Limit cycle walking of underactuated bipedal humanoid on slippery road surface

Abstract

This paper investigates the possibility and fundamental properties of limit cycle walking on slippery road surface. First, we develop the mathematical model of a planar underactauted biped robot with an upper body that walks while sliding on oily/ice floor. Second, we conduct numerical simulations to show that stable gait generation can be achieved by applying a simple output following control to the relative joint angles. Furthermore, we analyze the gait properties according to the change in the system parameters such as sliding friction coefficient and desired upper body angle.