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humanoid_walking_speed

Research into Maximum Walking Speed

Author: Yu Hang He Email: hey6@unlv.nevada.edu
Date: Last modified on <2/4/2018>
Keywords: Darwin OP2, Robotis OP2, Walking Speed

After completing different tasks as part of HuroCup Sprint competition, including walking backwards and using computer vision, the next step in the process is to improve walking speed. Currently, Robotis OP2 was able to complete 3 meters in 14 seconds with an average speed of 21.4 cm/s. The world record for HuroCup Sprint competition is held by Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Surabaya, Indonesia. They were able to complete 6 meters course in 21.18 seconds with an average speed of 28.33 cm/s.

To improve the walking speed for Robotis OP2, I conducted some initial research into theoretical maximum walking speed. Because humanoid locomotion algorithm is still a popular research area, there are limited resources on maximum walking speed for humanoid robots. Therefore, I began my research by looking into maximum walking speed for human. In the paper, “Walking and Running: Legs and leg movements are subtly adapted to minimize the energycosts of locomotion,” R. McNeill Alexander proposed to model human walking algorithm with inverted pendulum. Using kinematics, Alexander proposed that maximum walking speed is limited by length of legs through this equation, V_max = sqrt(g*L) (g is the gravitational acceleration on Earth and L being length of leg). After applying this equation to calculate maximum speed for Robotis OP2, the length of robot's leg being 21.95 cm, the result is 146.74 cm/s.

Both the current and world record in HuroCup for walking speed is significantly lower than theoretical maximum speed.

Final Words

This tutorial's objective was to demonstrate how to program Darwin OP 2 to walk backward with CV.

For questions, clarifications, etc, Email: hey6@unlv.nevada.edu

humanoid_walking_speed.txt · Last modified: 2018/02/04 18:44 by yuhanghe