ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the design and analysis of asymptotically stable running gaits for planar bipedal robots with point feet. It examines the angles that are measured with a clockwise convention so that in the stance phase the angular momentum of the robot’s center of mass about the contact point with the ground is positive when the robot is moving left to right. The chapter describes in qualitative terms a control law design for planar bipedal running and illustrates via simulations on RABBIT. The principal objective is to present a time-invariant feedback controller that yields provably asymptotically stable periodic running motions. In the early 1980s, M. H. Raibert proposed an elegant conceptualization of running in terms of a one-legged, prismatic-kneed hopper. In late 2003, both Iguana Robotics and Sony announced experimental demonstrations of running for bipedal robots with revolute knees. Separate state-variable control strategies are developed for the stance and flight phases of the running cycle.
