Quadruped free gait generation for straight-line and circular trajectories

A method of free gait generation is proposed utilizing the primary/secondary gait for both straight line and circular body trajectories. The primary gait is a fixed sequence of leg transfers with modified leg-ends kinematic limits according to the presence of obstacles, while the secondary gait is a flexible gait which is generated to adjust the leg-end position. The primary gait is generated considering the following four constraints: stability constraint, kinematic constraint, sequential constraint and neighboring constraints. A generalized reference coordinate (GRC) system is introduced to describe the vehicle motion. Using the GRC system, all constraints and obstacle influences are expressed by only one set of equations despite the difference of motion mode. The efficiency of free gait generation is improved with the proposed method, and the trajectory of the vehicle body can be designed more naturally. Simulation results are given to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methodology.     

Gait and foot trajectory planning for versatile motions of a six-legged robot

This article deals with the problem of planning and controlling a radially symmetric six-legged walker on an uneven terrain when a smooth time-varying body motion is required. The main difficulties lie on the planning of gaits and foot trajectories. As for the gaits, this article discusses the forward wave gait of a variable duty factor and a variable wave direction. With the commanded body motion, the maximum possible duty factor is computed using the speed limit of the leg swing motion. Guaranteeing this maximum duty factor contributes to obtain higher stability. We prove the “continuity” of this forward wave gait planning algorithm adds the versatility to gaits planned. The foot trajectory planning algorithm dynamically generates a smooth foot trajectory as a function of the instantaneous body motions by modifying standard leg motion templates. The robot can negotiate an uneven terrain by modifying a vertical leg motion by a signal of tactile sensors on the foot. The experiments prove that the robot can successfully track smooth curves with body rotations on an uneven terrain, and thus prove the robustness of the algorithms. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Real‐time Locomotion Controller using an Inverted‐Pendulum‐based Abstract Model

In this paper, we propose a novel motion controller for the online generation of natural character locomotion that adapts to new situations such as changing user control or applying external forces. This controller continuously estimates the next footstep while walking and running, and automatically switches the stepping strategy based on situational changes. To develop the controller, we devise a new physical model called an inverted‐pendulum‐based abstract model (IPAM). The proposed abstract model represents high‐dimensional character motions, inheriting the naturalness of captured motions by estimating the appropriate footstep location, speed and switching time at every frame. The estimation is achieved by a deep learning based regressor that extracts important features in captured motions. To validate the proposed controller, we train the model using captured motions of a human stopping, walking, and running in a limited space. Then, the motion controller generates human‐like locomotion with continuously varying speeds, transitions between walking and running, and collision response strategies in a cluttered space in real time.     

Effects of turning gait parameters on energy consumption and stability of a six-legged walking robot

Minimization of energy consumption plays a key role in the locomotion of a multi-legged robot used for various purposes. Turning gaits are the most general and important factors for omni-directional walking of a six-legged robot. This paper presents an analysis on energy consumption of a six-legged robot during its turning motion over a flat terrain. An energy consumption model is developed for statically stable wave gaits in order to minimize dissipating energy for optimal feet forces distributions. The effects of gait parameters, namely angular velocity, angular stroke and duty factors are studied on energy consumption, as the six-legged robot walks along a circular path of constant radius with wave gait. The variations of average power consumption and energy consumption per unit weight per unit traveled length with the angular velocity and angular stroke are compared for the turning gaits of a robot with four different duty factors. Computer simulations show that wave gait with a low duty factor is more energy-efficient compared to that with a high duty factor at the highest possible angular velocity. A stability analysis based on normalized energy stability margin is performed for turning motion of the robot with four duty factors for different angular strokes.     

A step‐by‐step modeling,analysis and annotation of locomotion

Annotating unlabeled motion captures plays an important role in Computer Animation for motion analysis and motion edition purposes. Locomotion is a difficult case study as all the limbs of the human body are involved whereas a low‐dimensional global motion is performed. The oscillatory nature of the locomotion makes difficult the distinction between straight steps and turning ones, especially for subtle orientation changes. In this paper we propose to geometrically model the center of mass trajectory during locomotion as a C‐continuous circular arcs sequence. Our model accurately analyzes the global motion into the velocity‐curvature space. An experimental study demonstrates that an invariant law links curvature and velocity during straight walk. We finally illustrate how the resulting law can be used for annotation purposes: any unlabeled motion captured walk can be transformed into an annotated sequence of straight and turning steps. Several examples demonstrate the robustness of our approach and give comparison with classical threshold‐based techniques. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human motion generation with multifactor models

