Development of a leg part of a humanoid robot-design of a biped walking robot having antagonistic driven joints using a nonlinear spring mechanism

Abstract

The authors are engaged in studies of biped walking robots from the following two viewpoints. One is a viewpoint as a human science. The other is a viewpoint towards the development of humanoid robots. In the current research concerning a biped walking robot, there is no developed example of a life-size biped walking robot with antagonistically driven joints by which the human musculo-skeletal system is imitated in the lower limbs. Humans are considered to exhibit walking behavior which is both efficient and capable of flexibly coping with contact with the outside environment. However, developed biped walking robots cannot realize human walking. The human joint is driven by two or more antagonistic muscle groups. Humans can vary the joint stiffness, using nonlinear spring characteristics possessed by the muscles themselves. The function is an indispensable function for a humanoid. Therefore, the authors designed and built an anthropomorphic biped walking robot having antagonistic driven joints. In this paper, the authors introduce the design method of the robot. The authors performed walking experiments with the robot. As a result, a quasi-dynamic biped walking using antagonist driven joint was realized. The walking speed was 7.68 s per step with a 0.1 m step length.