Constant torque walking

Abstract

Describes constant torque walking which is realized by constantly applying torques to all joints of a 2-DOF or 3-DOF biped robot. Constant joint torques on the support leg base makes stable biped walking possible. Simulations and experiments reveal the existence of continuous walking. Walking on level ground has some similar properties to that of passive dynamic walking in the following aspects; the walker yields specific stable gait starting from proper initial conditions, the gait can be generated automatically without any gait planning, the walking speed varies with respect to certain parameter values, and the step period often exhibits period doubling or chaos phenomena. Analyzing such primitive walking may help us understand the mechanism of human locomotion much better.