Analytical Design Method of Brachiation Controller on the Irregular Ladder

In this paper, we present the control method to achieve the continuous brachiation on the irregular ladder. The uniform ladder problem was solved by means of symmetric property previously. However, as for the irregular ladder problem, it's impossible to build the controller based on symmetric property since the motion cannot be designed symmetrically. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the energy difference caused by symmetry breaking. We apply passive dynamic autonomous control (PDAC), which was proposed previously, to the locomotion action and evaluate the energy difference. Swing motion is adjusted so as to satisfy the desired energy calculated from the energy difference. The validity of proposed method is tested by the experiment of Gorilla Robot III and the irregular ladder brachiation is realized