使用理论和实验方法。 意义：该研究可直接影响稳定且节能的双足步行机器人的开发。它的影响超出了双足机器人的开发范围，因为它促进了许多现实世界工程系统的稳定性分析和控制。