Experimental development of a foot mechanism with shock absorbing material for acquisition of landing surface position information and stabilization of dynamic biped walking

As the first stage of dynamic biped walking adapting to an unknown uneven surface using an anthropomorphic biped walking robot, this paper introduces a special foot mechanism with shock-absorbing material that stabilizes dynamic biped walking and acquires position information on the landing surface. The new foot has three functions: (1) a function to obtain information on the position relative to a landing surface; (2) a function to absorb the shock of the foot landing; and (3) a function to stabilize changes in the support leg. Two units of the foot mechanism were produced, a biped walking robot WL-12RVI that had the foot mechanism installed inside it was developed and a walking experiment with WL-12RVI was performed. As a result, decreased vibration around the pitch axis, decreased torque demands on ankle actuators on the pitch axis, increased dynamic biped walking success probability, and acquired landing surface information were achieved.