To generate human motions with various specific attributes is a difficult task because of high dimensionality and complexity of human motions. This paper presents a novel human motion model for generating and editing motions with multiple factors. A set of motions performed by several actors with various styles was captured for constructing a well‐structured motion database. Subsequently, MICA (multilinear independent component analysis) model that combines ICA and conventional multilinear framework was adopted for the construction of a multifactor model. With this model, new motions can be synthesized by interpolation and through solving optimization problems for the specific factors. Our method offers a practical solution to edit stylistic human motions in a parametric space learnt with MICA model. We demonstrated the power of our method by generating and editing sideways stepping, reaching, and striding over obstructions using different actors with various styles. The experimental results show that our method can be used for interactive stylistic motion synthesis and editing. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anatomical kinematic constraints: consequences on musculo-tendon forces and joint reactions

This paper presents a new method to estimate both musculo-tendon forces and detailed joint reactions during gait, using an original 3D lower limb musculo-skeletal model with 5 degrees of freedom: spherical joint at the hip and parallel mechanisms at both knee and ankle. This can be realized by employing a typical set of natural coordinates into a three-steps process. First, the kinematic constraints associated with the kinematic models are applied through a global optimization method on the marker-based kinematics. Consistent time derivatives of the positions are computed by projecting the velocities and accelerations in the null space of the Jacobian matrix. Then, a Lagrangian formulation of the equations of motion is proposed, introducing Lagrange multipliers and allowing a straight access to the musculo-tendon forces. Thanks to a parameter reduction procedure, the Lagrange multipliers are cancelled and the musculo-tendon forces can be computed directly, using a static optimization algorithm with a typical cost function. Finally, the equations of motion are rewritten with the Lagrange multipliers to compute detailed joint reactions (since they represent directly joint contact and ligament forces). Results show that the estimated musculo-tendon forces are consistent with measured EMG signals. Moreover, the use of “anatomically” consistent kinematic models allows computing total joint reaction at hip joint and detailed joint reactions at both knee and ankle joints that are temporally consistent with the forces measured on the subject (i.e., knee joint contact forces) and the forces published in the literature (i.e., hip joint contact forces). Next step will be to optimize simultaneously musculo-tendon forces and joint reactions to investigate and understand the interactions acting into the musculo-skeletal system during gait.     

Dynamics and solutions to some control problems for water-tanksystems

We consider a tank containing a fluid. The tank is subjected to directly controlled translations and rotations. The fluid motion is described by linearized wave equations under shallow water approximations. For irrotational flows, a new variational formulation of Saint-Venant equations is proposed. This provides a simple method to establish the equations when the tank is moving. Several control configurations are studied: one and two horizontal dimensions; tank geometries (straight and nonstraight bottom, rectangular and circular shapes), tank motions (horizontal translations with and without rotations). For each configuration, we prove that the linear approximation is steady-state controllable and provide a simple and flatness-based algorithm for computing the steering open-loop control. These algorithms rely on operational calculus. They lead to second order equations in space variables whose fundamental solutions define delay operators corresponding to convolutions with compact support kernels. For each configuration, several controllability open-problems are proposed and motivated     

基于主运动轮廓线的步态表示与识别

提出了一个基于步态主运动轮廓线构造特征矩阵, 并进行特征表示和分类识别的算法. 该算法首先从步态轮廓线提取三段代表人体主要运动的部分, 基于它们到质心的横向距离构造描述步态图像序列的三个特征矩阵. 然后, 采用主分量分析(Principal component analysis, PCA)方法去除特征矩阵中的冗余数据, 并利用多元判别分析(Multiple discriminant analysis, MDA)将特征矩阵投影到更易于分类的空间. 最后, 在USF步态数据库上计算测试对象的Rank n识别率, 并与其他三个有代表性的算法进行比较. 实验结果显示, 本文算法的平均识别率更高, 抗干扰性更强.     

Mechanical design of powered prosthetic leg and walking pattern generation based on motion capture data

In this paper, we describe the design procedure of an above-knee powered prosthetic leg and an algorithm to generate appropriate gait patterns that are synchronized with the movement of the user. The developed prosthetic leg has powered knee and ankle joints for transfemoral amputees, and its weight and dimensions were determined on the basis of human body data. In particular, two degrees of freedom (roll and pitch axes) were adopted in the ankle joint to achieve dynamic balance control on uneven ground, and passive toe joints using a crank-rocker mechanism and torsional springs were attached at the foot to increase the walking stability. In addition, we developed a walking pattern simulator that is able to test the walking patterns of the powered prosthetic leg in the air. By attaching two inertial sensors on both thighs of the user and measuring both thigh motions, the per cent of gait cycle is suitably calculated from the proposed algorithm, and smooth gait motions are generated according to the gait cycle percent. Finally, walking patterns of the powered prosthetic leg were successfully generated by synchronizing to the human gait, and the generated gaits were analyzed by comparing them to the human gait.     

