Human inspired control of a small humanoid robot in highly dynamic environments or Jimmy Darwin rocks the bongo board

Abstract

This paper describes three human-inspired approaches to balancing in highly dynamic environments. In this particular work, we focus on balancing on a bongo board - a common device used for human balance and coordination training - as an example of a highly dynamic environment. The three approaches were developed to overcome limitations in robot hardware. Starting with an approach based around a simple PD controller for the centre of gravity, we then move to a hybrid control mechanism that uses a predictive control scheme to overcome limitation in sensor sensitivity, noise, latency, and jitter. Our third control approach attempts to maintain a dynamically stable limit cycle rather than a static equilibrium point, in order to overcome limitations in the speed of the actuators. The humanoid robot Jimmy is now able to balance for several seconds and can compensate for external disturbances (e.g., the bongo board hitting the table). A video of the robot Jimmy balancing on the bongo board can be found at http://youtu.be/ia2ZYqqF-lw.