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基本要求。通常使用两种不同但相关的稳定性准则（李雅普诺夫稳定性和暂态稳定性），但有两个缺点：缺乏李雅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的高能耗，并禁止许多工程系统的稳定性分析。解决上述问题并制定适当的稳定性分析方法至关重要。 研究报告：我的研究重点是开发建设性的工具，李雅普诺夫的稳定性分析和新的瞬态稳定性标准的节能双足机器人。将李雅普诺夫指数的概念推广到非线性工程系统的稳定性分析中。为了保证通用性，三个不同的物理系统，即被动的步行者，人类受试者在跑步机上行走和机械耐久性测试系统被选择用于研究。基于接地参考点和扩展虚拟接触面的概念，还将开发一种不太严格的暂态稳定判据。被动动态步行者，一个简单的机构，它可以走在斜坡上非常类似于人类的步态没有致动器，将被使用。这样的自然步态是稳定和节能的。被动式步行者比使用人类受试者更适合于开发新的瞬态稳定性标准，因为它结构简单并且具有低的测量误差。将使用理论和实验方法。 意义：该研究可直接影响稳定和节能的双足步行机器人的发展。它的影响超出了开发双足机器人，因为它推进了许多现实世界工程系统的稳定性分析和控制。