Passive dynamic turning in 3D biped locomotion: an extension to passive dynamic walking

Passive dynamic walking usually refers to a kind of walking where a biped walker is able to walk downhill, without any actuation or control, just due to the gravity. Although most of works done in this regard have concentrated on passive walking along a straight line, in this paper we extend this concept to a more general case of locomotion, i.e. turning or walking along curved path. We call the novel extension passive turning, and categorize it to two types of finite and infinite. We showed that the finite type is still applicable on a typical downhill or ramp, while the infinite type is only practical on a specific surface profile that we call it helical ramp. Furthermore, several stability and parameter analysis are also conducted to evaluate more aspects of this notion. We highlighted that surprisingly, the passive straight walking is actually a special case of passive turning, just with infinite radius of turn and less asymptotical stability. It should be noted that the present study is performed using a model of an arc-foot three-dimensional (3D) compass gait walker.     

Adaptive gait control for a walking robot

Walking vehicles have the potential to emulate the superior off-road mobility of biological systems. However, it is important to make the walking machine terrain adaptive and versatile, and to minimize man's role as an operator in order to realize this potential. Terrain adaptive locomotion involves intelligent foothold selection and the control of gait to produce the desired motion. This requires a departure from the idealized, structured stepping patterns for statically stable gaits which have been the object of considerable research. A modified wave gait is used to demonstrate that it is possible for the vehicle velocity to be varied continuously in accordance with higher level commands even with irregular, asymmetric, and changing support patterns, A varying duty factor is employed to enable optimal leg cycling frequencies. Implementation of gait control algorithms and results from a computer simulation are also presented.     

Constructing Human Motion Manifold With Sequential Networks

This paper presents a novel recurrent neural network-based method to construct a latent motion manifold that can represent a wide range of human motions in a long sequence. We introduce several new components to increase the spatial and temporal coverage in motion space while retaining the details of motion capture data. These include new regularization terms for the motion manifold, combination of two complementary decoders for predicting joint rotations and joint velocities and the addition of the forward kinematics layer to consider both joint rotation and position errors. In addition, we propose a set of loss terms that improve the overall quality of the motion manifold from various aspects, such as the capability of reconstructing not only the motion but also the latent manifold vector, and the naturalness of the motion through adversarial loss. These components contribute to creating compact and versatile motion manifold that allows for creating new motions by performing random sampling and algebraic operations, such as interpolation and analogy, in the latent motion manifold.     

Integration of posture and rhythmic motion controls in quadrupedal dynamic walking using phase modulations based on leg loading/unloading

In this paper, we intend to show the basis of a general legged locomotion controller with the ability to integrate both posture and rhythmic motion controls and shift continuously from one control method to the other according to the walking speed. The rhythmic motion of each leg in the sagittal plane is generated by a single leg controller which controls the swing-to-stance and stance-to-swing phase transitions using respectively leg loading and unloading information. Since rolling motion induced by inverted pendulum motion during the two-legged stance phases results in the transfer of the load between the contralateral legs, leg loading/unloading involves posture information in the frontal plane. As a result of the phase modulations based on leg loading/unloading, rhythmic motion of each leg is achieved and inter-leg coordination (resulting in a gait) emerges, even without explicit coordination amongst the leg controllers, allowing to realize dynamic walking in the low- to medium-speed range. We show that the proposed method has resistance ability against lateral perturbations to some extent, but that an additional ascending coordination mechanism between ipsilateral legs is necessary to withstand perturbations decreasing the rolling motion amplitude. Even without stepping reflex using vestibular information, our control system, relying on phase modulations based on leg loading/unloading and the ascending coordination mechanism between ipsilateral legs, enables low speed dynamic walking on uneven terrain with long cyclic period, which was not realized in our former studies. Details of trajectory generation, movies of simulations and movies of preliminary experiments using a real robot are available at: http://robotics.mech.kit.ac.jp/kotetsu/.     

