Efficient Human-Like Walking for the COmpliant huMANoid COMAN based on Kinematic Motion Primitives (kMPs)

Research in humanoid robotics in recent years has led to significant advances in terms of the ability to walk and even run. Yet, despite the general achievements in locomotion and control, energy efficiency is still one important area that requires further attention, especially as it is one of the major steeping stones leading to increased autonomy. This paper examines, and quantifies, the energetic benefits of introducing passive compliance into bipedal locomotion using COMAN, an intrinsically COmpliant huMANoid robot. The novelty of the method proposed consists of: i) the use of a method of gait synthesis based on kinematic Motion Primitives (kMPs) extracted from human, ii) the frequency tuning of the resultant trajectories, to excite the physical elasticity of the system, and the subsequent analysis of the energetic performance of the robot. The motivation is to assess the possible effects of using dynamic human-like, and human derived, trajectories, with significant Center of Mass (CoM) vertical displacement, regulated in frequency around the frequency band of the system resonances, on the excitation of the compliant actuators, and subsequently to measure and verify any energetic benefit. Experimental results show that if the gait frequency is close to one of the main resonant frequencies of the robot, then the total work contribution of the elastic compliant element to the overall motion of the robot is positive (15% of the work required is generated by the springs).