Design of a bipedal walker with a passive knee and parted foot

Abstract

The design of a bipedal walker that enables a human-like, compliant walking motions with simple control commands is presented. The design includes a passive knee bending/stretching mechanism with a latch hinge and a parted foot structure with compliant spring-based actuation. In addition, the leg posture, asymmetric lateral spring placement, round ankles, active hip sway, pelvic tilt actuation, and provisions for simple control were designed to implement the desired walking motion. The prototype bipedal walker was built with a combination of passive and actuated joints, utilizing springs around the joints for further compliancy. Experiments were conducted using the prototype bipedal walker in order to evaluate the design.