Effects of backpack load on spatiotemporal turning gait parameters

Backpack load has been well reported as a risk factor associated with occupational falls. However, its effects on turning gait remained to be less understood. This study aimed to investigate the effects of backpack load on spatiotemporal turning gait parameters. Twelve young male participants were involved in the experiment. They were instructed to make 90⁰ left turns under three backpack load conditions (i.e., 0 kg, 7.5 kg, 15 kg). Spatiotemporal parameters, including stride durations, single support durations, stride lengths, stride widths, step lengths, and gait speed were examined and compared between different backpack load conditions. The results showed that people might adjust their stepping patterns during turning when carrying moderate backpack load (i.e., 15 kg). These adjustments, including reduced step length and stride width during the approach stride and decreased single support duration during the turning stride, could possibly increase the risk of falls. The findings from the present study provide insights into the causal relationship between backpack load and turning gait, and have practical implications for the development of interventions for minimizing the risk of falls in occupational settings.     

具有2DOF铰接式躯干的仿猎豹四足奔跑机器人

为了探索脊柱运动对腿运动的增强机理,设计了具有2自由度铰接式躯干的仿猎豹四足奔跑机器人。对带腾空相的跳跃（bound）步态奔跑运动的力学过程进行描述,采用阻尼型弹性负载倒立摆（D-SLIP）模型建立了四足机器人动力学模型。依据猎豹的奔跑运动模式,对四足机器人脊柱关节与腿关节的耦合运动进行了轨迹规划。提出一种改进的粒子群优化（PSO）算法,解决了机器人脊柱关节驱动机构尺寸和运动轨迹控制参数之间目标互斥的嵌套优化问题。对四足机器人跳跃奔跑运动进行动力学仿真,结果表明：脊柱与腿的协调运动可以增大奔跑步幅,使机器人产生腾空相,从而提高机器人的奔跑速度。     

利用多源运动信息的下肢假肢多模式多步态识别研究

运动状态识别对智能下肢假肢的控制非常关键,本文利用下肢表面肌电信号、腿部角度和足底压力信号在运动模式和步态分析中的优势和特点,对下肢假肢的多模式多步态识别进行研究.通过建立下肢运动信息系统,获取下肢多源运动信息.先提取下肢肌电信号的小波包能量作为特征,建立多个HMM对下肢假肢的运动模式进行识别;再根据大小腿和膝关节的角...     

Evolution of a 3D Gallop in a Quadrupedal Model with Biological Characteristics

The gallop is the preferred high-speed gait for dynamic locomotion in most cursorial mammals. Due to the lack of good analytical models and proven control strategies, however, the gallop remains an elusive goal in the field of legged robotics. While there have been several attempts at creating a gallop, none have captured all of the important dynamic characteristics of the gait. In this work, we present a practical approach for producing a stable 3D gallop in a quadrupedal model which includes these characteristics. The dynamic model utilizes biologically-based assumptions including articulated legs with nonzero mass, compliance at the knee joints, and a body with an asymmetric mass distribution. Furthermore, the resulting 3D gallop contains the prominent features found in the biological gait: early leg retraction, phase-locked leg motion creating an asymmetric footfall pattern, a significant gathered flight phase, unconstrained spatial dynamics, and a smooth gait. To obtain these results, we employ a multiobjective genetic algorithm with a carefully designed vector fitness function to search for various control parameters. Furthermore, we partition the search space in roughly orthogonal subspaces to find parameters for each sub-controller. A critical component of the controller is an energy control law that ensures a fixed amount of energy in the knee springs during each stride. A characterization of the resulting gait is presented, which highlights biological properties and the visual realism of the solution.     

Path planning directed motion control of virtual humans in complex environments

Natural motion synthesis of virtual humans have been studied extensively, however, motion control of virtual characters actively responding to complex dynamic environments is still a challenging task in computer animation. It is a labor and cost intensive animator-driven work to create realistic human motions of character animations in a dynamically varying environment in movies, television and video games. To solve this problem, in this paper we propose a novel approach of motion synthesis that applies the optimal path planning to direct motion synthesis for generating realistic character motions in response to complex dynamic environment. In our framework, SIPP (Safe Interval Path Planning) search is implemented to plan a globally optimal path in complex dynamic environments. Three types of control anchors to motion synthesis are for the first time defined and extracted on the obtained planning path, including turning anchors, height anchors and time anchors. Directed by these control anchors, highly interactive motions of virtual character are synthesized by motion field which produces a wide variety of natural motions and has high control agility to handle complex dynamic environments. Experimental results have proven that our framework is capable of synthesizing motions of virtual humans naturally adapted to the complex dynamic environments which guarantee both the optimal path and the realistic motion simultaneously.