Locomotion approach of bipedal robot utilizing passive wheel without swing leg based on stability margin maximization and fall prevention functions

• Main Authors: Kohei Kimura, Noriaki Imaoka, Shintaro Noda, Yohei Kakiuchi, Kei Okada, Masayuki Inaba
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2020-10-01
• Series: ROBOMECH Journal
• Subjects: Locomotion; Leg-wheel robot; Stability margin maximization; Fall prevention functions
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40648-020-00182-1

Abstract This paper proposes a locomotion approach of leg-wheel robot utilizing passive wheel attached to the foot of bipedal robot. The key feature of this approach is bipedal mobility without swing leg. This mobility contributes the stability based on expansion of support polygon during locomotion, the robustness for obstacles and stopping to prevent fall, and the adaptability by prevention of body swing sideways. To achieve these, we propose the stability margin maximization to optimize center of gravity projection for support polygon and the fall prevention functions for real environment that is a difficult situation to prevent unexpected fall by the only planning. Finally, we apply the proposed methods to leg-wheel phases through locomotion and verify the contribution by experiments using real bipedal robot.