The work aims to realize energy-efficient bipedal walking by employing the three-mass inverted pendulum model (3MIPM) and compare its energy performance with linear inverted pendulum model (LIPM). To do this, a general optimal index on center of mass (CoM) acceleration is first derived for energetic cost evaluation. After defining the equivalent zero moment point (ZMP) motion, an unconstrained optimization approach for CoM generation is extended for 3MIPM, which can track different ZMP references and address the height variation as well. To make use of the allowable ZMP movement, a constrained optimization method is also employed, contributing to lower energetic cost. Simulation and hardware experiments on a humanoid robot demonstrate that the 3MIPM could achieve higher energy efficiency.

Impedance control is one of the interaction and force control methods that has been widely applied in the research of robotics. In this paper, a new position-based fractional-order impedance control scheme is proposed and applied to a 2 DOF serial manipulator. An RR robot manipulator with full arm dynamics and its environment were designed using Matlab/Simulink. The position control of the manipulator was utilized based on computed torque control to cancel out the nonlinearities existing on the dynamic model of the robot. Parameters of classical impedance controller (CIC) and proposed fractional-order impedance controller (FOIC) were optimized in order to minimize impact forces for comparison of the results in three conditions. In CIC condition: three constant parameters of the impedance controller were optimized: in Frac_λμ condition: Only non-integer parameters of the FOIC were re-optimized after the parameters in CIC had been accepted, and in Frac_all condition: all parameters of the FOIC were re-optimized. In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed method, simulations were conducted for all cases and performance indices were computed for the interaction forces. Results showed that impacts were reduced with an improvement of 26.12% from CIC to Frac_ λμ and an improvement of 47.21% from CIC to Frac_all. The proposed scheme improves the impedance behavior and robustness showing better impact absorption performance, which is needed in many challenging robotic tasks and intelligent mechatronic devices.

In this paper, an online self-gain tuning method of a PD computed torque control (CTC) is used for a 3UPS-PS parallel robot. The CTC is applied to the 3UPS-PS parallel robot based on the robot dynamic model which is established via a virtual work principle. The control system of the robot comprises a nonlinear feed-forward loop and a PD control feedback loop. To implement real-time online self-gain tuning, an adjustment method based on the genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed. Compared with the traditional CTC, the simulation results indicate that the control algorithm proposed in this study can not only enhance the anti-interference ability of the system but also improve the trajectory tracking speed and the accuracy of the 3UPS-PS parallel robot.

Many different control schemes have been proposed in the technical literature to control the special class of underactuated systems, the- so-called brachiation robots. However, most of these schemes are limited with regard to the method by which the robot executes the brachiation movement. Moreover, many of these control strategies do not take into account the energy of the system as a decision variable. To observe the behavior of the system’s, energy is very important for a better understanding of the robot dynamics while performing the motion. This paper discusses a variety of energy-based strategies to better understand how the system’s energy may influence the type of motion (under-swing or overhand) the robot should perform.

This paper presents a methodology to obtain the wrench capabilities of a kinematically redundant planar parallel manipulator using a wrench polytope approach. A methodology proposed by others for non-redundant and actuation-redundant manipulators is adapted to a kinematically redundant manipulator. Four wrench capabilities are examined: a pure force analysis, the maximum force for a prescribed moment, the maximum reachable force, and the maximum moment with a prescribed force. The proposed methodology, which finds the exact explicit solution for three of the four wrench capabilities, does not use optimization and is very efficient.

This paper presents a general framework for human-like motion control of 7-DOF S-R-S-redundant manipulators. The new framework simultaneously accomplishes five objectives: Cartesian trajectory tracking, obstacle avoidance, joint limit avoidance, human-like movement, and a feasibility evaluation of the Cartesian trajectory.We exhaustively compute all feasible arm configurations. This allows for quick evaluations of the feasibility of the Cartesian trajectories. They are applied to inverse kinematics of the redundant manipulator to improve the capability to handle multiple constraints, and enable the manipulator to imitate human movements. The efficiency of the proposed framework is demonstrated by kinematic experiments with a humanoid robot.

In this paper, a new type of biped mobile robot is designed. Each leg of the robot is a 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) parallel mechanism, and each leg has three relatively fixed landing points. The leg’s structure gives the robot better performance on large carrying capacity, strong environmental adaptability and fast moving speed simultaneously. At the same time, it helps the robot move more steadily and change direction more simply. Based on the structural features of the leg, the inverse kinematics model of the biped robot is established and a unified formula is obtained. According to an analysis of robot’s workspace, gait planning is completed and simulated. Finally, the special case that the robot can keep the upper body horizontal while walking on a slopy surface is validated.

Control algorithms of many Degrees-of-Freedom (DOFs) systems based on Inverse Kinematics (IK) or Inverse Dynamics (ID) approaches are two well-known topics of research in robotics. The large number of DOFs allows the design of many concurrent tasks arranged in priorities, that can be solved either at kinematic or dynamic level. This paper investigates the effects of modeling errors in operational space control algorithms with respect to uncertainties affecting knowledge of the dynamic parameters. The effects on the null-space projections and the sources of steady-state errors are investigated. Numerical simulations with on-purpose injected errors are used to validate the thoughts.

In recent years, omnidirectional wheels have found more applications in the design of automated guided vehicles (AGV). In this work, LuGre friction model is used for an omnidirectional wheel. A test setup that includes a single omnidirectional wheel is designed and constructed to identify the model parameters. With the help of the constructed test setup, the longitudinal friction characteristic of the omnidirectional wheel is obtained, and the model is verified via validation tests. In addition, for the first time, the effect of lateral frictional force on longitudinal motion is examined for an omnidirectional wheel through experiments.

A data association algorithm for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) based on central difference joint compatibility (CDJC) criterion and clustering is proposed to obtain the data association results. Firstly, CDJC criterion is designed to calculate joint Mahalanobis distance. Secondly, ordering points to identify the clustering structure is used to divide all observed features into several groups. Thirdly, CDJC branch and bound method is designed to be performed in each group. The results based on simulation data and benchmark dataset show that the proposed algorithm has low computational complexity and provide accurate association results for SLAM of mobile robot.

In this article, a novel mechanism for planar one-legged hopping robots is proposed. The robot consists of a flat foot which is pinned to the leg and a reciprocating mass which is connected to the leg via a prismatic joint. The proposed mechanism performs the hopping by transferring linear momentum between the reciprocating mass and its main body. The nonlinear equations of the motion of the robot are derived using the Euler–Lagrange equations. To accomplish a stable jump, appropriate trajectories have been planned. To guarantee a stable response for this nonlinear system, a sliding-mode controller is implemented. The performance of the hopping robot is investigated through numerical simulations. The results confirm the stability of the hopping robot through the jump cycle on a flat surface and in climbing up and down ramp and stairs.

Over the past decade, research on human–robot collaboration has grown exponentially, motivated by appealing applications to improve the daily life of patients/operators. A primary requirement in many applications is to implement highly “transparent” control laws to reduce the robot impact on human movement. This impact may be quantified through relevant motor control indices. In this paper, we show that control laws based on careful identification procedures improve transparency compared to classical closed-loop position control laws. A new performance index based on the ratio between electromyographic activity and limb acceleration is also introduced to assess the quality of human exoskeleton interaction.