DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED PERCEPTUAL FOOT SYSTEM FOR HUMANOID ROBOTS

Baoyuan Wu, Fei Shen, Yang Ren, Jianfei Luo, and Zhongcheng Wu

Keywords

Humanoid robot, integrated perceptual foot (IPF) system, six-axisforce/torque (F/T) sensor, ZMP, effective contact/support area (ECA), flexible force sensor array (FFSA)

Abstract

The realization of dynamic and stable walking anthropomorphically for humanoid robots to step on various kinds of uneven environments has long been considered as the research emphasis in the field of humanoid robot. The foot system constitutes the element which ensures the interaction between the humanoid robot and the environment. Apart from supporting the whole weight of robot and sensing the external forces exerted by the foot system on the ground during walk, perception of effective contact area (ECA) and foot postures are indispensably important information supports for various control schemes. This paper describes our research efforts aimed at an integrated perceptual foot (IPF) system which is designed by the conception derived from human foot motion mechanism. The IPF system possesses the capability to perceive the external forces/torques, ECA distribution, foot postures, zero moment point trajectory and topography conditions, etc. And the feasibility and validity of each sensor system in IPF system are experimentally tested on the humanoid robot platform BHR-2, which provide useful information support as possible to achieve some new and effective control schemes for humanoid robots.

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