The Rh-1 Full-Size Humanoid Robot: Control System Design and Walking Pattern Generation

Abstract

Since industrial robots cannot be easily adapted to assist human activities in everyday environments such as in hospitals, homes, offices, there is a growing need for robots that can interact with a person in a human-like manner. Wheel robots sometimes cannot be used in such kinds of environments because of the obvious restrictions posed by the use of wheels. For example, it is impossible for this kind of robot to go downstairs and upstairs or to clear some obstacles on the floor. What is more, humanoid robots are expected to play a more important role in the future. One of the most exciting challenges that has faced the engineering community in recent decades was obtaining a machine of a similar form, a humanoid robot, that could do the same activities as a human being in addition to walking in the same manner (such as HONDA robots, Hirai et al. 1998; HRP robots, Kaneko et al. 2002, 2008; Johnnie, Loeffler et al.; LOLA, Lohmeier et al. 2006.) There are several reasons to construct a robot with these characteristics. Humanoid robots will work in a human atmosphere with greater effectiveness than any other type of robots because the great majority of environments where they would interact reciprocally with a human are constructed, taking into account the dimensions of the latter. If it is supposed that a machine should complete dangerous tasks or work in extreme conditions, in the ideal case its anthropometric measures must be as close as possible to the ones of its prototype. Inclusively, there are professionals who adduce that for a human being to interact naturally with a machine, it must look like him. The main goal of this project is the development of a reduced weight human size robot which can be a reliable humanoid platform for implementing different control algorithms, human interaction, etc. The main assumption for the mechanical design started with the weight of a 1.20 m person and the desired walking motion of the humanoid robot. With these, the requirements for each joint’s torque were calculated and then, by dynamical analysis, the structure was designed and the dimensions of the motors were determined. It was an iterative process for 26