Highly Maneuverable Humanoid Running via 3D SLIP+Foot Dynamics

Spring loaded inverted pendulum (SLIP) is a template dynamics used to model the steady-state running of humans and animals ranging from cockroaches to horses. This study extends the conventional 3D SLIP model with a foot and an active controller to also model transitioning from stationary to high-speed running and vice versa. It also compares behavioral differences between the conventional deadbeat-controlled 3D SLIP and actively controlled 3D SLIP with a foot, especially during trajectory transitioning. Focusing on humanoid robots, the objective is to enhance the system's trajectory switching and the disturbance rejection performance while keeping the trajectories implementable and forces feasible for the whole body dynamics. The results are verified on a humanoid robot Kangaroo through simulations in MuJoCo.