Dynamics and stability of passive dynamic biped walking using an advanced mathematical model

Abstract

Passive dynamic walking is a manner of walking developed, partially or in whole, by the energy provided by gravity. Studying passive dynamic walking provides insight into human walking and is an invaluable tool for designing energy efficient biped robots. The objective of this research was to develop a new mathematical model of passive dynamic walking that modeled the ground reaction forces. A physical passive walker was built to validate the proposed mathematical model. The stability of the gait was analyzed using the proposed model. A novel method was created to determine the stability region of the model. Using the insights gained from the stability analysis, the relation between the angular momentum and the stability of the gait was examined. The proposed model matched the gait of the physical passive walker exceptionally well, both in trend and magnitude. The angular momentum of the passive walker was not found to correlate to the stability of the gait.