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The effects of swing-leg retraction on running performance: analysis, simulation, and experiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2014

J. G. Daniël Karssen ,
Matt Haberland ,
Martijn Wisse  and
Sangbae Kim
J. G. Daniël Karssen
Affiliation:
Department of BioMechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 2, Delft, The Netherlands
Matt Haberland*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Martijn Wisse
Affiliation:
Department of BioMechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 2, Delft, The Netherlands
Sangbae Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mdhaber@mit.edu
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Summary

Using simple running models, researchers have argued that swing-leg retraction can improve running robot performance. In this paper, we investigate whether this holds for a more realistic simulation model validated against a physical running robot. We find that swing-leg retraction can improve stability and disturbance rejection. Alternatively, swing-leg retraction can simultaneously reduce touchdown forces, slipping likelihood, and impact energy losses. Surprisingly, swing-leg retraction barely affected net energetic efficiency. The retraction rates at which these effects are the greatest are strongly model-dependent, suggesting that robot designers cannot always rely on simplified models to accurately predict such complex behaviors.

Keywords

Legged robotsBipedsRobot dynamicsHuman biomechanicsBiomimetic robots
Type
Articles
Information
Robotica , Volume 33 , Issue 10 , December 2015 , pp. 2137 - 2155
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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