A simple 3D straight-legged passive walker with flat feet and ankle springs

An Experimental Study of Three-Dimensional Passive Dynamic Walking with Flat Feet and Ankle Springs

“…We have developed simple 3D passive walkers that can take longer steps and walk faster than other simple 3D passive walkers with arc-shaped feet (Narukawa et al, 2008;2009a;. The main feature of our 3D passive walkers is its foot and ankle design; it has flat feet with ankle springs instead of arc-shaped feet rigidly attached to the legs.…”

“…The main feature of our 3D passive walkers is its foot and ankle design; it has flat feet with ankle springs instead of arc-shaped feet rigidly attached to the legs. Experimental results have shown that flat feet with ankle springs stabilize the yaw motion, and our 3D passive biped walker can take longer steps and walk faster than simple arc-footed 3D biped walkers because of its flat feet and ankle springs (Narukawa et al, 2008;2009a). This study investigates the effects of torsional spring stiffness on the pitch motion at the ankle joints of the developed walker.…”

“…8, to overcome the limitations of arc-footed walkers, while maintaining mechanical simplicity (Narukawa et al, 2008;2009a). The walker is composed of a hip, two straight legs, and two feet.…”

“…9, while providing sufficient friction torque against yaw. The flat feet and ankle springs allow the 3D passive walker to take long steps and walk faster than passive walkers with arc-shaped feet by stabilizing the unstable yaw motion (Narukawa et al, 2008;2009a). Kinugasa et al built a 3D straight-legged passive walker with flat feet and springs attached to ankles; it is 0.6 m tall (Kinugasa et al, 2008).…”

“…11, to investigate the proposed method (Narukawa et al, 2008;2009a Table 2. Parameters of the foot and ankle design of the 3D passive walker Table 1 shows the parameter values of the physical walker.…”