Parameterized gait synthesis

This article presents a method of producing gaits by using control mechanisms analogous to windup toys. The synthesis technique is based on optimization. One of the primary characteristics of "virtual windup toys" is that they are oblivious to their environment. This means that these creatures or simulated toys have no active control over balance. Nevertheless, "blind" parameterized control mechanisms can produce many common periodic gaits as well as aperiodic motions such as turns and leaps. The possibilities and limitations of this technique are presented in the context of example creatures having one, two, four, and six legs. An important attribute of the proposed synthesis method is that the motions produced can be parameterized. Thus, you can synthesize a family of motions instead of just a single fixed instance of a motion. The examples used here are: a hopping gait parameterized with respect to speed; a turning walk parameterized with respect to the turning rate, and a leap parameterized with respect to the size of the leap. The animator can thus interactively specify the hopping speed, turning rate, and leap size, respectively, for these physics-based motions.