Optimal foot shape for a passive dynamic biped

Robots in human biomechanics—a study on ankle push-off in walking

“…As examples for applications of this set-up, two predictions of the ankle pushoff function derived from simple computer models, established as good templates for human walking, were tested and discussed. Therefore, we implemented and tested a passive compliant mechanism in a robotic ankle as proposed in simple models [22][23][24]. The ankle is particularly interesting for biomechanists, because the ankle has been identified as a major power generator for human gait [25].…”

Segmented Foot with Compliant Actuators and Its Applications to Lower-Limb Prostheses and Exoskeletons

“…However, for passive walkers on a gentle slope, specific resistance is not a suitable measure of efficiency, since all walkers have the same specific resistance for a given slope [12]. Therefore, similar to [12], normalized walking velocity is used as the measure of efficiency, such that "most efficient" is synonymous of "fastest".…”

“…Investigations on the effects of segmented foot, which are based on passivity-based model, may reveal more insights on real human walking. Though several efforts have been made in adding flat feet to passivity-based models [10][11][12][13][14][15], only a few studies have investigated passive dynamic bipedal walking model with segmented feet. Recently, [16] proposed a passive dynamic walking model with toed feet.…”

“…However, the effects of heel-strike and toe-strike during normal walking are ignored, which may influence the characteristics of bipedal walking [12]. In addition, the phase of rotation of the stance foot about the toe tip is ignored in this model, which makes the bipedal walking gait far from natural human-like gait.…”

Minimalistic control of biped walking in rough terrain

“…An important aspect of this model lies in the fact that it is irreducibly simple and analytically tractable, which enable us systematically investigate both mechanical interactions and dynamic behavior control. Previously, the compass gait model was investigated in terms of mechanical interactions in a passive regime (McGeer 1990;Garcia et al 1998;Goswami et al 1998;Su and Dingwell 2007), and its variations were developed for investigating, for example, knee dynamics and locomotion stability (van der Linde 1999; Miyakoshi and Cheng 2004;Asano et al 2007;Harata et al 2007;Kinugasa et al 2008), shapes and actuation of foot segments (Kuo 2002;Ono et al 2004;Adamczyk et al 2006;Kim et al 2007;Kwan and Hubbard 2007), mass distribution (Hass et al 2006), and lateral balancing (Kuo 1999). Control architectures for the compass gait model have also been studied with respect to energy based optimal control (McGeer 1988;Goswami et al 1997;Asano et al 2000;Spong 2003;Spong and Bhatia 2003;Asano et al 2004;Pekarek et al 2007), phase resetting mechanisms and nonlinear oscillators (Kurz and Stergiou 2005;Aoi and Tsuchiya 2005, and control optimization in rough terrains (Pratt et al 2001;Tedrake 2008a, 2008b).…”