Hybrid disturbance rejection control of dynamic bipedal robots

This paper presents a disturbance rejection control strategy for hybrid dynamic systems exposed to model uncertainties and external disturbances. The focus of this work is the gait control of dynamic bipedal robots. The proposed control strategy integrates continuous and discrete control actions. The continuous control action uses a novel model-based active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) approach to track gait trajectory references. The discrete control action resets the gait trajectory references after the impact produced by the robot’s support-leg exchange to maintain a zero tracking error. A Poincaré return map is used to search asymptotic stable periodic orbits in an extended hybrid zero dynamics (EHZD). The EHZD reflects a lower-dimensional representation of the full hybrid dynamics with uncertainties and disturbances. A physical bipedal robot testbed, referred to as Saurian, is fabricated for validation purposes. Numerical simulation and physical experiments show the robustness of the proposed control strategy against external disturbances and model uncertainties that affect both the swing motion phase and the support-leg exchange

Climbing and Walking Robots

With the advancement of technology, new exciting approaches enable us to render mobile robotic systems more versatile, robust and cost-efficient. Some researchers combine climbing and walking techniques with a modular approach, a reconfigurable approach, or a swarm approach to realize novel prototypes as flexible mobile robotic platforms featuring all necessary locomotion capabilities. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of the latest wide-range achievements in climbing and walking robotic technology to researchers, scientists, and engineers throughout the world. Different aspects including control simulation, locomotion realization, methodology, and system integration are presented from the scientific and from the technical point of view. This book consists of two main parts, one dealing with walking robots, the second with climbing robots. The content is also grouped by theoretical research and applicative realization. Every chapter offers a considerable amount of interesting and useful information

Design and Implement Towards Enhanced Physical Interactive Performance Robot Bodies

In this thesis, it will introduce the design principle and implement details towards enhanced physical interactive performance robot bodies, which are more specically focused on under actuated principle robotic hands and articulated leg robots. Since they both signicantly function as the physical interactive robot bodies against external environment, while their current performance can hardly satisfy the requirement of undertaking missions in real application. Regarding to the enhanced physical interactive performances, my work will emphasis on the three following specific functionalities, high energy efficiency, high strength and physical sturdiness in both robotics actuation and mechanism. For achieving the aforementioned targets, multiple design methods have been applied, rstly the elastic energy storage elements and compliant actuation have been adopted in legged robots as Asymmetrical Compliant Actuation (ACA), implemented for not only single joint but also multiple joints as mono and biarticulation congurations in order to achieve higher energy effciency motion. Secondly the under actuated principle and modular nger design concept have been utilized on the development of robotic hands for enhancing the grasping strength and physical sturdiness meanwhile maintaining the manipulation dexterity. Lastly, a novel high payload active tuning Parallel Elastic Actuation (PEA) and Series Elastic Actuation (SEA) have been adopted on legged robots for augmenting energy eciency and physical sturdiness. My thesis contribution relies on the novel design and implement of robotics bodies for enhancing physical interactive performance and we experimentally veried the design effectiveness in specic designed scenario and practical applications

Injury and Skeletal Biomechanics

This book covers many aspects of Injury and Skeletal Biomechanics. As the title represents, the aspects of force, motion, kinetics, kinematics, deformation, stress and strain are examined in a range of topics such as human muscles and skeleton, gait, injury and risk assessment under given situations. Topics range from image processing to articular cartilage biomechanical behavior, gait behavior under different scenarios, and training, to musculoskeletal and injury biomechanics modeling and risk assessment to motion preservation. This book, together with "Human Musculoskeletal Biomechanics", is available for free download to students and instructors who may find it suitable to develop new graduate level courses and undergraduate teaching in biomechanics

Modelamiento, estabilidad e implicaciones biomecánicas de la caminata bípeda pasiva con tres grados de libertad

Los caminadores bípedos pasivos pueden lograr una caminata estable descendiendo por un plano inclinado solamente bajo la influencia de la atracción gravitacional. Este artículo presenta el modelamiento de un cami-nador bípedo pasivo de tres grados de libertad, buscando la relación entre las características de la caminata, las propiedades físicas del robot y la inclinación del plano. Se incluyen las ecuaciones del modelo dinámico adimensional propuesto para estudiar el caminador, se describen el proceso de implementación y modelamiento y los principales resultados obtenidos. Se analizan también los límites en los parámetros del robot que permiten obtener ciclos límites estables, ya que aparecen bifurcaciones dobles periódicas que aparentemente son naturales en la caminata pasiva. Finalmente, se hallan resultados interesantes cuando se compara la caminata natural pasiva con la locomoción bípeda humana.Passive dynamic walkers can achieve a steady gait down an inclined plane simply by the influence of gravity. This article presents the modelling of a 3 DOF passive bipedal walker, searching for a relationship between gait characteristics, the robot’s physical properties and the slope of the plane. The proposed adimensional dynamical model’s equations are also given, implementing and modelling the dynamics is described and the main results are presented. Limits on robotic parameters leading to establishing stable limit cycles are also analysed as perio-dic doubling bifurcations appear to be natural in passive gait. Interesting results arose when comparing natural passive walking with human bipedal locomotion

A bioinspired humanoid foot mechanism

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This paper introduces an innovative robotic foot design inspired by the functionality and the anatomy of the human foot. Most humanoid robots are characterized by flat, rigid feet with limited mobility, which cannot emulate the physical behavior of the foot-ground interaction. The proposed foot mechanism consists of three main bodies, to represent the heel, plant, and toes, connected by compliant joints for improved balancing and impact absorption. The functional requirements were extracted from medical literature, and were acquired through a motion capture system, and the proposed design was validated with a numerical simulation

Industrial, Collaborative and Mobile Robotics in Latin America: Review of Mechatronic Technologies for Advanced Automation

Mechatronics and Robotics (MaR) have recently gained importance in product development and manufacturing settings and applications. Therefore, the Center for Space Emerging Technologies (C-SET) has managed an international multi-disciplinary study to present, historically, the first Latin American general review of industrial, collaborative, and mobile robotics, with the support of North American and European researchers and institutions. The methodology is developed by considering literature extracted from Scopus, Web of Science, and Aerospace Research Central and adding reports written by companies and government organizations. This describes the state-of-the-art of MaR until the year 2023 in the 3 Sub-Regions: North America, Central America, and South America, having achieved important results related to the academy, industry, government, and entrepreneurship; thus, the statistics shown in this manuscript are unique. Also, this article explores the potential for further work and advantages described by robotic companies such as ABB, KUKA, and Mecademic and the use of the Robot Operating System (ROS) in order to promote research, development, and innovation. In addition, the integration with industry 4.0 and digital manufacturing, architecture and construction, aerospace, smart agriculture, artificial intelligence, and computational social science (human-robot interaction) is analyzed to show the promising features of these growing tech areas, considering the improvements to increase production, manufacturing, and education in the Region. Finally, regarding the information presented, Latin America is considered an important location for investments to increase production and product development, taking into account the further proposal for the creation of the LATAM Consortium for Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics, which could support and work on roboethics and education/R+D+I law and regulations in the Region. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-04-025 Full Text: PD