Tails in biomimetic design: Analysis, simulation, and experiment

Animals use tails to improve locomotion performance; here we assess how the biomimetic MIT Cheetah robot can do the same. Analysis proves that for a given power and weight, tails can provide greater average torque than reaction wheels for the short times of interest in high speed running. A simple tail controller enables the cheetah to perform aerial orientation maneuvers in simulation. The MIT Cheetah robot's tail rejects an impulsive disturbance from a `wrecking ball' in experiments. This study demonstrates that a tail will help the MIT Cheetah achieve its goal of 30mph locomotion by 2014.