Asymmetric leg function is often an undesired side-effect in artificial legged systems and may reflect functional deficits or variations in the mechanical construction. It can also be found in legged locomotion in humans and animals such as after an accident or in specific gait patterns. So far, it is not clear to what extent differences in the leg function of contralateral limbs can be tolerated during walking or running. Here, we address this issue using a bipedal spring-mass model for simulating walking with compliant legs. With the help of the model, we show that considerable differences between contralateral legs can be tolerated and may even provide advantages to the robustness of the system dynamics. A better understanding of the mechanisms and potential benefits of asymmetric leg operation may help to guide the development of artificial limbs or the design novel therapeutic concepts and rehabilitation strategies.

The spring-mass model is a frequently used gait template to describe human and animal locomotion. In this study, we transform the spring-mass model for running into a boundary value problem and use it for the computation of bifurcation points. We show that the analysis of the region of stable solutions can be reduced to the calculation of its boundaries. Using the new bifurcation approach, we investigate the influence of asymmetric leg parameters on the stability of running. Like previously found in walking, leg asymmetry does not necessarily restrict the range of stable running and may even provide benefits for system dynamics.

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