2026-09-19T07:43:32Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/1042662022-01-13T07:54:05Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Sangbae Kim.
Ubellacker, Wyatt Lee
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
2016-09-13T19:19:13Z
2016-09-13T19:19:13Z
2016
2016
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/104266
958161013
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 47-48).
In disaster situations, humanoid robots offer many advantages as first responders, but must often navigate rough and unstable terrain. The high center of mass and small support polygon of humanoids creates a difficult locomotion challenge. However, a humanoid that can transform into a quadruped for locomotion, such as MIT Biomimetic Robotics Lab's HERMES, adds the stability of a four-legged gait to safely traverse this dangerous landscape. This thesis investigates a trotting gait controller for use on HERMES specifically on rough terrain. The method takes advantage of simpler underlying dynamics of trotting stability to create a robust controller that performs without specific knowledge of the terrain or preplanning steps. Force and moment balance are conducted around the center of mass of the robot and ground reaction forces from the feet. Stance legs stabilize against disturbances in pitch, roll, and center of mass height. Swing legs attempt to land in the optimal position using a ZMP technique, and the gait cycle time is modulated to achieve stability irrespective of the foot placement constrained by the actual terrain. The controller was simulated on the HERMES humanoid robot using randomized terrain and the performance of the controller was investigated.
by Wyatt Lee Ubellacker.
S.M.
48 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Mechanical Engineering.
Real-time quadruped gait controller for rough terrain locomotion
Thesis
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<Abstract>In disaster situations, humanoid robots offer many advantages as first responders, but must often navigate rough and unstable terrain. The high center of mass and small support polygon of humanoids creates a difficult locomotion challenge. However, a humanoid that can transform into a quadruped for locomotion, such as MIT Biomimetic Robotics Lab's HERMES, adds the stability of a four-legged gait to safely traverse this dangerous landscape. This thesis investigates a trotting gait controller for use on HERMES specifically on rough terrain. The method takes advantage of simpler underlying dynamics of trotting stability to create a robust controller that performs without specific knowledge of the terrain or preplanning steps. Force and moment balance are conducted around the center of mass of the robot and ground reaction forces from the feet. Stance legs stabilize against disturbances in pitch, roll, and center of mass height. Swing legs attempt to land in the optimal position using a ZMP technique, and the gait cycle time is modulated to achieve stability irrespective of the foot placement constrained by the actual terrain. The controller was simulated on the HERMES humanoid robot using randomized terrain and the performance of the controller was investigated.</Abstract>
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