Human-like humanoid robot posture control

This paper validates experimentally a humanoid posture control concept from neuroscience, called disturbance estimation and compensation, DEC concept. The DEC control system, different from typical state estimation systems, is not including a dynamic model of the body. Also, among human posture control models it is particular in that it uses feedback of multisensory disturbance estimates for compensation, rather than `raw' sensory signals. To this end, the system performs fusions of sensory inputs such as vestibular inputs (IMU) and proprioceptive inputs (joint position and speed). The compensation of external disturbances allows the control to use low loop gain, with human-like tolerance of time delays and mechanical compliance. This paper validates the control concept experimentally, measuring the balancing of biped stance of a humanoid 2 DOF robot, Posturob II, while superimposing on support surface tilt either voluntary trunk bending or push stimuli. The results show that the control concept is robust and able to stabilize the robot's balance in complex disturbance conditions. Furthermore, several human-like features such as hip-ankle coordination emerged from the control concept.