Bruce Miller, Ben Andrews, and Jonathan E. Clark
Mechanical Engineering Department
Florida A&M University - Florida State University College of Engineering
2525 Pottsdamer Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32310
The speed and maneuverability at which legged animals can travel through rough and cluttered landscapes has provided inspiration for the pursuit of legged robots with similar capabilities. Researchers have developed reduced-order models of legged locomotion and have begun investigating complementary control strategies based on observed biological control schemes. This study examines a novel control law which prescribes a feed-forward actuation scheme in which energy is actively removed during a portion of each stride to maximize stability. The behavior of this approach is demonstrated on a dynamic running platform while traversing a track with unexpected alterations in terrain height. Results indicate that this novel control approach provides greater stability for a single-legged hopping robot than more traditional control methods.